Surface Prepartion

• In order to make sure that the finished paint will stick to the vinyl laminate surface, the surface must be thoroughly sanded. If individual boards will be painted, consider using a belt sander to completely remove the vinyl laminate. If painting kitchen cabinets, use a 5 1/2 inch or random orbit sander and a small, detail sander with a triangular shaped head to sand all the surfaces and into the small corners. Generally speaking, primers and paints will not stick to vinyl surfaces. After sanding, remove all sanding dust with a tack cloth before applying primer.
  
  

Choosing the Primer

• Choose a high quality, solvent-based primer which is compatible with the finish paint coating. Alkyd oil based primers are well suited for this application. Another primer which performs well in this application is shellac and alcohol based, pigmented primers. Shellac based primers offer superior adhesion properties to all substrates. These primers dry quickly, are compatible with all formula finish paints, sand smooth and will prepare a vinyl laminate surface for the finish top coats.
  
  

Alkyd Enamels

• Apply at least two coats of finish enamel to any painting project when painting over vinyl laminates. Alkyd enamels dry slowly, but offer a superior performance in the areas of durability and chip resistance. Alkyd oil enamels are available in high gloss or semi gloss finishes, and can be found in all major paint retailers.
  
  

Polyurethane Acrylic Enamel

• Polyurethane acrylic enamels feature many of the same properties which alkyd oil enamels provide. Polyurethane acrylic enamels are a hard shell, gloss-finish paint which is highly durable. When compared to alkyd based paints, polyurethane acrylics chip more easily. So if painting an item which will be heavily used, like a kitchen cabinet, while an acrylic enamel may be easier to apply, the alkyd enamel may be a better choice.
  
  

Paints to Avoid

• When painting over vinyl laminate, avoid using flat finish latex wall paint as the finish paint. A flat finish acrylic latex paint does not adhere as well as an enamel paint. This means a flat finish wall paint will chip off the surface much more easily than enamel paint. A flat finish paint also has a porous surface. When compared to the hard shell finish of the enamel products, the flat paint will attract and hold dirt much quicker, and will not clean as well as an enamel paint.