# Paint that dries hard



## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

SW All Surface Enamel?


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

Try a google search to see if there is a California Paints dealer in your area. If there is, try their Ultraplate product. You can also check to see if a local Benjamin Moore dealer has Insul-x Cabinet Coat, which may also be available at your local True Value, DIY, or Ace Hardware dealer. Another alternative is Ben Moore Advance. All of these products lay out to a nice smooth finish and cure to a very hard film. The Cali Ultraplate is worth hunting down because it actually gets harder faster then the others and will need no primer over glossy finishes. Even oil based glosses.


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## expertPainter (Sep 15, 2014)

Breakthrough from PPG (or dulux if your in canada). It dries to the touch in about 20 mins


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## Jmayspaint (May 4, 2013)

expertPainter said:


> Breakthrough from PPG (or dulux if your in canada). It dries to the touch in about 20 mins



Yeah, this is stuff. Rapid drying time and only 7 days to full cure. Very hard film that has fast blocking (sticking together) resistance.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

One water based paint that I've found that dries to just as hard a film as an oil based paint is a product called "Monamel" made by the Comex Group of Mexico.

If you live in a town with any of the following paint stores:
Colorwheel Paint
Frazee Paint
Kwal Paint
Parker Paint, or
if you live in Canada, General Paint.

All of those paint store chains are operated by Comex out of Mexico City. All of them will sell Monamel. It's basically a latex paint that crosslinks as densely as an oil based paint so that it develops excellent film hardness.

Why not buy a quart of each paint suggested above and paint one set of cabinet shelves with each one. You'll then see which paint stands up the best. It's really on the shelves that you need a HARD film because of people sliding tin cans stacks of porcelain dishes and glasses over the paint. All of these items are particularily hard and so you need a hard paint film so that it won't get all scratched up and start looking dirty because of the dirt embedded in the soft paint.

I own a small apartment block, and I used to use an alkyd based polyurethane paint on my kitchen cabinet shelves. But, now that alkyd based polyurethanes are no longer available, I'm using Monamel instead. It's water based so that it's environmentally friendly, but it also dries to a hard film, which is what you need on a working surface like a shelf.


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## expertPainter (Sep 15, 2014)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> One water based paint that I've found that dries to just as hard a film as an oil based paint is a product called "Monamel" made by the Comex Group of Mexico.
> 
> If you live in a town with any of the following paint stores:
> Colorwheel Paint
> ...


My problem with Monamel is it spits when sprayed. 

I think Sherwin Williams in the states is going to be carrying it soon since the big buyout. Here in Canada they've already started merging the stores.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

I vote for breakthrough as well. Monamel does dry hard takes forever to dry.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

AlphaWolf said:


> I vote for breakthrough as well. Monamel does dry hard takes forever to dry.


I haven't noticed any difference in drying time using Monamel versus any other water based paint I've used. Perhaps I just wasn't paying enough attention, but it seemed to dry normally for me.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

Monamel from general paints says right on the can don't top coat for 24 hours. Also I noticed seems to say more when sprayed u need to watch out. Trade off tho is amazing leveling.


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