white knight tile paint

[richmond]

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera, so I can't give you pictures, but just wanted to let all know that we've used White Knight tile paint to do the tiles in our kitchen and bathroom in a current reno... we've also used it on the floors, and the transformation is excellent, and the enamel finish stands up well... I'd recommend it for a quick cheap facelift... If I can borrow my brother's digital camera I'll take some pics...

Cheers
r

[geoffw]

I've used it, and it came up well.

But there were still brush marks (I may have done it incurrectly), so I would not use it for a classy reno.

[Aceyducey]

We use a roller when painting tiles.

If you end up with marks you can sand them back & reroll.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[T.P.]

I have just used this also, and was quite impressed with the results.Sure beats retiling!! The one lesson I learnt was that prep. has to be spot on. Any silicone from previous patch ups has to be removed.I thought I got it all,but missed a couple of spots.It doesn`t stand out at a quick glance, but I`m a bit fussy and it annoyed me greatly.
Also used "tub`n`tile" to repaint a tired {and yellow!!}bath. Same thing; prep is everything.

Regards , Terry

[keg75]

could you use an airgun like the painters use to cover the floor & walls? No streaks or brush hairs in the paint. These can be hired from you local Hire company.

cheers Keg75

[wombat]

I have also been very happy with the results of White Knight Tile paint, I was painting over those very small tiles 1" square - and brush marks didn't seem to show. I had 15 showers to do and unfortunately White Knight paints only come in 1ltr cans and is rather expensive. What I have started to use for showers is firstly I prepare the surface with ESP (Easy Surface Preparation) which can be purchased at any paint outlet and then simply slap on 2 coats of full gloss enemal paint and leave it for two weeks to let it cure. I have done the shower walls and floor in this way. Looks great so far but I'll check out the condition when my renter leaves the premises in a couple of months. I've done two using White Knight and I've done two so far using enemal paint. I'll post an update when I get in to see the wear and tear.

wombat

[Simon]

I used it too. Great result.

Only complaint was that it is hard paint to use. Took three hours per coat for a medium bathroom.

Cheers,

[Aceyducey]

Wombat,

Would be interested in hearing your results - we've considered the same thing & will be testing it on our back bathroom.

If you look at the ingredients in White Knight the product is basically a marketing concept not a new & unique approach.

That given - unless you're doing a lot of tiles & are experienced with this type of thing, White Knight is an ideal solution :)

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[wombat]

ACDC and the rest


Yeah,

White Knight Solution

White Knight Tile Cleaner ~ 20 bucks
White Knight Primer 1 ltr ~ 25 bucks
White Knight Tile Paint 1 ltr ~ 29 bucks

Just enough for 1 shower and batroom floor > 70 bucks x 15 ~ > $ 1000 paint.

Enemal Paint Solution

Using enemal ~ 200 bucks for 20 litres (heaps left over for touch ups)
ESP ~ 60 bucks

...just need to confirm the performance.

As with anything in this world - "time will tell".

Remind me in a couple of months to post the results.

wombat

[itinerantotter]

Looks great so far but I'll check out the condition when my renter leaves the premises in a couple of months. I've done two using White Knight and I've done two so far using enemal paint. I'll post an update when I get in to see the wear and tear.


I'd be really interested in your opinion after a few months of wear. I'm a big ESP fan. :D

Cheers

[Glenn]

ACDC and the rest


Yeah,

White Knight Solution

White Knight Tile Cleaner ~ 20 bucks
White Knight Primer 1 ltr ~ 25 bucks
White Knight Tile Paint 1 ltr ~ 29 bucks

Just enough for 1 shower and batroom floor > 70 bucks x 15 ~ > $ 1000 paint.

Enemal Paint Solution

Using enemal ~ 200 bucks for 20 litres (heaps left over for touch ups)
ESP ~ 60 bucks

...just need to confirm the performance.

As with anything in this world - "time will tell".

Remind me in a couple of months to post the results.

wombat

Hi Wombat,

Can we assume that you have not bothered to prime the surface after using the ESP product?

Glenn

[Jas]

Hi Wombat,

Can we assume that you have not bothered to prime the surface after using the ESP product?

Glenn
That's what the paint man told me. ESP ecthes the surface, so no need to create a sticky new surface with primer...

Jas

[Kristine..]

I have also been very happy with the results of White Knight Tile paint, I was painting over those very small tiles 1" square - and brush marks didn't seem to show. I had 15 showers to do and unfortunately White Knight paints only come in 1ltr cans and is rather expensive. What I have started to use for showers is firstly I prepare the surface with ESP (Easy Surface Preparation) which can be purchased at any paint outlet and then simply slap on 2 coats of full gloss enemal paint and leave it for two weeks to let it cure. I have done the shower walls and floor in this way. Looks great so far but I'll check out the condition when my renter leaves the premises in a couple of months. I've done two using White Knight and I've done two so far using enemal paint. I'll post an update when I get in to see the wear and tear.

wombat


G'day Wombat

One year down the track, how are the various finishes holding up?

I am about to paint the tiles in a 1970s bathroom. Three different patterns of tiles, some have been used as repairs over the years, visually challenging!

Before I spend the next couple of days squished into the shower stall, I'd like to hear how the White Knight holds up to reasonable wear & tear.

Thanks

Kristine

Actually, Wombat posted in March, 2004, so perhaps anybody who has had at least twelve months could comment? And what about tiled floors - any experiences with painting the floors?

[alwayscurious]

HI there. I am planning on using the cheaper but still visually effective enamel paint for a reno & resale.

What brands have you been using besides white knight ($$)

ALso - same for tub & tile paint?

good tip with the ESP I will definitely use this!

Cheers all

alwayscurious

WOOO WOOO sorry. Still excited about recent developments WOOOO.

[wombat]

Kristine,

Results of the experiment are..

The shower walls and vanity splash backs have really performed well, both White Knight and standard Enamel paint still look as good as the day I painted them. Every body who sees them are impressed. –but – floors are a different story. White Knight or Enamel just doesn’t cut it. While it looks better than what they were previously, cleaner and brighter, its not very hardwearing – need constant touch ups. White Knight performs better on the floors than the Enamel but still requires touching up, wet area’s have a tougher time than the dry area’s.

The ideal solution for me is to re-tile over the existing ugly tiles, and paint all non traffic tile area’s. I will be doing the tiling short course at Holmsglen tafe and then I will be using these area’s to practice my newly acquired skill as I enjoy doing this kind of stuff.

wombat

[Simon]

Checked the ingredients on the White Knight Tile Cleaner and a bottle of sugar soap at about 25% of the price.

Identical.

I rang the White Knight helpline to ask if there was anything else in it as I didn't want to make a big mistake and wreck the job by using sugar soap. She freely admitted it was expensive sugar soap :-)

BTW my tile paint is still holding up after 10 months and five uni students.....

[wombat]

Simon - did you use is for Walls or Floors?

wombat

[Simon]

Just on the walls. Wasn't game to try the floors - I couldnt imagine it being that hard wearing.

[Jas]

I rang the White Knight helpline to ask if there was anything else in it as I didn't want to make a big mistake and wreck the job by using sugar soap. She freely admitted it was expensive sugar soap :-)


I find this interesting... the smell of tilecleaner can drive me out of a room - its not an ammonia smell, but it has something in it that catches my breath.

Sugar soap on the other hand I can work with all day and have no problems.

Just checked my cupbaord, selley's sugar soap has no listed active ingrediant, whereas my white knight tile clear lists akaline salts as the thing that drives me from the room.

What have you got?

Jas

[Simon]

Jas,

From memory it was the alkaline salts that was the common ingredient. As a % it was almost identical in both products.

Give White Knight a call.

Cheers,

[house proud]

I have just been to the site at http://www.notgoodenough.org/ I note that White Knight Paints has a discussion on there at present (number 10 on the gripes list, but I think this is more discussion than actual gripes) anyway, a company rep is looking into a query on the site maybe post a query on there and ask him to check it out for you.

cheers House Proud

[DD1]

I am so happy to be able to benifit from others experience and experiments. I will use the tile paint on my next reno in Feb. I do several renos a year although mostly cosmetic, so anything that will lift the appearance of old tiles will greatly help my rent return and in turn my bottom line.

Thanks so much to all for your valuable input.

DD1

[Eee]

great discussion.

We are doing a huge area with the tile paint and the laminate paint. I have a huge bucket of Tricleanium here - what do you think about using that instead of the WK cleaner?

[knightm]

I have used this product on kitchen cupboards and shower tiles, I don't think the particular cleaning product you use is so vital, as long as the surface is very clean - no soap scum or greasy bits of any kind that will form a layer between primer and tile. On the tiles I also gave them a light sand, seemed to help.

[Alia]

Hi

Bathroom:

Painting: Looking for testimonials about success longterm of painting tiles and a bathtub and in the shower (tiled walls only). How do they take wear and tear and cleaning?

Has anyone successfully painted a bathtub and it's stood the test of time without scratching off or being hard to clean?

We have a lovely (not) peach acrylic tub.

Wombat in a 2004 post used White Knight products. Anyone used new/different products since then?

Basin: Anyone know websites I could buy a bathroom basin cheaper than instore?

Kitchen: Has anyone succesfully painted laminex? We have a warm creamy yellow matt laminex in the kitchen. Would like it to be white gloss. If we use enamel, can anyone suggest a suitable undercoat to prepare the surface?

Cheers
Alia

[kaf]

Hi

I’ve just finished a bathroom reno for an IP using the white knight tile paint and am really happy with the result. I’ve never used it before and had my first go at tiling and grouting too (adding a small decorative strip of tiles over the top) – it was fun (just takes a bit of patience)!! So I’ll spell out the process in a bit more detail for those who might be thinking of trying it but have never used the stuff.

I painted the ceiling and wall first (2 coats), then washed all the tiles with the cleaner that’s part of the white knight “system”. As others have said this is really important to do properly so that the primer sticks.

Primer took ages to put on but is easy to work with and just requires a brush. I was really careful to get it into the grout lines as well so it took about 3h but mine is a pretty big bathroom. Half way through the shower I realised that the previous owner / handyman had gone wild on the silicone and the primer will not paint over that. I had to wash the primer off again and decided to leave the original tiles in the shower bare (luckily they were ok and uni-colour).

I then glued the decorative tiles above the existing tiles and let that dry over night. Next day I started the first coat of the tile paint. As others have said it’s quite viscous and dries quickly. Initially I used a brush but I just couldn’t get the coat thin enough so that it wouldn’t run down the tiles.

So in the end I used a “little ripper” (10cm long) mohair roller (which is meant to work with enamel paint) in one hand to put the paint on and a brush in the other hand. The roller allowed me to get the paint on thinly but did leave lots of little bubbles (maybe try the finest foam roller you can find but I didn’t have one). I ended up covering about 0.5m2 at the time with the roller and then running the brush over it to smooth out the finish. This worked really well as I needed the brush anyway to cut in at the edges and around taps etc. The other big advantage of the roller is that it breaks the skin of the paint easily (dries over very quickly) and you can wet-edge much easier that way (and go back for another 20mins or so without leaving permanent marks). Trying to wet-edge with the brush alone left streaks I found.

The tin said 6h between coats but I thought after that time it was still a bit sticky so I left it over night and then put the second coat on. Same procedure and it took just as long again. 3h each coat and the primer … yes, it’s not a quick process! Left the second coat over night and grouted the tiles next day. Paint was good and dry by then and grouting didn’t leave any marks, however because of the small size of the tiles I mainly used my hands for grouting anyway (and find myself with very smooth hands today :D ).

I did the bathroom as part of a larger reno so I could stretch the bathroom reno over 5 days as I had other things to do in between. If you wanted to do this over a weekend you’d have to time things carefully I would say. I’m very glad I gave it a go myself. I had 2 quotes both coming in at ca. $2500 for having it done professionally and I would have still had to paint the ceiling and do the tiling myself. Instead the material for tile painting was less than $150 and I’m happy with the result –so all good!

kaf

[sunshine]

WOW kaf looks fantastic.

Certainly looks like an expensive reno. I love the tiles you added at the top, gives it that little bit extra.

Well done on a great job.

sunshin

[Simon]

I did a bathroom 3.5 years ago and it has been used by 5 students since.

Surface has lasted well with no worn paint at all.

Was hard to paint with as it is so thick and you can see brushmarks if you look close - but for a $100 reno it is well worth it.

From memory the White Knight Surface cleaner they say you must use is just overpriced sugar soap - i might be wrong so just check the ingredients!

[Eee]

we have just done one with white knight in a nice warm neautral colour called "raw cotton". we got a painter top do it since he was here painting the rest of the house anyway. although realistically the labour cost will of been $2-3K. IT was a really foul ensuit, very large, white and black very slippery floor tiles with black grout. Sower had floral not even of all the same sort. Some were cut strangely and laying was not done from one side so there were cut tiles on each edge. We have bought all new taps, satin chrome towel rails, soap dishes, toilet roll holder, wall mounted toilet brush etc and we are also going to get some new towels. So far it looks much much better than it was. We also painted our mirror frame in a rich deep colour and that looks really good too. I will get a photo when I can and post it.

[kaf]

WOW kaf looks fantastic.

Certainly looks like an expensive reno. I love the tiles you added at the top, gives it that little bit extra.

Well done on a great job.

sunshin

Thanks very much sunshine :).

I also like that you can have the white knight paint in any colour - I chose the Dulux fair bianca white which is a bit warmer, bit like raw cotton.

kaf