Lacquer tends to thin out the spray paint so it is best to use this with shellac if you plan to preserve the coating of the spray paint. I recommend using a brush instead of spray for the lacquer portion as it will yield a better chance of a smooth and glossy finish.
Can You Spray Lacquer Over Paint, Stain or Varnish?
Are you wondering how you could get that smooth glossy finish every time you paint?
Lacquer could come in handy, however there are some paints you should NOT spray lacquer over.
In this article, I’ll cover how lacquer affects your paint and how to avoid ruining your hard work.
Not only that, I will also explain if you can spray lacquer over different finishes such as stain,varnish or shellac.
Table of Contents
Can you spray lacquer over paint?
You can Spray Lacquer over paint, however, it requires care and caution otherwise you would be ruining your paint job that you put so much time and effort into. The lacquer is usually made with a little amount of paint thinner which would thin out the coat and expose the layer underneath.
There are two popular ways to apply lacquer while maintaining the paint. The first method is to slowly spray onto the surface. You should be more distanced as you want to be at the furthest distance where the paint sprayer can still spray paint the object. The second method is spraying shellac before applying the lacquer. Shellac functions as a primer and protects the coat of paint from thinning out. Most of the time you are going to want to wait until the paint dries completely before even applying lacquer.
When you do apply lacquer onto the surface, it takes around 30 minutes to dry but around 48 hours to cure completely so you must plan accordingly when getting to this step. It is important to identify what type of paint you are planning to apply the lacquer over as things can get messy really fast. Side effects include either weakening the strength of the paint causing it to lift off the surface, or having the lacquer mix with the paint creating an ugly color.
In this article, I’ll cover what happens if you spray the lacquer on specific types of paints and recommend another product if it does more harm than good.
Chalk paint
Lacquer can be sprayed over chalk paint. In fact, I highly recommend Annie Sloan’s chalk paint lacquer as it is designed specifically for chalk paints. It is always important to have test pieces whenever you’re painting so that you know what to expect. Since this lacquer will be water-based, it is extremely important that you never use this over a waxed floor, water and oil do not mix and you’ll up end up with a lot of peeling as if you got sunburnt so hard that your skin went beyond red. When performing the first coat, you should add additional water (roughly 10% more) to your mixture to create a smooth layering by the time you paint consecutive coats. Never stop painting halfway through otherwise you will see the distinction between the layers, sort of like painting a wall blue on a white canvas; you will see the seam.
Without any protection layer, you’ll end up with paint cracks. Anytime you plan to use lacquer over gloss paint make sure to have some shellac in hand. You will need to apply the shellac first before finishing off with lacquer. Normally, you would use a paintbrush for this but if you have a huge surface area to paint, you can prepare a gallon of shellac by mixing 1 pound of shellac flakes with 1 gallon of alcohol. It is best to use an HVLP sprayer for this job as you will need more precision to ensure that the area of gloss paint is covered evenly with shellac. I recommend Zinesser’s bullseye shellac to get the job done.
Painting do’s and don’ts. mixing laquer and enamel
K. I’m a new guy here. Which paint types do you not mix? Laquer over enamel. Acrylic over laquer.
I have access to rustoleum, Duplicolor automotive laquer(no Yellows), Tremclad(which I hate), Krylon(I dislike as well), and a few other nonames.
Thanks in advance. I just want to be doing this right. Just started putting together an Inititor, and a Arreaux.
luke strawwalker
Well-Known Member
Joined Jan 18, 2009 Messages 9,147 Reaction score 38
Generally speaking, you don’t want to apply LACQUERS over ENAMELS. This is because the solvents used in lacquers are MUCH “hotter” (stronger, faster evaporating) than enamel solvents, and the lacquer solvents can ‘dissolve’ the enamel paint underneath them, leading to “alligatoring” or cracking or other things that TOTALLY ruin the paint finish. When something like this happens, your best bet is to wipe the whole mess off with a paper towel soaked in lacquer thinner, allow it to dry thoroughly, sand anything else off if necessary, and start over with the finishing process.
Now, like everything else, there ARE exceptions to the rules. some folks HAVE applied lacquers over enamels successfully, but it is NOT a “beginners technique” and is risky at the best of times. it can be done in VERY VERY THIN, gradual coats, that don’t put enough lacquer thinner/paint onto the enamel surface to attack it.
Enamel, having ‘softer, slower’ solvents, CAN be applied safely over lacquer in most cases. Other paints can be applied over one another with various levels of success.
Paint formulations have gotten SO complex and different between manufacturers that it’s hard to say anymore WHAT is compatible with anything else. for instance, many folks report problems with new Krylon even being applied over itself, even after CAREFULLY respecting the recoat instructions on the can. other paints seem to work well no matter what they’re applied over (and usually with just about anything applied over them.)
The main thing to remember is, no matter WHAT you’re using. the safest bet to ensure compatibility of the paints is to do a PAINT TEST on scrap tubing or cardboard or something similar to ENSURE that the paint coats will work nicely with each other and not attack each other.
Good luck! OL JR
Scotty Dog
Well-Known Member
Joined Mar 1, 2010 Messages 7,451 Reaction score 301
K. I’m a new guy here. Which paint types do you not mix? Laquer over enamel. Acrylic over laquer.
I have access to rustoleum, Duplicolor automotive laquer(no Yellows), Tremclad(which I hate), Krylon(I dislike as well), and a few other nonames.
Thanks in advance. I just want to be doing this right. Just started putting together an Inititor, and a Arreaux.
Generally speaking, you don’t want to apply LACQUERS over ENAMELS. This is because the solvents used in lacquers are MUCH “hotter” (stronger, faster evaporating) than enamel solvents, and the lacquer solvents can ‘dissolve’ the enamel paint underneath them, leading to “alligatoring” or cracking or other things that TOTALLY ruin the paint finish. When something like this happens, your best bet is to wipe the whole mess off with a paper towel soaked in lacquer thinner, allow it to dry thoroughly, sand anything else off if necessary, and start over with the finishing process.
Now, like everything else, there ARE exceptions to the rules. some folks HAVE applied lacquers over enamels successfully, but it is NOT a “beginners technique” and is risky at the best of times. it can be done in VERY VERY THIN, gradual coats, that don’t put enough lacquer thinner/paint onto the enamel surface to attack it.
Enamel, having ‘softer, slower’ solvents, CAN be applied safely over lacquer in most cases. Other paints can be applied over one another with various levels of success.
Paint formulations have gotten SO complex and different between manufacturers that it’s hard to say anymore WHAT is compatible with anything else. for instance, many folks report problems with new Krylon even being applied over itself, even after CAREFULLY respecting the recoat instructions on the can. other paints seem to work well no matter what they’re applied over (and usually with just about anything applied over them.)
The main thing to remember is, no matter WHAT you’re using. the safest bet to ensure compatibility of the paints is to do a PAINT TEST on scrap tubing or cardboard or something similar to ENSURE that the paint coats will work nicely with each other and not attack each other.
Good luck! OL JR
WOW,I was going to ask that same thing. I couldnt remember which way it went. Under-over or over-under?
But , as you (luke) say..hard telling not knowing till you run a test.
With all the different kinds of paints and such.
The part about using the same paint over itself even when you give it all the time in the world between aps,sometimes just doesnt work.
My resent paint job on the SWs Stinger. WTF I was saying.
I let that sucker dry a week,I lightly(and I mean lightly) wet sanded it with 800 and when I put the paint to it, wrinkle city.
I have more time in the finish of that rocket than any other Ive painted.
I finaly got it to look OK from the front, on the back around the LL ,it still looks like grandmas face.
Anywhoo- thanks for the asking topper and thanks for the info luke
