How to paint onto new and bare plaster

Claypaint and Lifestyle Emulsion are both highly suitable for painting onto new plaster. From the Ecopro range of interior paints, our Matt & Lo Sheen Emulsions are also suitable for painting onto new plaster.

However, we’re often asked if new plaster needs any special treatment before painting. The short answer is no, there’s no need to apply any primer or product to new plaster before painting with Earthborn paints.

But to make sure you get the best possible finish on new plaster and to avoid any potential problems when painting onto new plaster, take a look at our helpful hints:

Ensure your plaster is ready for painting

Standard gypsum plaster takes a few days to dry. Claypaint can be applied immediately but for all other Earthborn paints we’d recommend letting the plaster fully dry before painting. Lime plaster requires a longer drying and curing time before painting – around 4 weeks per 5mm thickness of plaster. The only interior paint we’d recommend for painting onto lime plaster is Claypaint because it has a much higher breathability levels than other paints making it fully compatible with lime.

Preparing the wall

Once you are satisfied your plaster is dried and cured, you can prepare the wall ready for painting. Check it is sound, stable and free from dust. Some old plasters (for example, walls that have been stripped back to reveal unpainted lime plaster) may be dusty to touch. In this instance, we would recommend using our Wall Glaze prior to painting to stabilise the surface whilst enabling it to still breathe.

This should only be applied to surfaces that really need it, and most new plasters do not require any treatment.

Painting onto new or bare plaster

Dampen the wall immediately prior to painting. We find that a water spray bottle is ideal, although you could use a damp cloth or roller. There’s no need to fully saturate the wall, just a light dampening is fine.

Dilute the first coat of paint and apply with a short pile roller the most consistent finish. Sometimes called a mist coat, a diluted coat of paint will help the paint to flow (especially useful when using Claypaint which is very thick & creamy). It will also prevent the plaster from drying the paint out too quickly.

Then follow this with a full coat of paint. In most cases, this will be more than sufficient for covering new and bare plaster.

And that’s it! Painting new and bare plaster needn’t be tricky, but following our simple tips will help you to get a consistent and beautiful finish.

If you’ve painted using Earthborn we’d love to hear about it. Head to our social channels below to share your projects.