# Painting Wood

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 29, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914 "2010-06-29T11:24:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914/1 "2010-06-29T11:24:56Z")

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To the handy SDopers: When painting wood, is it best to go with the grain for the best finish? Or, does it even matter as long as all brush strokes go the same way?

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**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914/2 "2010-06-29T13:37:55Z")

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Go with the grain. It will make your work look smoother. If you are worried about brush strokes then you should look into other methods of applying the paint. I don’t know what your project might be, but you can apply paint via Wagner for larger projects like a fence, side of a house, and so on. Also the quality of your paintbrush will effect the appearance of brush strokes.

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**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914/3 "2010-06-29T13:52:15Z")

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Alkyd (oil) paints will flow out to a smoother finish than latex paints. With either type of paint, it’s better to use several lighter coats than to try to make a finish in one coat. Sand smooth after first coat. Done this way, brush marks should be limited.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914/4 "2010-06-29T13:54:25Z")

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**Sand** the wood smooth (or sand the finish) with a high number sand paper for a fine, smooth finish. **Clean** it. \*\* Use a tack cloth\*\* to get all dust off. Make sure it’s really clean and smooth. **Prime** it. **Paint it in direction of grain** with **high quality paint and brush.**

_ **Generally** _, nothing below satin finish looks good on wood, and semi-gloss is most popular with high-gloss paint getting more popular.

Flat and eggshell finish = no

Semigloss = yes

high-gloss = yes, if you like that

There is more info on the subject than one’s brain could possibly handle via google.

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**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-wood/544914/5 "2010-06-29T17:01:09Z")

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What are you painting and what kind of finish do you need? If you want a very smooth finish you could use grain filler and spray paint. Then you wouldn’t see any grain or brush strokes at all.