The title pretty much says it all. I have a white stand mixer and while looking through the Bed Bath and Beyond website for something somewhat unrelated I happened across this one and thought “I need to buy…wait, no I don’t.” Then I started wondering if I could paint it. Doing some googling I see everything from OMG NO!!!1! just get a cover to have a body shop do it but most answers fall somewhere in the middle.
I see some people saying to just slap a coat of appliance spray paint on it, some people suggesting to sand it first. One website says to sand it (lightly), put on a coat of self etching epoxy (from an auto body store) followed by 5 coats of enamel based appliance spray paint and then putting in the oven for an hour.
If I were to do this myself, based on what I’ve read, I’d probably sand* it, clean it (acetone or mineral spirits?), and then a few coats of appliance paint and see how it comes out. However, I’m curious about the self etching epoxy and I’d also like to make sure the finish is still as glossy as it is out of the box. I’ve painted some things that you would never guess didn’t come from the factory painted and some things were it’s pretty obvious it’s a DIY job…I’d prefer this to look nice.
Also, FTR, I’m quite mechanically inclined, if I do this, the entire thing will be dismantled so I’ll only be only be working with the shell (or as far as I can strip it down). IOW, I’m not looking for advice on how to take it apart or mask it, just the painting.
*Sanding it is one of the parts that worries me. There’s a lot of contours on this and a lot of places that will be easy to miss. I’m wondering if it might be better to skip the sanding so the paint is more even.
If you think the white is too boring, there are decals you can buy for kitchenaids which pretty them up. These ones are like 1940s bombers but I’ve seen baroque spirals etc elsewhere.
This is my opinion, having painted many items in an industrial setting:
Don’t do it.
Here’s why:
Unless you are talented with painting,you will have a hard time getting nice even coats.
Being mechanically inclined may not mean having the experience to paint.
Aerosols do not, typically, paint as nicely as an airbrush. They often sputter or drip if you are not accustomed to using them.
To refinish, you will have to mar the original finish. Doing this means you can’t “go back” if you are not happy with the outcome.
Unless you are using a different epoxy paint, “appliance paint” typically only is sold in traditional colors: white, beige, etc. I might be wrong as it’s been a while since I last checked.
The last thing I can suggest is that if you still want to go ahead, practice on a different appliance first. It’d be a shame to visually ruin a kitchenaid mixer!
If you’re going for the non-lift bowl … they come in a zillion different colours already! why would you want to paint one? if the colour you like is more expensive - likely it is cheaper than painting it and the possiblility of ruining your warranty.
Sorry, I was going to specifically mention I didn’t want decals. I’m really just looking for thoughts on paint here.
Huh, I hadn’t checked. That does seem to be the case. What about painting with a regular paint first and then using of the their (‘their’ being Krylon) clear spray paints as the top coat?
The finish will be nowhere as nice as the orginal nor will it be as durable.
IMO, aerosol paint, no matter how good of a job you do, will never look as nice as a factory finish.
If I were going about this, I would also take it to a body shop. I simply don’t have the stuff at home to make it look nice (plus they could do a glittercoat that would rock!).
On my way to work I had a :smack: moment. We have a body shop next door (to work) and the owner (who does the quotes) stops in for lunch. I’m planning to ask him. Conveniently, I have the mixer at work for him to look at if he needs to. I’ll even dismantle it for him if he needs me too, though I’m sure his guys are plenty good and masking. Not only can they take it into a booth and put an automotive grade finish and top coat on it, they can, if they feel it’s necessary, strip it down to the metal first. If it’s under $100 I’d probably have them do it. If it’s more then that, I’ll just hang on to this one and maybe get a new one some day and see if I can sell this one.
FTR, I’m thinking something in the lime green family. I’ll probably pass on the glitter coat. Although lime green with just a little bit of green glitter would look pretty good.
ETA, I have a friend who has a friend that does a lot of sheet metal work (he’s fabricated stuff for us before) and I could be wrong but I think he does powder coating as well, so that’s another option.
That would be a great idea! If you take it apart first the cost will probably be less.
I tend on liking things uber girly (pink glitter!) so that’s just what I’d do.
Also, if you’re going to paint it, go all out! Maybe a lime to Kelly graduated finish?
Regardless, post pics! I’d love to see the outcome!
Believe it or not, I went with that site because it was not as terrible as some others I found. I didn’t see the white on white, either, though - that kind of puts it over the top.
I only noticed it because some of the related items below it had white on gray. Until I saw that, I thought it was just a blank website with a crappy picture.
The mixer was a gift many years ago, to spend $300 to replace it would be kind of silly.
I doubt anyone on craigslist is going to have a mixer in a color that I want that KA doesn’t make them in.
That’s not really the point of this thread. I have nothing against the color of the mixer, but there are other colors I like more then plain white.
If that’s not enough I like the DIY aspect of painting it myself, and even if I’m not going to do that, I still think it’s pretty cool to be able to say I had it custom painted/powder coated.
Well, I just met with a powder coater. I’m going to clean it (it’s covered in dust and grease) and dismantle it and they’ll do it for $60. Not bad IMO. The price might jump to $80 if they end up needing to sand blast it first, but that’s still fine with me.
I’ll take before and after pictures. It’s going to be a sort of grass green kind of along the lines of this from what I remember. It’s not exactly the color I was aiming for, but it’s the closest they have and since I wasn’t trying to match anything in particular, I’m happy with it.
Also, this will be sort of a test run, if it works out and they do a good job, I’ll be glad to have someone that can do this kind of stuff for me.
Here it is, all taken apart. I did take pictures of some of the more complicated parts such as this so that I have a fighting chance at getting it back together.
The only issue I’m running into at the moment are a few pressed together fittings. There’s a brass or copper sleeve, but I’m thinking that should survive the baking. There’s also two plastic sleeves where the brushes are that I’ve still got to remove.
Next thing I need to do is clean it. The gear box area is packed with grease (which I’ll repack). I got most of it out, I’m thinking I’ll just take it outside and hose the rest of it off. Between the water and the acetone (or maybe just some dish soap), I’m thinking I can get rid of it. If not, I’ll just point it out to them, maybe they’ll put it in their oven for 5 minutes before they start to melt it out.
$60 seems very reasonable. Good luck getting it back together. I took apart my Bosch Compact mixer, and reassembled it, but something was slightly off and it didn’t work properly afterward.
And here are the parts, $60 later. I just have to wait (1-2 weeks) for some trim parts, grease and an internal part I broke to come in and I’ll be able to reassemble it.
