hard paint for shelves

It is just my opinion but I think it is a crime to paint shelves with acrylic/latex paint. It just doesn't get hard enough. (I don't like to use it on interior doors, windows or trim either.) But because I have some time constraints I am thinking of taking my alkyd-primed shelf boards, giving them a couple coats of latex flat and then several coats of water-bourne polyurethane or brushing lacquer. Comments? Recommendations? Thanks.

 

There is a big difference between the cheap latex enamels and their better counterpart. Oil base enamel dries to a hard film and so does waterborne enamel, both will work well on shelves. There isn't any need to apply poly over the enamel. I seldom use lacquers but I'd question whether or not it would be compatible with the latex paint.

 

Thank you. What do you recommend as a "better counterpart?" BTW I didn't say poly over latex enamel, but poly over flat. In faux/specialty finishing they do this all the time. It gives a deep color/varnished look and it is sandable and hard. I might not have time to wait for oil or alkyd enamel to fully harden which as you know can take a week even after it is dry to the touch.

 

Oil base enamels typically cure in 72 hrs. Waterborne takes less than 24 hrs but latex paints can take a week or more to cure.

An oil base poly over most any paint will darken/deepen the original color. Waterborne or waterbased polys won't.... but haven't used either one much. IMO using a poly to give flat paint the appearance and wear of oil enamel is more trouble than it's worth. You shouldn't need to apply the extra coats and the poly complicates any touch up down the road.

Most paint manufactures have various grades of paint - anything from the cheapest to the best. The top line latex enamels will do ok but still aren't as hardy as oil base or waterborne enamels. Personally I'd use SWP's ProClassic waterborne enamel. B.Moore and others have similar coatings. You are unlikely to find the best coatings at a big box paint dept as they tend to stock coatings based on low price rather than quality. Your local paint store will almost always have the best coatings [they also stock the cheap ones ]

 

Just for the record... latex, acrylic and vinyl paints are ALL waterborne, as you know. (NOT "water soluble" of course.) The acrylic binder is emulsified in water and the paint dries by evaporation as opposed to oil and alkyd paints which dry by oxidation which produces a real chemical change and hardening. The acrylic binder in paint is dissolved in a petrochemical solvent which is why "latex" house paint has a VOC content of around 15% and why you need good ventilation when you use it.

 

I'm not a chemist so I'm not for sure about all the technical words but latex paint generally includes all the vinyl, acrylic and emulsion paints. The industry standard for waterborne is a coating that has a lot of the properties of oil base coatings but cleans up with soap and water. While there are similarities between latex and waterborne paints, they are different. There is also a solvent based acrylic paint that mostly used in the automotive industry.

All solvent based paints have VOC. The old standard for latex paints had a lower VOC emissions than oil base but latex paints are now available in a low or no VOC content. I don't know if the same is true for waterborne coatings.