Glossing Doors with Dulux Aquanamel Hi Gloss

Does anyone know how to get a good gloss finish on flat internal doors with Dulux Aquanamel? A large flat surface shows up all the faults. Aquanamel drying so quickly doesn't help either.

The paint just will not settle no matter how I thin it. I was told I would get an "exceptionally ultra smooth finish" with the product and would love to know how I can achieve this.

Help! Please

If you want a good finish with this paint, add some Floods Floetrol to the paint, then thin the paint down as per Dulux instructions and spray paint it on a cool day.

Sorry Jaguar, but I don't need any more time wasting general advice to experiment with. I need a proven solution to my problem.

I've sanded, prepped and painted 28 door surfaces using differing ratios of every paint thinner and technique you can think of. Aquanamel does not even do what it states on the tin, i.e. "ultra smooth finish", so I don't wish to read the instructions on the can for the 100th time.

Sorry if I sound a little abrupt, but you sound like Dulux technical staff who quote the instructions on the can as you have and the instructions do not achieve an "exceptional, ultra smooth finish" as Dulux in store advertisments and the can claims. If the instructions work, please post a pic showing the results.

This is advice Dulux technical staff gave me yesterday on painting doors and I find it utterly ridiculous of them to suggest it as brush marks in Aquanamel (fastdrying as it states on the can) do not settle;
"Working on areas no larger than 40-50cm at a time. The best practise is to apply generously, lightly tipping off the product just once after each 2x 40-50cm sections have been applied, lightly blending the 2 sections together. No further brushing after this, or the coating will become overworked, and more likely to dry with brush marks. When using a roller, a 9-10mm nap cover will achieve the best results, as it will hold plenty of product, ensuring that enough product is being applied to maintain a wet edge. After rolling on the coating, again, lightly tip off the
paint once with a brush, and leave the coating to settle. It will appear to have brush marks at first, but they will settle out, as long as enough product has been applied."

Aquanamel dries that quick; can you imagine blending 40-50 cm squares with a brush?

Go to Bunnings and buy a really small roller. They are about 1" in diameter (3mm). I'm not sure if they are specifically labelled as door rollers, but that's what we use. Just ask one of the old guys (not the young ones). Brilliant finish.

Are these rollers you're talking about for oil based enamel or water based paint?

Sorry I wasted my time offering you a proven solution that works! I've painted more doors than days you have lived with Enamels, Acrylic, Aquanamels, Two Pack, in paints and varnishes

Obviously you have had great success following the advice of the Dulux Technical Gurus and I suggest you continue to follow it, as it has proven so great. All the shiny glossy samples you see in the stores have been spray painted not brushed, not rolled.

Next time I'll keep my advice to myself and offer nothing, I'll just lurk around the forum and laugh at those who have a greater wisdom than myself but are still not capable of completing the work they set out to do.

I suppose it's like the saying goes "You can lead a donkey to water but you cant make it drink"

Good Luck with your finish

Awkward reading.
Step away from the doors, mate.

Obviously my expectations are greater than yours. I would never assume as you have that I have more experience than you. My point is your advice was minimal and worthless to anyone. You prove this by your constant assumptions and unqualified responses. It might be better for everyone if you kept in the background.

I know they sprayed the samples in Melbourne and watered the paint down about 50/50 and this voids your warranty on the paint. So any claims Dulux make about their product cannot relate to watering the paint down to the extent the warranty is voided, which means their advertising is in the least misleading.

I painted a door very recently with Dulux Aquanamel and had awful trouble getting a nice glossy, consistent finish with it. I think I ended up sanding off 4 coatings in a row because I wasn't happy with the result. I'm not a professional painter by any means so my advice is just based on my very limited experience, so take it with a grain of salt if you like! The first thing I would suggest is that you spray paint for the best result - I tried rolling and it looked quite horrible, no matter how evenly I tried to roll I just couldn't blend the edges smoothly enough and I kept getting lines.

I ended up using an air sprayer (Iwata HVLP spray gun) and thinned the paint with a product called Latext X-tender from Xim, which was recommend (and sold to me) by the guy at my local Dulux centre. I ended up having to thin the paint more than the Dulux guy recommended -he suggested I thin no more than 5% and I ended up adding somewhere around 10-15%. Also, you're probably doing this already but I think it's quite important to filter the paint - I just used one of the cheap filters that come in a 3 pack from Bunnings. I also mixed the paint extremely well just before spraying.

Time of day and weather/humidity is important too - I tried to paint when it was cool outside and it hadn't been raining (so low humidity). I gave the door two priming coats (Dulux Total Prep from memory), sanding after each coat with a fine grade (from memory maybe it was 240 grit) sandpaper. For the top coat I did two coats, in between the coats I gave it a really fine wet sand with 1200 grit sandpaper; I think this step was extremely important to getting a satisfactory glossy finish. My final result was probably not absolutely perfect (although I'm probably being too self-critical) however after failing to get a satisfactory result with all the other methods I tried I was more than satisfied with it.

Sounds like you have been through the same process I have. I went to Dulux Trade Centre 11 months ago, the guy their asked 6 different tradies if they had successfully used Aquanamel, 4 tradies laughed and said they wouldn't touch it, 1 said he used it as the customer insisted, but wouldn't use it given a choice. The last tradie said it took him and his 3 workmates 18 months to work out the best mix to roll and brush was; 1 capful of Latex Extender and 5-10% water in a 4 litre tin and the finish still isn't the best. Only alternative is to spray it like you have with more water than recommended. Funny part about spraying it is that even though the can says you can spray it, Bunnings told me you can't because it needs to be watered down too much and gave me a refund on the used spray gun I bought.