How To Stop Grease Stains Coming Through Paint With This Great Primer
If you are planning on redecorating due to stains on your painted walls or ceilings, or simply want to touch up and cover damage to your paintwork caused by grease and marks, you’ll need to invest in a stain-blocking primer. You won’t be able to remove grease stains from painted surfaces caused by blue-tac, oil or dirty finger marks by simply cleaning the surface. Instead, you’ll need to prevent them from coming through new paintwork by using the best primer which acts as a barrier to stop existing stains seeping through.
To cover up dirty, damaged paint on your walls and ceilings, you’ll require the following:
A clean rag
Paintbrush or mini roller
New paint or the original tin of paint previously used on the walls if you are spot-priming
The wall in this kitchen was stained from cooking oil. I cleaned the entire area with sugar soap to remove the top layer of grease before applying anything else on the wall.
First of all, clean the damaged area with sugar soap, which is a degreaser for walls and ceilings. The sugar soap will remove any layer of grease and dirt (although it will not remove the stain). Use a rag or a sponge along with hot water to thoroughly wash down the entire surface area. Wait for the plaster to completely dry out before applying any of the Cover Stain.
I highly recommend Zinsser Cover Stain. I have used it a lot in my home to cover up water damage, finger marks and dirt and grease scuffs.
Once your wall or ceiling is dry, open your tin of cover stain and make sure you stir it well - use a stick of wood or an old spatula to make sure that the primer is completely mixed and there is no oily surface laying on top of the primer in the tin. Do be careful to open the doors and windows of your home if possible, as Zinsser Cover Stain is quite high in VOCs as it is an oil-based treatment.
I used a paintbrush to apply Cover Stain on top of the wall stains before going over the top of the stain-blocking primer with new paint.
Gently apply cover stain to the affected areas with a paintbrush or roller until all the grease stains have been covered over. One coast should be enough, but if you can still see the stains give it two.
Leave the Cover Stain to dry off for at least 2 hours before you apply a coat of paint over the top. If you are applying a new colour to your walls, you will not see any markings from where you have applied it over the cover stain. If you are simply touching up existing paintwork, use a mini roller over the top of the primer to get a smooth finish over the patch you’ve applied Cover Stain.
After a new coat of paint! No more marks!
If you are painting over an area that commonly attracts grease marks - such as next to a hob or oven - invest in a high-quality washable paint that will resist absorbing grease as easily as a basic paint emulsion.
Cover Stain is a really great product that you can also use over water stains on ceilings and damage from bike wheel or shoe marks. For advice on primers that can be used to adhere paint, read my post on how to paint melamine.