The Easiest Way To Paint Furniture – No Sanding Or Priming!

I really love wood furniture, and I love “interesting” wood with pretty grain running through it. But maybe the finish is a little dinged up, or the wood is the wrong color for your home, or your furniture is just plain boring and you’re trying to add a pop of color to a room. Whatever the reason, sometimes it just needs a coat of paint to fix it up! But painting wood furniture is a pain: you have to clean it, then sand it, then dust it, then prime it, then sand it again, then dust it again, and only then can you do the actual painting. Not anymore! I found something that makes it so that you can easily paint furniture without any sanding or priming, even if it was previously painted or finished with a glossy finish!

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

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Latex Agent makes a product called Oil Bond that allows you to use latex paint over previously painted oil or polyurethane surfaces without sanding or priming. Besides containing cleaning surfactants and deglossing agents, Oil Bond also has self-crosslinking resins in it; all you need to do is wipe some onto your furniture with a clean rag, then add some to your latex paint. When you paint the piece, the Oil Bond in the paint will “grab” the Oil Bond on the furniture, and it will stick! No sanding, no priming!

I had a cute little table and chairs set that I picked up for a few bucks from a thrift store that I had been meaning to paint, so I asked if they would be willing to send me some Oil Bond to try out. They happily agreed and sent me a quart, and OH MY GOSH, it has never been so easy for me to paint a piece of furniture!!!

The Easiest Way To Paint Furniture Without Sanding Or Priming

Tools

  • painting supplies (sprayer, brush, roller, whatever you want to use is fine!)
  • a clean, lint-free rag (I use Roll o’ Rags for this, they’re great!)

Materials

  • Oil Bond
  • latex paint (indoor paint, exterior paint, chalk paint…any kind of water-based paint will work!)

Instructions

Here are the table and chairs before I started.

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

The red wood color doesn’t really match in the baby’s playroom, plus the finish was super dinged up and scratched everywhere.

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

So I decided the table and chairs needed a fresh coat of paint in a pretty color!

The only prep work you have to do is wipe Oil Bond onto your furniture with a clean, lint-free rag! You don’t need to clean the furniture or sand it; Oil Bond has cleaners in it that will prep the surface for you.

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

Allow the Oil Bond to dry on the furniture for an hour or up to overnight.

When you’re ready to paint, mix Oil Bond into your latex paint at a ratio of 16 oz of Oil Bond to 1 gallon of paint.

I decided to use my paint sprayer to get a nice smooth finish. TIP: If you’re using a paint sprayer, add the Oil Bond to the paint first, and if it still needs to be thinned further, you can thin it with water so that it flows through the sprayer smoothly.

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

When I paint furniture a light color, I usually do at least two coats to make sure the darker wood underneath is totally covered. If you do more than one coat, you don’t need to add Oil Bond for the additional coats; the Oil Bond in the first coat helps the paint stick to the furniture, but for additional coats the latex paint will stick to itself without any issues.

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

I actually did a third coat on this table and chairs because Latex Agent also sent me a quart of their Hard Coat product, which helps improve the durability of latex paint. Mixing Hard Coat into the additional coats of latex paint helps create a long-lasting surface that resists nicks, dings, and scratches, and protects like an oil-based coating. PERFECT! Because we know toddlers aren’t exceptionally gentle with their furniture. 🙂

I let the third coat dry overnight, and then I was finished!

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

No sanding, no dusting, no priming. I just wiped Oil Bond onto the table and chairs, let it dry, then got to work painting!

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

And it’s definitely holding up to standard toddler use; AJ climbs all over the chairs, drags her books and toys all over the table, accidentally colors off the page and onto the table, and the furniture is no worse for the wear!

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

I can easily wipe up any spills or crayon marks with a baby wipe, and the table is back to its shiny, pretty self again!

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

How to paint furniture with any paint, no sanding or priming required

If you’ve ever wanted to spruce up a piece of furniture with a fun coat of paint but were worried about the work involved, you have to try this stuff! I have seriously never had an easier time painting furniture than I did with this table and chairs!!! You can get Oil Bond, Hard Coat, and all of their other awesome painting products on their website. You can also find Oil Bond at Home Depot or on Amazon, and you can find Hard Coat at Home Depot or on Amazon as well.

Next time you see a gorgeous piece in a thrift store or in an alley, stop and pick it up! Grab some Oil Bond and you won’t regret deciding to breathe new life into that tired furniture!

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Disclosure: I received compensation from Latex Agent in exchange for my participation in this campaign, and my honest discussion of their products. But this stuff is seriously amazing and all opinions in this post are 100% my own. I would never write a post about something I didn’t think was useful or interesting for you guys, and Practically Functional will only publish sponsored posts for companies or products I love and believe in! 🙂

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Jessi Wohlwend

I believe that anyone can do crafts and DIY projects, regardless of skill or experience. I love sharing simple craft ideas, step by step DIY project tutorials, cleaning hacks, and other tips and tricks all with one goal in mind: giving you the tools you need to “do it yourself”, complete fun projects, and make awesome things!

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Reader Interactions

  1. Theresa Marie Keener says

    4 years ago

    how much hard coat did you add to the paint?

  2. ashley settlemeyer says

    4 years ago

    can you do this technique on wood cabinets (kids bathroom)?

  3. Vanyel says

    5 years ago

    Can you paint with brush instead of spray?

  4. Janis A Rippy says

    6 years ago

    Ordering the paint sprayer in just a minute. VERY excited about all your tips!!!

  5. Sheryl says

    6 years ago

    Hi! I just recently learned of Oil Bond. I was thinking of doing an end table for a friend with this product, but am concerned after reading some negative reviews. I noticed this post is dated back in May. How has the table & chair set held up these past 8 months?

    • Jessi Wohlwend says

      6 years ago

      The table and chairs have held up great! My 2-year-old daughter uses the table for coloring and drawing etc. every day, and she’s pretty hard on the furniture, but there are no scratches or dings or anything. I’m really impressed with how they’ve held up!

  6. Jennifer Morales says

    6 years ago

    Hi jessi, I’m so happy I found your page I was trying to avoid the sanding and priming. This is a awesome post. I have a question, when you applied the third coat of paint did you add the hard coat to the paint that was already in the sprayer with the oil bond or did you clean it out and add fresh pain with the hard coat?.

    • Jessi Wohlwend says

      6 years ago

      I cleaned it out and started with fresh paint. If you add hard coat to the paint that already has oil bond in it, you run the risk of diluting it too much and the paint won’t hold up as well.

  7. Colleen says

    7 years ago

    Is there a strong chemical smell to this product?

    • Jessi Wohlwend says

      6 years ago

      It has a little bit of a smell, but it’s nowhere near as strong as paint or anything like that.

  8. Glenda B. says

    7 years ago

    Thank you for this great post. I can now paint my furniture pieces a pretty color. What is that beautiful blue color you used? It’s exactly the color I’m looking for but can’t seem to find. It will go perfect with my décor. Have a super weekend. God bless.

    • Jessi Wohlwend says

      7 years ago

      Isn’t it pretty?! It’s a Sherwin-Williams color called Open Air.

      • Glenda B. says

        7 years ago

        Yes it is very pretty. Thank you for replying with the color. I can’t wait to get some and start painting. Have a super weekend. God bless.

  9. Melissa says

    7 years ago

    Great tip! I’ll be sure to check out Oil Bond, because I would love to avoid all that prep work, too. Found you on Creativity Unleashed, by the way.

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