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Dulux emulsion instead of gesso on MDF?

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Steve Andrews

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Planning doing a 4ft x 2ft acrylic or oil on MDF but didn't have a lot of white gesso.  However, had a very large amount of white Matt dulux emulsion and used that as an initial covering.   Anybody foresee any short term problems with this?  I'm  not looking to produce anything  that will last 50 years or more! Thanks.

Sylvia Evans

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I’ve used it very happily .

Alan Bickley

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Short term perhaps, I wouldn’t use it myself though, but only because I’ve read not to use it. If Sylvia’s used it, I daren’t argue with that!
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Oh, I'll argue with Sylvia any time!  She's miles away from me.... You say it's a short term project, so no: I really doubt there'll be any short-term problem.  If there is, it's likely to be patchy adhesion - which should be avoidable if you wash the primer down when it's dried.  The emulsion is acrylic-based, presumably (it nearly all is nowadays), not oil - if it were oil, it'd give you a problem very quickly if acrylic were painted over it.  

Steve Andrews

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Thanks all for your help.   I didn't  want to  spend a lot of time on the painting only for the emulsion to start causing a problem shortly afterwards.

Sylvia Evans

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Always conflicting stuff on here....what fun. 

Peter Davison

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I have used household acrylic white primer/undercoat mixed with calcite (chalk) and some acrylic colour to prime boards with no apparent problem.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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And there may never be a problem.  But for any work I was hoping to last beyond 20 years, I wouldn't take the risk.  

Steve Andrews

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Thanks for all the input.  Just goes to show how everyone has different ideas and ways of doing things.   When I use gesso it doesn't seem to go very far so using it to cover a 4' x 2' mdf board frightened me as I'm sure I would have run out well before it was finished, particularly as it would need several coats.  However, I have a very large tub of Dulux matt emulsion that is just sitting there not being used.  Perhaps I might try it on a small painting first just to check there are no immediate problems or give the large board one thinned down coat of proper gesso before starting.  I'm not doing the large painting for sale but on the other hand I wouldn't the paint to start peeling off in a years time! Take care everyone.
Moi 17

Linda Wilson

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My art  class used white emulsion as a base on cardboard for a project.  None had any problems with it.  We used a variety of media over the top, just to see the effect; biro, charcoal, acrylic etc.  Even wiped some off when wet to form shadows.  Go for it!

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by Linda Wilson

Alan Bickley

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There’s an interesting article about using household emulsion from Jackson’s Art, and they do know their technical stuff. In a nutshell, don’t use it! It’s not up to the job it’s supposed to do, which is to lay the foundation for your painting. Problems will occur further down the line, and could be sooner rather than later! Acrylics however, may fair better than oil paint.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Brief addition - you can dilute acrylic primer; makes it go further, though you may need to apply an extra coat on top when dried: this needn't mean using more paint; you just dilute the primer and apply it in thin layers.  By 'dilute', I mean add water, or acrylic medium, or a mix of medium and water.  You don't need to glop it on straight out of the container, because it will indeed not go very far if you've a large area to cover.   Truth is - you can paint with acrylic on almost anything non-oily, and it PROBABLY won't peel off - just depends on what you want to do.  Sketch on cardboard with a splash of Dulux on top, fine, if that's all it is.  Spill the stuff on your carpet, and if it's dried it's a swine to clean off - so it's not especially fragile.  But for longer term work, work you sell (and you weren't asking about that) no.   I don't use it really because I never know when I start a picture if it's going to be a (relative) triumph, or a deathly dud - if it turns out it's my best work ever, on a dodgy surface, I am going to kick myself though.  
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