Bleeding in Paints: What It Is and How to Prevent It

It’s one thing to get ghosted on a first date, it’s another to experience the haunting of your ex after a break-up. All the memories still linger, even after you try to cover it up. Sorry, did I get all too sentimental? I forgot we were talking about paints for a minute. Well, that’s the metaphor for bleeding, one troublesome paint problem that can happen when you skip a crucial part of the painting process. 

What exactly is bleeding? It’s what you call when an old layer of paint becomes visible through a newer topcoat. Basically, it’s like the coating of a past paint job haunting the present. If you’re aiming for a clean, elegant repaint, then this is definitely something you want to avoid.

Top Paint Tips to Avoid Bleeding in Paints

Prime First

The surest way to guarantee old paint doesn’t bleed over a new one is to prime with a white primer. When repainting concrete walls in particular, it’s usually fine to paint over old latex paint that is still in good condition. But, when you want to repaint with a lighter color from a darker one, give your walls at least one coat of a good primer like Boysen Permacoat Flat Latex.

Besides preventing bleeding, applying a topcoat’s designated primer also ensures the right color comes out. This particularly goes for those bright reds and yellows that need a colored primer.

Apply Enough Coats and Don’t Apply Too Thinly 

How many coats also affect how well the finish is at hiding old paint. Most paints require two to three layers of topcoat. Having not enough and it may not suffice to properly hide old paint.

There’s also a proper technique when applying the topcoat to avoid bleeding of the old paint. Spread the paint evenly over the surface, and don’t spread it too thin.

Avoiding old paint from bleeding is also the same reason not to reduce your paints too thinly. For water-based paints especially, these products are used-as-supplied. It should have good applicability anyway. If you really need to reduce the viscosity, do not mix more than 1/2 liter of clean water for every four liters of paint. For other kinds of paint that use a specific reducer, make sure to also follow the maximum reducer to paint ratio. Besides affecting hiding quality, paint that’s been reduced too much may not adhere properly on the surface at all. 

Paint with High-Quality Products

At the end of the day, the general rule when painting on various surfaces is to paint with good-quality products. Trusted products like those that come from Boysen’s line of paints have good adherence and long-term durability. A characteristic of a good product is also good hiding to ensure that, with enough coats, the paint gets to cover what needs to be covered, without the final color being affected. 

Low-quality paints are likely to let old paint bleed. This would make you apply more coats just to cover it up. It might not be cost-effective in the long run if you use these cheaper products with poor hiding. 

Prevent Bleeding for a Perfect Paint Finish

It’s not the end of the world when old paint comes through your repaint. When it happens, you’ll just need to repaint with the right intervention usually by applying a primer or using a product with good hiding. Though, it will save you additional resources by avoiding it in the first place.

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