Child Item

Is exterior paint safe to use on indoor furniture?

Hey there,

I'm refurbishing some of my indoor furniture. I've used diferent tipes of paint and last time I got recomended to try using cabots deck and exterior paint on the indoor furniture. I've tried it and its very nice, I actually like everything about it but now I'm worry about if its safe to use on indoor furniture as in if will have some harmful chemicals that the paint would relise over time. Thanks

Find more posts tagged with

Furniture

Painting

Accepted answers

All comments

StevieB

Hi @nerea,

Our resident D.I.Y. expert @MitchellMc will be happy to help with your question when he's back on the site tomorrow.

We'd love to see your refurbished furniture. Please feel free to share your progress and ask any questions along the way.

Stevie

nerea

Awesome thanks.

Looking forwars to it.

This draws are the ones I used that paint I'm asking about. Sand them all back to bare wood with ozito orbital sander and I applier a clear coat on draws, I think its monocel brand.

PicsArt_06-04-03.32.14.jpg

And this ones I used enamel paint which I like too but wasn't as easier as the wood exterior paint I mention in the post.

They are some of my many progects. I will share more with you guys. I'm so.proud of this piece. I expend so many hours sanding as the previous paint was like a glue.

nerea

This is one of my very first progects.

I too used enamel paint(btw, all paints I use are water based)

PicsArt_07-22-06.37.35.jpg

this one I actually used wall paint (really wanted to paint them but was very broke so couldn't afford a proper one)

PicsArt_01-26-05.51.57.jpg

And this is our front door which we took the glass off, put a door on it and paint the previous door. It was our first carpentry progect we even broke out Robi circular saw doing it(and we could not find the receipt 🤦🏻‍♀️)

We sanded(mostly) and painted the old greeny security door.

PicsArt_01-03-04.19.27.jpg

oheyitsbeano

It'd be perfectly fine, I think. If anything it'd probably have a longer lifespan than interior paint due to its hardiness.

The key difference is in the drying process. The exterior paint will indeed off-gas more during drying, so I'd paint it outside and let it cure under the shade to give it time for those VOCs to bleed off.

Usually exterior paint is designed to dry in the sun or in open air so it's best to reflect those conditions. Its best to paint in a well ventilated area regardless, or to wear a P2 respirator to protect your lungs from those harmful VOCs, especially if you're like me and spray paint Is your preferred application method.

However, @MitchellMc would be better at giving a more concrete answer.

MitchellMc

Hi @nerea,

It's great to see you've already received a helpful reply from @oheyitsbeano. As they've mentioned, there isn't anything inherently wrong with using that paint inside your house. However, since it is a paint designed for exterior use, some better alternatives are likely available. I've spoken to Cabot's technical advice team, and they are not concerned with the paint releasing any harmful chemicals. The caveat to this is that you wouldn't want to use it on any surfaces where food is being prepared.

Please let us know if you have more questions or need further assistance.

Mitchell

nerea

Awesome thanks for all the help. Yeah I'm only doing room furniture nothing in the kitchen. Which other paint would you recomend? I have to say I really like this deck paint 😅. Dryes awesome, sits awesome, leaves an awesome smooth finish, cleans awesome and don't need 183662 coats like the enamel one 😁 but I'm open to other ideas. As well which top coat would you recomend? I'm just waxing atm but would like to try diferent.

Thanks again

desmo

Hiya, I have used outdoor stain on my indoor furniture and it’s been fine. I just left it the sun for a few days to air it out

MitchellMc

Hi @nerea,

I'd be happy to provide some alternative suggestions. Could you let us know what you didn't like about the water-based enamel paints? Have you tried oil-based enamels? There are some very popular chalk effect paints available that can achieve some awe-inspiring results on furniture. Paint selection really depends on what type of look you are going for and what the project is. If you are currently planning on another rejuvenation, then please feel free to post it here.

Mitchell

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @desmo. It's sensational that you've joined us, and many thanks for jumping into the conversation.

I'm pleased to hear you've had success with your paint choices, and I trust our members appreciate your feedback.

Would you like to share some of your projects with us? We look forward to hearing all about your plans around the house and garden and would encourage you to let us know whenever you need assistance. I'm sure you'll find loads of inspiration within the community as our wonderful members contribute their ideas here all the time.

Mitchell

nerea

Hey Mitchell,

Apreciate your time.

Well I haven't tried oil based basically because I got two little kids(2 and 4) and they usually"help me out" with my progects so I avoid using oil as the cleaning can be a nightmare. I can't do much without them. As well cleaning the brushes is not easy.

Its not that I didn't like the enamels...its that I found this one a lot easier. I've tried an outdoor paint(don't remember which one) in the past and didn't like it...but this deck and wood one its awesome. I just went today to get a diferent color for.my next progect.

Looking for sanders or way of sanding (that its not by hand) that will get into small cruises in the furniture. Any recommendations?

oheyitsbeano

Ryobi is the tool brand that my mum @hazesnow uses (and so do I as I do most of my work in her shed lmao), and there's a really nice one she has that kinda looks a bit like an iron.

She'd probably be able to give you the model number for that one, but It's an 18V brushless one with a port for dust extraction or a filter afaik. It's pretty awesome!

MitchellMc

Hi @nerea,

I believe this Ryobi One+ 18V Corner Sander - Skin Only is similar to the sander @oheyitsbeano is recommending. There's also the Ryobi 180W Multipad Sander that has a fold-out finger pad for detail or corner areas. Multitools also have the ability to detail sand and would be worth considering. There's currently a conversation going on in the discussion: What's your favourite tool?. It's between some of our very knowledgeable members @Noyade, @Brad and @TedBear about multitools and their ability to detail sand. You might like to join in.

Although these tools are considered detailed sanders, there's a limit to their ability. If you have some very tight areas and mouldings to sand, then a Dremel has many attachments that you might find handy.

Mitchell

TedBear

Hi @nerea , just to add to the conversation... safety isn't the issue if you follow the advice given already about possible strong fumes, but be aware that outdoor paint often goes on thicker than indoor paints, so we need to take a bit more care to ensure that we don't leave deep brush marks. They don't show up so much when the paint is used in harsher light in the outdoors, and we don't tend to scrutinise the surfaces so closely outside as we do with furniture. I suspect that you may have already dealt with that issue yourself by now.

nerea

@MitchellMcAwesome advise. I'm looking onto them already. So many choices

Thank you very much

nerea

Hi @TedBear Thanks for your replay

I just want to say that some how this specific paint doesn't go thicker at all. I've tried one in the past of outdoor in indoor and I did not like it at all...one of the reasons was way too thick, droopy and I find it to chip very easy.

But this cabots deck and wood one its actually very thin,dryes so quick, and leaves a very smooth texture I can't help but love it. Way better than anything I used before. I wasn't sure at all about it when the lady at bunnings recomend it to me, but she had given me good advise for another things in the past so decide to trust her...and well, what can I say. And as well this is self priming which is awesome I got 3 little ones under 4 and very minimal time for progects which I love doing and they are good for my mental health.

Any advise its apreciate it I'm doing this as a hobbie and only started a year ago so very minimal experience 😁

Child Item