Spray Paint in Winter
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Being a DIY enthusiast is challenging when you live in Minnesota. Most every paint, stain, and sealer says you must use them in a well ventilated area (a.k.a. not inside) when temperatures are above 50 degrees. Well, for us in the great northern state, that is only possible about six months of the year. I do avoid doing most paint and stain applications when it’s cold outside, but I figured out a way to spray paint in winter for smaller objects (not furniture). This method is tedious, but if there’s a piece you really want to paint and the winter is just setting in, maybe you can’t wait. That’s what happened with my lamps.
I recently found this pair of outdated brass lamps on Craigslist and thought I’d take a chance on making them great. I went and bought a can of spray primer and spray paint from Walmart and devised a plan to paint these suckers, even though it was exactly 25 degrees outside. Check out the full DIY here.
RULE 1. Clean Item to Be Spray Painted Rigorously
The reason the can says to only paint when it’s warmer than 50 degrees is because colder temperatures affect adhesion. This would imply no spray paint in winter. This means you must make sure nothing else is hindering the paint from adhering like; dust, grime, or a glossy finish. Prep your surface by thoroughly cleaning and potentially sanding it before you paint.
RULE 2. Primer is necessary to Spray Paint in Winter
Again, to help with adhesion.
RULE 3. Keep Item & Paints Indoors Until Just Before Use
Your item and paint should be stored at inside room temperature until immediately before painting. I kept my lamps & cans of paint in the foyer. When I was ready to put on a coat of paint, I brought them outside, sprayed, let it sit for about 2-4 minutes, then brought them inside my house.
RULE 4. Bring the Item Indoors After EVERY Coat
This rule is the most important! Your paint cannot dry or adhere properly if it’s not at a decent temperature for the majority of the time between coats. Again, minimize the time your item and cans of paint are outside in the cold temperatures for good results.
RULE 5. Store Item in Well Ventilated Area Indoors During Drying Time
Between each coat of primer or paint, I brought the lamps to my bathroom to dry. I opened the small window, turned on the ceiling fan, and closed the bathroom door. Basically this sucked cold air from outside into my house and through the fan to the attic, creating air flow. Of course this wasn’t easy on our heating bill, but it wasn’t so bad. The bathroom never got colder than 50 degrees, even with the window open and it being 25 degrees outside.
RULE 6. Avoid the Spray Paint Smell in Your House
The majority of the smell is caused by actually spray painting (which is why you do that part outside). Since I closed the door to my well ventilated room, the smell was contained to just the bathroom pretty well and went away as soon as the paint dried fully. If the smell is bothering you, just light a candle in the bathroom when you’re all finished and the smell should be gone in about an hour.
That’s how I did it! I’m happy to say the project was a success! The lamp bases are now painted and beautiful. I thought trying to spray paint in winter would yield bad results, but taking the rules into consideration I outlined above made the end result just the same as if I had painted in the summer. If you are too impatient to paint that picture frame, vase, or sign until it’s 50 degrees outside, follow my rules and you too can spray paint in winter!
You’ll have to stay tuned to see the final lamp makeover, complete with a DIY homemade lamp shade. Sign up for my newsletter and get an email notification when my new posts are published! I sure would love to connect with you. Thanks for reading & happy spray painting!
Thank you for the tips! I would have loved to see the final result of your project after completion.
The finished version of the lamps is in this blog post: https://www.welcome-to-the-woods.com/diy-lamp-shade-base/ Enjoy!
I live in Vermont and needed this how to. This was so helpful! Thank you for taking the time to post this.
Hi! I have a question.
I see your 4 cans of pant pictured at the bottom of your article. Two seem to be paint + primers, one seems to be just paint, and one is a gloss.
In your article you mentioned that you first sprayed your lamp with primer, then sprayed your lamp with paint.
So…which cans pictured did you use? I don’t see a can of *just* primer in the picture.
I’m spray painting a handmade gift so I don’t want to mess it up :). Thanks a bunch. I’m from MN too btw. Eden Prairie.
Hi Valerie!
The ones pictured aren’t the exact ones I used in the project. I did buy a can of just Rustoleum primer and then a can of rustoleum paint + primer. This is because I was painting on an extremely high gloss surface (brass and ceramic lamp bases). If you are painting on something not as glossy, you can just use the paint + primer in one. If you’re worried about it because it’s a gift, just use the primer first in case 🙂
Stay safe in the coming snow storm Valerie and good luck with your handmade gift <3
Melissa
Thank you so much for detailing your efforts, Valerie. I’m wondering if you have ever sprayed a clear gloss on a shiny surface in the winter. I make glass plate flowers and can’t rough up the back of my shiny plate and have been using a gloss sealer to keep the paint from peeling when I make these in the warmer months. Do you think I could use your process without roughing up the plate?
thanks again for your help,
Joan
Yes I think you could use my process to protect your plates with sealer 🙂
Thanks so much! I need to know this is Pennsylvania! Love the ideas with the Buffalo shower curtain. Going to check out Walmart today! Nancy
I hope you find some buffalo check fabric that will work!
I just stumbled across your video and really enjoyed! Very excited for the great ideas you SHARE Thankyou!
Awesome! 🙂
Thanks so much Melissa! I live in Maine, and as the temperatures are starting to average closer to freezing, I was just lamenting having to put all my diy projects on hold till the spring! Thanks for the tips.
-Anna
Good luck!
I also live in Maine and was just fretting doing a DIY spray painting an old rotary phone this was helpful in the 5 degrees today..it would have never dried out there and I didn’t think about it!
This is so helpful and while it was concise I learned a little more about airflow and spray paint than I already knew. I hope you keep making content!
Thanks!
Hello Melissa, Much appreciated your post. I had ruined my first winter project but after reading your rules and tips regarding spray paint in winter. I am hopeful that will do that project agin in beeter way. Thanks again.
How do you paint MDF?
Sand lightly and make sure to use a primer or paint+primer in one.
I’ve done this technique myself with great results, but there have been some flops. Spray+primer has never failed me, but enamel seems to give me the most trouble. I think that when the temperature is very cold the droplets can actually freeze before they hit the piece. Even if the paint in the can is room temperature.
The technique absolutely works, just not with all types of paint. If I’m unsure, I’ll test on a scrap of wood or cardboard to test a new paint before risking my project piece. Better to be safe than sorry.
And if you do have this issue, you’ll find that your paint won’t dry/cure… ever. I’ve set pieces in front of a space heater with 9% humidity and had them still be tacky two days later.
The solution is to cover the piece with baby powder or diatomaceous earth powder, brush off, then lightly sand, reprime, and repaint with a different paint. If you do have this result, don’t panic. You can fix it.
Overall, I love this page and agree that it’s right to test our limits and find out what we really can do!
Great advice! Thank you!
Thank you! I came on here on a whim because I have big plywood hearts that I MUST paint for my friend’s impromptu wedding in less than 2 weeks and it is finally a balmy 45 degrees outside. The spray paint and hearts are inside toasty warm already, and thanks to this article I now have confidence to paint them this afternoon… well just one side. It should me warm enough again later this week for the other side.