Painting a refrigerator/freezer unit

[bsheffer]

Anyone ever done this? probably about a 15 year old standard size refrigerator. No rust.. Can I just clean, few spray cans and that is it???.

[Wild Turkey]

scuff sand it with fine wet/dry sandpaper for better adhesion.

Tape the seals.

How good do you want it to look? Rattle cans can be a challenge to do smoothly -- plan on several coats.

And quality paint goes on better.

[bsheffer]

I'd like it to look nice if possible. I have an HVLP sprayer so this might be a good time to break that out. The odd thing is I am looking at the skin of this refrigerator and it has a very textured look. No big deal but for some reason, I have always sort of thought it is some type of plastic but given the way the seams are presented as being "folded", I assume now it is metal. I did see somewhere where people were talking about doing this and dealing with rust so obviously, we are talking about a metal subsurface. This might be fun....

I am not sure exactly what type of paint to use on this so I suppose I'll just head to my local paint store...

[Phil Thien]

bsheffer said:

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The odd thing is I am looking at the skin of this refrigerator and it has a very textured look.

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I would think the textured panels of modern refrigerators would be fairly easy to paint with a brush even, that textured surface has to be pretty forgiving. Mind you, I'm not telling you to paint it with a brush.

But I remember the refrigerator we had as a kid (forty years ago) and it was a perfectly smooth paint job that looked like a shiny new car.

[John Mihich]

Sure. Lightly sand and spray it with appliance paint or epoxy paint. Did it on a dish washer - worked fine.

[Cooler]

I did it when I was selling my condo. I am not a really experienced painter and this is basically automotive type painting.

To avoid runs I laid the refrigerator on its side and painted the side while it was horizontal using a rattle can. I removed the doors first and masked. This is a good time to replace any worn gaskets.

I used automotive primer and sanded. Then I used a rattle can and sprayed a light coat and let it dry until it was tacky (about 5 minutes) and then I sprayed a heavy coat until it looked wet. I let it dry over night. The top and the other side were hidden behind cabinets and I sprayed them with the refrigerator upright.

I removed the hinges an trim from the doors and sprayed them when they were horizontal too.

The doors and the exposed side looked perfect. Considering my lack of painting skills and the fact that I was using a rattle can this is fairly astounding.

A painter I met that worked at Maaco gave me the tip about the light coat to tacky and then the heavy coat. He claimed that it minimized sagging. I don't know if that is true but the results were excellent.

Do note that if you wait for the paint to dry beyond tacky and then give a follow up coat it can cause wrinkling. Either you do it while it is tacky or you wait until the next day for the second coat.

[mike4244]

I was given a small chest freezer. The white paint had yellowed over the years. The motor and compressor were in good shape so I decided to paint it.I have a friend who does body work and painting on vehicles.I asked him for advice on painting the freezer.
He told me to get 2 cans of appliance paint,remove the handle and lubricate the gasket with petroleum jelly.
I painted the freezer,2 coats,still looks good after about 4 years.
mike

[bsheffer]

Mike, what was the purpose of lubricating the gaskets??

[Robert Adams]

Automotive urethane is the best choice followed by oil based paint. There is a lacquer paint made by duplicolor that is pretty good but pricey for lacquer paint.

[bsheffer]

Robert, I,ve used urethane many times ax a top coat but never as a base coat. My understanding is also that out based paint will stick to about anything as well. This is an interesting combo but can why you describe the advantages of this solution?? I plan on using an HVLP compressor/gun.