I have received two free products from Rust-oleum to review, the first of which is their dry wipe paint. You’ll have to watch out for another blog post to hear about the other product.
Initially before the product arrived, I had a big plan. I intended to convert son1’s wardrobe doors into a large whiteboard area that he could write on. He has always been a bit naughty about writing and drawing on walls, even fairly recently when he is old enough to know better. So I thought this would give him an area to express his creativity without getting into trouble.
However once the product arrived, I decided to downsize the plan, as when I opened the box, I found it contained two tins – a smaller tin A and a larger tin B. Reading the instructions, I was uncertain of the proportions to use of each. It talked about pouring B into A, but how much? B was bigger than A, so certainly wouldn’t all fit in tin A. It also said to apply within 10 minutes of mixing and to recoat after 2 hours. I concluded it would be best to mix some of A and B in a separate paint tray and hope that I got the proportions okay.
I therefore decided to downsize the plan to instead upcycle a small pinboard into a whiteboard. Luckily I hadn’t described the project to son1, so he won’t know there has been a change of plan. This meant there would be plenty of paint leftover to try again if my proportions were wrong. I also missed out the step to apply a primer first, since I hadn’t been sent a primer. The original email had mentioned a magnetic primer, but when I opened the package, I found this hadn’t been included. That could have added another fun element to the project, a magnetic whiteboard, as the boys love magnets.
It also recommended that for part A, the activator, you should wear protective gloves and eye protection. I don’t have any safety glasses, but I did pop a pair of disposable gloves on, before I opened the tin. I then poured some of part A into my paint tray, followed by some of part B. I mixed them together for the recommended 2 minutes before applying a first coat to the pinboard. I then washed away any spare paint from the tray and roller, ready to start again in a couple of hours time, at which point I repeated the process for the second coat.
The next thing is to allow the dry wipe surface to cure for 5 days at 20 deg C or to allow more time in cooler temperatures. I decided to wait a week in that case.
Fast forward one week and I presented the whiteboard to son1 along with a washable marker pen. I waited with bated breath whilst he wrote his first message, then I tried to rub it off initially with a piece of dry kitchen roll. This did leave a slight blue smudge, so I tried again with a wet cloth. Result, it cleaned off perfectly, ready to use again. My worry about whether I had got the proportions right was over. I was very pleased and so was son1. He is loving his new whiteboard and he can still use it as a pinboard too. A step up from his old toddler magic drawing board which he had never let me get rid of.
The RRP for Rust-oleum dry wipe paint is £34.99 and it is available from B&Q, Homebase and other leading stockists. More information is on the Rust-oleum website. The product comprises 200 ml of the activator and 800 ml of the white gloss. I’ve no idea if this is good value or not as it is such a niche product. It is obviously a lot more expensive than just purchasing a litre of gloss paint. But I do recommend this product although I would prefer it to be made clear on the instructions as to optimum proportions of part A and B. And also whether it was necessary for me to dispose of spare activated paint after coat 1, or did I misinterpret that and needlessly wasted some of the product? I don’t know.
I also noticed the tag line on the box said Trusted Quality since 1921 and that Rust-oleum products are manufactured very near to where my grandparents used to live. My grandad was a painter and decorator, so I wonder if Rust-oleum might have been his brand of choice?
So I’d love to hear what projects you would use this type of paint for?
Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.
Yet another blogging mummy!!! 