Painting tips ?

[bigdog]

Need some painting tips.....

I will be painting my metal baseboard heaters

I understand that using a spray paint versus paint brush will eliminate bristle marks, but did that in the past, with not so good results, as paint ran on the surface. Maybe it was just the way I applied ?

Anyway, I want to brush on the paint, and eliminate as many bristle strokes as I can. It's been recommended I use a foam paintbrush.
What are your thoughts?

Also would be interested in knowing type of paint to use for this application.
I'm thinking a semi-gloss enamel?

Appreciate everyone's feedback.

Thanks !

[Phantom]

We did ours with standard bristle brush and Semi-gloss and had no issues.

Of course stroke everything one direction in longggg strokes as much as possible.

and if you have done this before .... you know... after it is fully dried (a day or two), open up the windows and turn the heat up high for an hour.


.

[Rattletrap]

Spray paint would be the best finish. But you'll need to sand them first then prime, then spray light coats until you get the coverage you want. 90% prep 10% paint

[chipj29]

When we bought our house in '96, it was 25 years old and all the baseboard heaters were rusty and looked like crap. I painted them all with a paint brush with regular latex paint, and they looked great. For about 5 years. We are now refreshing the house, and decided to go with Neat Heat baseboard covers. They are a bit pricey, but they look great and I will never have to paint them again. They just go on right over the original covers. I got them at Home Depot.
http://getneatheat.com/

[SAB1]

I did this about 7 years ago. I had radiators in the bathrooms that had started to rust so rather replace them I painted them. I took the panels off and sanded them lightly with a 220 grit. I got off as much rust a possible. I ran down to NAPA and bought a bottle of Rust Stop and with a foam brush put that on rusty areas. (forms a chemical reaction with the rust and turns black). Primed just those areas (spray primer) and then painted them with Appliance Enamel (Rust Oleum). They look just a good as the day I painted them

[AC2717]

a sponge brush works really well with Rustoleum paint. No brush lines.

[tummyman]

When you go to your paint supplier, ask about a Flood products like Penetrol as an additive for oil based paints. I believe they also make a product for latex. From what I understand these products help to improve flow, adhesion, and reduce brush marks. Have not used them personally, but heard good things. Ask questions from a professional paint supplier such as a Sherwin Williams dealer, etc. Also go to flood.com, click on products, then click on additives/conditioners and read about them.