Johnstones Trade Aqua Guard Water Based Satin Paint 2.5l Brilliant White J-435197

Product Information

In terms of usage, any MDF is fair game. including skirting boards, furniture and kitchen cupboards. In terms of application, it goes on nicely but the opacity isn’t quite there with two coats in my opinion. I tend to apply 1 coat of Caparol Haftprimer followed by 3 coats of Intelligent Eggshell to get the picture-perfect finish I’m after and would recommend the same to you. Sure, that’s 4 coats and a lot of waiting around, but the finish is definitely worth it. After some bad experiences with water-based paints, I have moved over to them in recent years after discovering Floetrol. Using this, I have found I can get a decent finish with Dulux eggshell and satin (certainly much better than the expensive professional painter achieved in my hall/staircase/landing a few years ago).

Another quality of the Aqua Guard is you can apply generous coats and not experience much in the way of sagging or runs. Again, this is normally an issue when using water-based. Levels beautifully – so much so that you can achieve a near spray paint finish even when using a brush Its coverage is impressive; a little goes a long way compared to cheaper alternatives. This means you’ll need less of it, even for large window sills. It’s even versatile enough to go over old oil-based finishes after a good rubdown.First of all, Aqua Guard has immense coverage. I’ve found that even without an undercoat, it provides a quality finish. This puts it leagues ahead of its competitor, Dulux’s Diamond Satinwood, which I’ve found struggles to cover even after three coats. Of course, opacity and finish don’t just apply to painting MDF but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless as it’s a criterion I will be using to score the paints I’ve recommended below. Any bare MDF will need a primer before painting as the MDF will simply drink your paint and leave a terrible finish if you go straight on with your topcoats.

Whilst the Dulux equivalent (Diamond Matt) is probably a bit better in terms of durability, Clean Extreme more than makes up for that when it comes to its superiority in overall finish and opacity. 2 coats are almost always enough. Besides, MDF panelling is usually used as a decorative effect so durability doesn’t necessarily have to be your number one priority.Almost directly related to durability, you can paint MDF with any sheen paint after you’ve primed it. This is mostly down to personal preference although I would recommend skipping any ideas involving painting your kitchen cabinets with matt paint! Best Primer for MDF

There is another downside and it is a fairly big issue. Johnstone’s Aqua satin and gloss will start to yellow and discolour over time, especially in low light conditions. More so than other “water-based” products on the market, but a lot less than anything oil-based. I’ll explain why in the next section. Some MDF surfaces, such as MDF panel feature walls, will barely be touched by anything and thus won’t need paint that’s highly durable. Conversely, kitchen cabinets require cleaning on a regular basis so you’ll want paint that doesn’t wear down or discolour too easily. I tried it with undercoat first, then without undercoat over keyed old oil-based gloss doors and skirts. It adhered just the same on both. Not just that, but the finish looked pretty much the same too. Albeit the 2 x satin compared to 1 x u/c & 1 x satin maybe had a slightly better sheen? It wasn’t really that noticeable though. This is pointless and by adding water to the product you speed up the drying process, which makes it difficult to apply. What you can do is skim over your woodwork with a damp sponge just before you apply the paint. The paint then flies on and is a joy to use! The Two Fussy Blokes is widely regarded as the best roller to apply water-based paint. Use the 5mm nap mini roller to paint any flat areas and you’ll get close to a spray finish. This is the perfect partnership for Aqua Guard. Available online.

Johnstone’s Aqua Guard is a fully water-based satinwood, meaning it will never discolour over time. Mixing style with durability, Little Greene’s Intelligent Eggshell is my recommendation if you’re looking to spruce up your MDF shelves. An added bonus – it’s showerproof in just 20 minutes. Furthermore, it can dry in sub-zero temperatures, making it an excellent option if you’re looking to paint during the winter. Many professionals in the industry use Crown Fast Flow for various projects. Indeed, we enjoy using this paint so much that we recently used it to paint all the MDF skirting boards at an entire student accommodation building.