Make Your Sink Look Like New! Too Easy!

By no means am I a home decorator. The most I've done in that department would be painting the walls. That's how deep my skills run in the decorating department.

I'm a business owner. I own a pet grooming business. I am a little embarrassed to say that the top photo was the condition of the grooming tub in my mobile grooming unit. I have been in business for five years. The grooming tub has seen its fair share of filthy pets, spilled shampoo's, spilled gel-coat and traveling all over the county. The tub has worked hard for me, and it was still in good shape, but not visually. Often, my clients come into the mobile unit. The first thing they would see is this filthy tub! It was not very professional looking, for sure. There are no cracks, or chips on it, but it looked awful! I felt replacing the tub, just because it looked awful, was a little drastic. But what else could I do to make it look better? Then, I thought of it!

I have jet ski's. Being a water toy, the hull and the deck need to be coated with a water resistant product every so often. I don't like working with gel coat at all. The fumes are very dangerous, it's fickle to apply, and usually looks terrible when I'm done. So I'm looking for a product that I can paint on and get good results that will behave somewhat like gel coat. I came across this product. I was sold first by the great reviews I read. Many of the comments mentioned other ways they had used the product besides painting the deck of their boat. One man commented that he used it to painted his sink! I thought, "Wow, that is nice!" The comments also included testimonies of how easy it was to apply. So, I bought two pints!

I didn't know which type of applicator would work best with this product, so I picked up a variety pack of brushes at the local hardware store.

First, I sanded the tub to remove any shiny surface area. If the surface is shiny the new paint won't adhere to it very well.

Second, I used Acetone to wipe down the sanded tub to remove any leftover dust, dirt and oils.

Next, I made sure there was plenty of ventilation in the area I was working.

I put on a pair of plastic gloves, opened one of the pints of this paint, and used a plastic stick to mix it up. I used a scooping motion as I stirred, from the bottom of the can to the top, to mix up any product that may have settled at the bottom.

Now it was time to apply it. Starting at the back side, furthest away from me, at the top, I laid a coat on. I made sure it wasn't thick enough to drip.

Then, I moved down and painted on another layer, and so on to the bottom of the tub.

Last, I painted the area nearest to me, starting at the top and worked my way down as before.

I found that keeping a "wet-edge" on my brush worked best. I also found that applying one layer worked best. Of course, sometimes I had to go back over a spot. I would make sure I had a "wet-edge" when I did, and used a very light stroke.

Try to go back over it as little as possible. The paint will settle itself into a smooth sheen and when you go over the area again, it doesn't take it very well.

I didn't like the sponge kind of brush. It wasn't strong enough for this paint. It immediately began to separate and tear from the applicator!

I found a soft, wide, brush worked best. I was able to scoop enough product onto the brush that I could apply it in one sweep. Again, if you need to go over a spot you missed, be sure to dip the brush so you have that "wet-edge" or you may end up "pulling" the paint and that looks terrible.

When I was done, I checked for drips. If I found any I used my "wet-edge" to swipe them up. Then I left it to dry overnight. This product does take longer to dry than regular paint, but it is well worth it. Just look how beautiful the tub is now!!

For my tub just one coat did a fine job. If you have drips or sags you want to remove, use a sanding block with a 150 paper or higher. Sand until the drip, or sag, is gone. You can either paint on another coat, or use a rubbing compound to bring the shine back.

This is not a water based paint. Mineral Spirits will make easy work out of the clean-up job!

You can do this!