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What paint is best for wall murals?

Can I use acrylic paints on a wall that has been painted with an oil based paint?

  • After some time waiting, Im hoping to finally start some murals for a friend soon. I don't know what kind of paint they used for the walls beforehand. So what do I do if they painted the walls with an oil based paint? I've never done this before, so I don't know. Are oil and acrylics compatible on the wall? Or will it just peel off or something? Thank you for your help.

  • Answer:

    *In reply to additional details added two hours ago, the contractor will most likely use Acrylic latex in a satin gloss finish and if it is still under construction than you probaly want to make sure they do not use any kind of texturing materials on the wall where you plan to paint the mural. --------------------------------------… Unless it's a very old house, it's highly unlikely that the walls are painted with an oil based paint to begin with. Most professionals have been using latex paints for the interior of houses since the late 60's and since acrylic latex paints are significantly less expensive than oil based paints, if the home owner painted it, it’s still most likely acrylic latex. To be sure, you can perform a test in a hidden corner to see exactly what kind of paint is on the wall. If you go to someplace like Sherwin Williams, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., ask the paint department manager what he has to test the wall surface to determine what kind of paint was used. Finally, if you are going to paint a mural on the wall, I would assume that you would want to prepare the wall surface before hand anyway. Prior to painting a mural on a wall, you need to know what the wall is constructed of, what the surface treatment is, what kind of paint was used, what kind of wear the wall will be exposed to, whether the mural will need to be sealed with a clear coat, etc. My suggestion is to check out your wall where you are going to do the mural including measurements and then go to Home Depot and tell them what you want to do. They love helping people do projects like that. They usually fall all over themselves trying to be helpful in my experience. Of course they also love to make sure you have all of the materials and equipment you will need as well, so you have to be careful about that and don't let them over-sell you. Feel free to email me if you have any questions, and the very best of luck to you.

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Short answer: No. If you want it to last, that is. Acrylics directly over an oil-based painted surface will peel and chip in time. To prepare your surface, what you want to use is a "stain killer" base paint coat (or two or three coats) applied to the area you want to paint with acrylics, being sure to let each coat completely dry between coats. (You can get a stain killer in any hardware store.) The coat-applying and -drying process will take a couple days, then you are free to apply your acrylics/latex-based paints on the surface. Best of luck to you!!

yes, latex over oils is fine, however oil over latex peels, you should see my bathroom where the last owners painted!

judy_t00

You can test the wall with denatured alcohol. Put den. alcohol on cloth then rub the wall. If the paint starts coming off you know that it is latex. Oil based paints will not come off with den. alcohol. Also, it is always best to prep the area you are painting with some type of primer. If the wall is oil base, I would use an oil base primer to paint over the wall. Then you can paint with latex over that. Then the design. If you use acrylic water-based paint on an oil based wall it will peel.

Carmen B

oil will float to the top. So, an oil-based paint will continue to float to the top, even after it is dry. Not only will that change to color effect, but it will crack and peel. This is what happened to DaVinci's "The Last Supper". Ever wonder why it is so cracked and peeling, even compared to his other frescoes? Well, other than sitting behind sandbags for about 5 years during WWII (to hide and protect it from Nazis) DaVinci tried an experiment with that particular painting--he tried to mix tempera paint with oil. He tried this because temperas dried too fast for his painting style, and oils took too long. Unfortunately, this did not work. I'd say prime coat the wall (there are latex-based primers that will cancel out the oil) or just the section that you are trying to paint.

rebecca h

Oil and acrylic do not mix. So rub the wall with an abrasive sheet and apply a coat of acrylic primer.

vas

Nope, will crack and peel off. Without going into the full character of oils, suffice to say oils do not dry -- they oxidize. Thus they don't completely "seal up" for literally years. You end up with a surface that is still shrinking. You'll have to wash down and Kilz the wall to seal the oil. .

Icteridae

Test a little part of the wall where you are going to paint. If it comes off no harm done and if it doesn't then start painting you have a mural to do!!

Kate

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