# Painting and Paint



## Electric_Andy (22 Apr 2020)

My bathroom walls are red. i want them to be white. So I managed to get 1ltr of Dulux easycare bathroom but I can't get any more. I have own brand white undercoat in the garage, and some white gloss. Can I use any of the undercoat or gloss underneath the specialised bathroom paint? Ideally I'd use 2 or 3 coats of the dulux easycare but as said, I can't get any more.


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## Tail End Charlie (22 Apr 2020)

I wouldn't, there's no telling how your preferred top coat would react and emulsion over gloss isn't a good look.
You say you can't get any more of the Dulux, I know Wickes, B and Q etc are either shut or mammoth queues, but have you tried a small local supplier? I'd be amazed if there wasn't one near you which wasn't open. Think hard and you may remember one. I had the same problem recently and was resigned to waiting until after lockdown, but whilst cycling about I saw a small shop open and they had what I wanted. You order outside the shop and only go in to pay. I knew the shop was there but it hadn't registered in my mind when I was thinking of where to get paint. 
Good luck in your search.


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## irw (22 Apr 2020)

Given that the red is presumerably an unknown brand anyway, I'd have no problem doing a base coat with the own brand white you have in the garage- after all, the dulux paint has to go on top of something, unless you're starting from bare walls. From experience, depending on how decent it is, I imagine you may find that the 'own brand' paint will be a bit thin on top of red, so may need an additional coat or two to actually give you a white base to work from.

PS..don't use the gloss! I'd be wary of how well the dulux top coat would adhere to it.


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## Electric_Andy (22 Apr 2020)

Tail End Charlie said:


> I wouldn't, there's no telling how your preferred top coat would react and emulsion over gloss isn't a good look.
> You say you can't get any more of the Dulux, I know Wickes, B and Q etc are either shut or mammoth queues, but have you tried a small local supplier? I'd be amazed if there wasn't one near you which wasn't open. Think hard and you may remember one. I had the same problem recently and was resigned to waiting until after lockdown, but whilst cycling about I saw a small shop open and they had what I wanted. You order outside the shop and only go in to pay. I knew the shop was there but it hadn't registered in my mind when I was thinking of where to get paint.
> Good luck in your search.


good idea thanks. There is at least one specialist paint shop in Plympton. I just don't want to travel to get it, as it's not really an essential journey.


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## Electric_Andy (22 Apr 2020)

irw said:


> Given that the red is presumerably an unknown brand anyway, I'd have no problem doing a base coat with the own brand white you have in the garage- after all, the dulux paint has to go on top of something, unless you're starting from bare walls. From experience, depending on how decent it is, I imagine you may find that the 'own brand' paint will be a bit thin on top of red, so may need an additional coat or two to actually give you a white base to work from.
> 
> PS..don't use the gloss! I'd be wary of how well the dulux top coat would adhere to it.


Thank you. So gloss is out, that's fine. I shall use the undercoat and do as many coats as I have enough for. Then use the Dulux for the top coat, might even have enough for 2 coats. After lockdown I can then buy some more Dulux easycare if I need more coats, I was just thinking that (should this go on for another 2 months which is likely) I'd rather have a mould/steam resistant top coat at least.


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## irw (22 Apr 2020)

I know the feeling of having to make do with what you've got at the moment! I'm in the middle of doing a lot of work in our bathroom- luckily I had the foresight to do a big click & collect Wickes order days before everything started getting really difficult, but typically, as much as I planned it down to a T, there were a couple of odd bits I missed/overlooked/have modified, which I'm now having to work out how to deal with by using what I have 'in stock'!


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## Electric_Andy (22 Apr 2020)

Yep, was preparing to regrout the tiles as well, as it was very black in places. But my sister told me about Flash Bathroom with bleach, sprayed and left it on for 5 hours, they've come up as white as a sheet. it didn't work on the bath sealer though, but I got some of that ordered from Toolstation


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## sheddy (22 Apr 2020)

You might want to give the existing walls a really good clean before painting.


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## slowmotion (22 Apr 2020)

Electric_Andy said:


> Yep, was preparing to regrout the tiles as well, as it was very black in places. But my sister told me about Flash Bathroom with bleach, sprayed and left it on for 5 hours, they've come up as white as a sheet. it didn't work on the bath sealer though, but I got some of that ordered from Toolstation


I've had really good results with Domestos. Soak strips of loo paper in the bleach and press it on to the silicone sealant as a mush. Leave it for 45 minutes before removing and washing with clean water. It should remove all traces of mould.


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## Electric_Andy (22 Apr 2020)

slowmotion said:


> I've had really good results with Domestos. Soak strips of loo paper in the bleach and press it on to the silicone sealant as a mush. Leave it for 45 minutes before removing and washing with clean water. It should remove all traces of mould.


thanks will give that a go first. I only have Harpic 10x though, or standard own brand thick bleach. I've tried similar in the past with bleach and it broke down the toilet paper, so I will try with cotton buds instead (which I have).

Edit: I did try Harpic the other day but it didn't do anyhting. I'll try bleach tonight.


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## slowmotion (22 Apr 2020)

Electric_Andy said:


> thanks will give that a go first. I only have Harpic 10x though, or standard own brand thick bleach. I've tried similar in the past with bleach and it broke down the toilet paper, so I will try with cotton buds instead (which I have).
> 
> Edit: I did try Harpic the other day but it didn't do anyhting. I'll try bleach tonight.


You need to have a way of keeping the bleach up against the silicone. The soaked loo paper mush is really good at that. It stops the bleach from wandering off. I've only ever used Domestos because it's good and gloopy.


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## MichaelW2 (22 Apr 2020)

My info is that bleach kills black mould on the surface but vinegar kills at depth ( in plaster) and for longer.


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