out door paint

[oakey]

i know this has been posted lots before but i can not find it
i need to paint an out door bench
what paint base is clear after they dry ?
i looked on home depot's web page they have two glidden and behr or is some other brand better i have a HD Lowe's and Menard near buy
the base paints at ace are white after they dry that will not work
any one remember which ones are clear ?

[fredhargis]

You need the base for the darkest colors, in many cases this is called #4 (I think Olympic may call it #5) and some just call it "deep color base". While most of them dry clear, not all do. I have always used an oil base exterior (mostly Olympic) but can't get it anymore. I also bought some Olympic exterior acrylic enamel (water clean up) and found it to dry clear...but they've changed the names of their paints and I don't know what the current label is. If you have a SW nearby, you can probably find their base in oil and at least one can of it that I had dried clear. But it's mostly guess and hop, although most of them (I suspect) do dry clear.

[jteneyck]

Folks here have reported SW's A-100 #4 Base is one product with the properties you are after.  

John

[oakey]

thanks i have a SW near buy also
ill give them a shout

[bhh]

IIRC  Sherwin-Williams' clearest is called ultra-deep base.  So don't just ask for "deep base."

[Willyou]

There are reports on the web that a "deep base" (no color added) makes a good clear finish for exterior use. I did my own unscientific test a while back using the SW "All Surface" oil base paint base. I applied 3 coats on a piece of pine and left it in full sun and weather exposure. After about 3 months, the finish was completely destroyed. About 50% of it was gone and the rest was curled and ready to flake off. If the OP is planning on using a similar product for exterior exposure, I would suggest that he do his own test before he uses it on his project.