Some painting help please!

[Howie]

Help! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Here's what's happening: within 10 or 20 seconds of laying the paint down on the canvas little 'dots' appear in the finish where the paint is migrating away from the canvas. I'll sweep the brush over & over these areas and eventually most of the 'dots' will disappear. This happens with the paint unthinned as well as thinned 5% to 10% with mineral spirits. It's like the paint doesn't want to adhere to the canvas in these places.

The canoe was canvased & filled 6 weeks ago and has dried in my garage. I'm using Epifanes boat enamel and am using a good quality brush. I did not use a primer before painting - but I've never had a problem before... And I sanded & washed the canoe with TSP & water & dried it with a towel about 4 hours earlier. It's a really hot today - it should be dry... It's also very humid today - would that affect things?

I've painted a small patch as best I could. Once dry I'll sand it down and see what happens when I put on a second coat.

 

[MGC]

. And I sanded & washed the canoe with TSP & water & dried it with a towel about 4 hours earlier. It's a really hot today - it should be dry... It's also very humid today - would that affect things?

Did you do the interior after finishing and curing the canvas? That's an odd sequence. I'm not sure it would affect anything but it seems hard to imagine being able to TSP the interior without getting water and swill on the filler on the outside. Generally you try to get that sorted before you canvas.

Fish eyes suggest silicon on the filler. Did you sand and tack cloth before painting?

 

[Benson Gray]

I've heard of a similar problem being caused by using a sandpaper that had a silica grit. Automotive painters often have this difficulty due to silicone waxes that can cause 'fish eye' problems later. There are special paint additives available to address this type of issue. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Andre Cloutier]

dont overthink it, you`re getting fisheyes. surface prep, or lack of, is causing it. like Mike said, give it a light sand and tack rag it. i usually wipe down the dust with paint thinner on a rag then tack when dry. good luck.

 

[Fitz]

2 cents. If you used traditional filler, it is porous to some degree. Your canoe is still wet. If you had the weather we did today, nothing will really dry.

 

[Fitz]

I would wait for a better day and wipe the canoe down with mineral spirits or better yet, the thinner recommended by the paint manufacturer and try again.

You didn't wash it with your car wash bucket, right?

 

[Howie]

Wow... Lots of thoughts.
* The interior was varnished before the canvas was put on, so that's not it.
* I did sand the hell out of the filled canvas to get it smooth. I used both normal garnet sandpaper as well as wet/dry stuff. But I did the TSP wash after.
* I suppose it might be that the canoe hadn't dried completely. It sure seemed dry... But that would be a logical cause for the problem.
* And yes I used a general utility bucket to hold the TSP solution. Umm... why would that be an issue? Ok... maybe there was traces of something - like car wash soap - left over in the bucket when I mixed the TSP... But TSP is a cleaner - so why would that be a problem?
* I'll be away for a few days. When I return the temp & humidity should be a whole lot lower. We'll see what happens then.
Thanks for the thoughts!

 

[David Satter]

I've never used tsp on filler after sanding, just vacume and tack rag. better let it dry well. If you use a few drops of fisheye remover in the paint that may help. Just remember if you use fisheye remover in one coat you'll have to use it in all the coats.
Clean the brush real good when done. or through it out. I only use a primer if i can't get the filler smooth enough. Interlux pre-coat works great.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Howie, just to make things more variable, I have been using 4" foam hi density rollers for painting the last few years. I doubt the roller would make a difference for your issue but it sure was an improvement overall for me.

 

[Howie]

Ya know, you guys are great. Thanks for all the notes and not pointing out too strongly how stupid I am. In the clear light of day - and the fact that I'm visiting family and away from the canoe - it's obvious that something is on the canoe's surface that's causing the problem. Since I haven't seen it before it's likely that this something was in my bucket before I mixed up the TSP. I'll sand the sucker down again when I return, then scour the bucket, mix up a new batch of TSP, clean the canoe, let it dry for a full day or more, & try painting again on another small patch. I've got another full can of paint - wouldn't you know it'd be yellow - so I should have enough to finish the job... assuming all goes well this time. Live & learn...

 

[Howie]

Dave - I've always used rollers in the past - the small 7" yellow high density foam type. But the finish always comes out 'puckered'. I suppose this may mean I need to thin out the paint a bit more but I hate playing with thinning too much as I'm not sure how thinning affects the paints ability to adhere to the surface. So I'm trying a brush. I'm also playing with rolling on the paint then using the brush to smooth out the puckers.

 

[Dan Miller]

then scour the bucket,

You might want to get a new bucket. If your carwash soap has silicones in it, you won't be able to scrub it out.

If it were me, I'd skip the TSP entirely. Sand it well, tack cloth, and if desired, give it a wipe down with mineral spirits.

 

[MackyM]

What Dan said. Silicone is forever and TSP is not required. The tack cloth can only help.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I always have tiny bubbles from the roller. They pop and level out perfect within a couple minutes. I roll on, roll it out, and tip it off with the roller. No thinner, or very little thinner.

 

[MackyM]

I have used Penetrol. Seems to help some, but it may just be in my head.

 

[griffing]

Fish eye problem . Wash down with a prep wash used for painting cars or boats somthing like Algrip cleaner in a clean pail ,let dry then wipe down with a wet rag of alcohol and dry rag it right away. I had the same problem when spraying mine with oil moisture in the tank. If you use fish eye preventer use as little as possible to get result needed.

 

[David Satter]

Howie, I won't drag this on to long,I was thinking I've done a lot of refinishing. Clean the boat first then sand. If their is contamination and you sand you will just drive that deeper into the filler. So give the filler a good cleaning and wipe down before you sand. Dave