Performance Characteristics of Paints Suitable for Painting Wood Craft

Desirable characteristics of good quality exterior paint suitable for painting wood craft include better color retention, resistance to chalking, resistance to blistering, and resistance to cracking and flaking.

Color Retention (Tint Retention) and Painting Wood Craft for items that will be mostly outdoors and exposed to the sun

Color retention is the capability of the paint to maintain its color over time. The term applies only to tinted paints or factory colors, not to white paints.
A variety of factors can contribute to color loss in exterior paints as used for painting wood craft. One common cause is deterioration of the paint, often due to binder breakdown, which can result in chalking and a whitening of the surface of the paint. The color itself can also break down. Organic pigments such as bright reds and yellows are most prone to this. Inorganic colors like red oxides and brown earth tones usually retain their color very well.
Exposure direction can have a significant impact, too. Northern exposure here ‘down-under’ (and southern exposure in the northern hemisphere) gets the most direct sunshine and thus has the greatest tendency for color change. This might not affect your wooden cow shaped step stool or when painting wood craft, but it is useful knowledge for the handyman around the house. Quality latex (also known as acrylic latex) exterior paints have better color retention than oil-based exterior paints and are thus suited for indoor/outdoor wooden toys such as the cow shaped step stools.


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The term “chalking” refers to the formation of a white, chalky powder on the surface of the paint film. This condition often occurs as the binder is slowly degraded by sunshine and moisture. Over time, nearly all paints will show some chalking when they are subject to outdoor exposure. However, chalking is especially prevalent with flat paints and white or very light-colored paints, A low degree of chalking is often beneficial in whites and off-whites, since it tends to rid the surface of a certain amount of dirt and mildew. But excessive chalking is detrimental.
Excessive chalking can harm a paint job in three ways; it can result in chalk “run-down”, which can deface the appearance of the surface below the painted area; it can lighten the color of the paint; and it can erode the paint film resulting in a loss of protection.
Quality exterior acrylic latex paints are formulated to resist chalking so well, in fact, that it may not occur at all for several years. In order to keep the paint clean looking, these paints often are designed to have excellent dirt resistance. This means that airborne dirt will not stick to the surface, or, as in the case of painting wood craft, the dirt and stains will wipe off easily.

Blisters, Bubbles and Craters are Faults You do not Want when Painting Wood Craft

Blistering is the formation of rounded “bubbles” of paint film. The cause is almost always moisture related. It will occur when painting wood craft on wood that has a high content of moisture.
Often just placing the plywood, solid stock, or the finished raw product in a dry area for several days before painting will be all that is necessary to allow moisture to escape. This can occasionally be a problem in areas where humidity is very high. The solution might be as simple as bringing the pieces indoors where the humidity may be less due to better climate control such as air conditioning or heating. In some localities it is impossible to do any successful painting until the wet season is over.
The problems of blistering are more common in oil-based paints due to the vapor barrier that forms as they dry, trapping moisture under the paint. As the paint dries, the moisture will escape from the wood, lifting the paint off the wood as it evaporates. Latex paint, however, is more permeable. It allows a small amount of water vapor to pass through as it dries and greatly reduces the chances of blisters to form.
Applying paint in very cold weather, very hot or windy weather, can also cause blistering followed by peeling as the extreme weather conditions cause the paint to dry too quickly. To prevent blisters, bubbles and craters avoid painting wood in such extreme conditions.

Cracking and Flaking must not be a Problem when Painting Wood Craft or outdoor projects

Cracking and ultimately flaking of the paint can occur for a variety of reasons. The paint may have inadequate adhesion and flexibility, a common problem with lower quality paints. Cracking and flaking can also occur when paint is applied in too thin a film. This can also happen when paint is applied at a higher than recommended spread rate (overspread) or if the paint is thinned too much. These practices tend to diminish the paint’s final film thickness, so that it is more vulnerable to cracking and flaking.
Inadequate surface preparation can also cause these failures, especially when paint is applied to bare wood or a very porous surface without first applying a primer. Also, if paint is applied to a natural oily or previously oiled wood, as can be the case when painting plywood that has been recovered from packaging, cracking and flaking can occur. A suitable primer will provide better adhesion and will seal the surface, allowing the top coats to perform properly and give your decorative painting job a long lasting quality look.

Choosing the best primer and paint for painting wood craft.

A guide on decorative painting for wooden toys and outdoor furniture.