# Have You Used Chalkboard Paint?



## Admin (Dec 8, 2003)

> If you’re a crafty person, you’re probably familiar with chalkboard paint. Perhaps you’ve used it to create a custom to-do list for refrigerator or a grocery list for the pantry. This fun and versatile medium can be used for a wide variety of different things. *What Can You Do with Chalkboard Paint? 8 Fun Ideas*


Have you used chalkboard paint for DIY projects?

What creative ways have you found to use it?


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I personally haven't used the blackboard paint, but a friend of ours painted one of their garage walls with it. Their children could draw on the blackboard painted wall but none of the other walls in their home. She also used the wall to make her shopping list up higher, so the kids couldn't reach. I thought that was a cool idea.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

As with Jim, my experience is second hand as a friend used it in her kitchen as the bulletin/communication board/calendar to run her family and it worked well.


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## NickTheGreat (Jul 25, 2014)

We did it on the end of our big pantry cupboard. So it's counter-width and as high as the upper cabinets.

My advice would be to put down a few layers of the magnetic primer. Then it's a chalkboard and a magnetic board. 

I didn't want to paint directly to the cabinet, so I used a 1/8" piece of high quality plywood. I wish I hadn't, because even with the three layers of primer and 2 coats of paint, you can still see the wood grain, making it _slightly_ harder to write on.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Yeah, having a pretty smooth surface helps quite a bit. We have some walls in our office painted with white board paint and it's even more important there.


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

+1 about the smooth walls. Even rolled-on paint has a texture. If I had it to do again I'd sand, first. Probably primer, too. Also, do several coats.

I did a small section of wall at our marina. I surrounded it with window trim so it looks like a bulletin board. We used to have a white board, but people kept using permanent markers on it, or cleaning it with Windex, which removed the non-stick surface and made even dry-erase markers permanent.

I'll probably add a couple more coats over the winter, but so far it's worked pretty well.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I've applied chalkboard paint several times for customers but never for myself or friends/family so I don't really know how it does long term.


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## ttiiggy (Mar 1, 2010)

When the kids were young, we put up some white bath panels on their walls that they could draw on with dry erase markers. Could even write with regular felt pen and wipe off with rubbing alcohol.


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## Chris86 (Oct 15, 2018)

I have a wall in my kitchen that I painted with chalk board paint. I used 3 coats and the wall was white before I started. It has been painted this way for 8 months and is holding up well. My kids use it as a chalk board to keep them off my other walls lol. Only downside is that the longer you leave chalk on it the harder it is to get the chalk off. But if your doing it so your kids have something to write on its great.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Jan 12, 2018)

Give the entire painted surface a light dusting with the long side of chalk before writing. It helps when it comes time to erase.


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## Denier (Oct 18, 2018)

Just my two cents...

Krylon is only slightly better than Rustoleum.....I have tried using self-etching primer,rusto semi gloss, rusto flat black, rusto chalkboard, rusto clear coat semi gloss, rusto clear coat matte, and Krylon fusion flat black. Krylon is much better but after a week it can still be scratched off. I am about to try rusto metallic on the reccomendation from deadlyapollo. I really could have just bought a can of duracot or all the money I spent on these paint and would never have to dream about any scratches or stuff affecting the finish. Paint stripper from rusto is awesome and is quicker than steel wool, a dremel, or sandpaper. and other input would be much appreciated.

I also did a wall with magnetic paint like this https://besttoolexpert.com/chalkboard-paint/ in my son's bedroom. It is very magnetic but it needed 3 or 4 coats and it is very difficult to apply as it has metallic particles in it. We did magnetic poetry on it and he could put up photographs, school notices etc. It would have taken a bigger poster but would nave needed lots of magnets. It is hard to get the surface level becaue of the particles going clumpy but after lots of perseverence and 3 x as much paint as I thought would be involved it was sucessful.


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## noahenholm (Oct 18, 2020)

they are great for just about anyone who wants a mess-free, dust-free and easy to use alternative to the old dusty chalks. If you own a restaurant, they are great for updating your menu boards, or marking just about anything in your house.


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