oil based paint

I have an unopened gallon of Sherwin Williams oil base enamel tinted in Dover White, which is an off white or light beige. Is there a way I can tint that color to a bright white?

 

I'm real familiar with Dover White, it's on all the painted trim in my house

There is no way to remove or cover up the tint in your paint. The paint store might be able to shoot some 'white tint' in it which might lighten it some but I doubt it will be enough to be worth the effort.

 

Oil based paint will yellow with age, which makes it a bad choice if you want to paint white in the first place, IMO.

 

It would probably be more accurate to say the white tint will lighten the paint a tad.
Don't want to give the impression that it will lighten it substantially.

 

I have used white oil base for my inside trim work for over 4 decades and I cannot remember having any problem with yellowing. Maybe you have been using a cheap grade.

 

I've applied 100's of gallons of white oil base enamel and while it's true that the cheaper oil enamels will yellow quicker than the top of the line enamel - they will all yellow over time. If you were to just repaint one stick of trim several yrs later - you'd see the difference.

Up until about 15 yrs ago I was a firm believer in using oil base enamel on interior woodwork as it wears better than latex enamel. I started suffering from occupational over exposure of solvents [key ingredient in oil paints] about the same time they introduced waterborne enamel. It dries just as hard as oil enamel, dries quick, gives a great looking finish and maybe just as importantly - I can apply it all day long without getting dizzy or having a headache

To switch to waterborne you would need to sand, prime and then paint which might not be worth the effort for you. You won't be able to turn Dover White into pure white - to get that, you'll need to buy a gallon of pure white.

 

Thanks, marksr. I have also been using the oil base for years but now it is impossible to buy it up north. I will be headed to Florida in April at which time I will buy another gallon of pure white enamel. I really don't want to get into all that sanding and primer before painting. Some people have told me that you can paint latex over enamel but I have yet to see where it works well enough to 'stick'. Thanks again.

Rich

 

You can paint latex over oil based if you use an oil based primer between them. IMO, that's only one extra step, as the sanding is a good idea either way.