Maytag A712 painting tips

[Soap-n-Suds]

Hello All,

Been forever since I was on here until a couple of weeks ago. I have a question:

I just got a Maytag A712 washer and dryer. White. I want to paint them Harvest Gold. Is there an online site that sells Harvest Gold paint for appliances? I certainly don't want to be sloppy with it, but it doesn't have to be pristine either. It's simple for the aesthetics.

Thanks for the help.

Oh, I'm in the Sacramento area if that helps with anything.

Laurent

 

[danemodsandy]

Sherwin-Williams

Laurent:

No one sells Harvest spray paint any more - it's just too dated a color.

What you will need to do is to visit a Sherwin-Williams store with a sample of what you want and have them match it. You can then buy or rent a sprayer for its application.

The top is going to be a problem, though. Maytag tops are porcelain, which means you're going to have to rough it up to get it to hold paint, and you're going to sacrifice durability - paint is nowhere near as durable as porcelain (ask any Whirlpool owner!). While some collectors do paint Maytag tops to get custom or rare colors, my understanding is that the machines they do that to are not daily drivers. If your A712 is going to be a driver, you might want to reconsider.

[this post was last edited: 2/3/2013-06:13]

 

[Soap-n-Suds]

Thanks for the info. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy project. I remember someone on here a long time ago talking about painting (what, I can't remember) maybe a refrig or something, but he took it to an auto paint shop and had them do it. Guess I'll have to think about it somemore.
Why IS a washer procelain? They aren't anymore, right? The last few I've purchased were paint. I bought a new set of Asko's several years ago, and there was a plug near them that I had a plug in airwick. When I wanted to vacuum, I unpluged the airwick and set it on the washer. When I was done, I picked up the airwick and it had turned the paint to mush!! Never will forget that! lol

Thanks again for the help.

Laurent

 

[d-jones]

Hi Laurent

I think I may be the one you're thinking of that had a body shop paint a Maytag washer, but my washer was already Harvest Gold, so it was just the cabinet that got painted. You should be able to find that thread with a search of the archives. Sandy is right about painting over porcelain. Some have done it with varying degrees of success, but I personally would never recommend it. However, if you can find the top panel in the color you want, the rest of the machine can indeed be painted. I had my paint custom matched to the porcelain top by a Sherwin Williams Automotive paint store, and the paint actually matched better than the factory paint did. As for why they used porcelain on the top panels of the older machines, you sort of answered your own question when you shared the story about the paint turning to mush. These days manufacturers seem to be less concerned with that sort of thing.

 

[bajaespuma]

My two cents:

Painting appliances, especially porcelain on steel surfaces, IMHO never works well. It always looks like a paint job and no matter how much sanding, grinding, or applications of dangerous muriatic acid you use, little bits of the paint will and do eventually flake off.

 

If I were you and wanted to change my A712 from white to Harvest, one of the most wonderful things about vintage Maytag washers is that cabinets and innards are mostly all interchangeable. Go on Craigslist or use some other means to find another vintage Maytag washer in Harvest Gold and switch innards and control panel. I've done it, it works. It's still a lot of work, but you'll end up with a better result. You might just stumble on a 712 in gold, or if you're really lucky, its classier grandmother, an A806.

 

 

 

[cadman]

Too bad you're in Sacramento, I've got an '06 series top in Harvest I've been trying to scrap! Not the lightest thing in the world either.

Here's a tip for those needing to do a touch up or a color match on smaller parts. O'Reilly Autoparts (a chain, but I'm not sure how extensive) will mix paint and put it in an aerosol can or touch up bottle relatively cheaply. Last time I did this (replaced an automotive side mirror and had to color match) I think it was around $20. Wouldn't surprise me if other auto stores offered this as well. -Cory

 

[danemodsandy]

Laurent:

Might be worth it for you to pay shipping on Cory's (cadman) top from Iowa. It's funny how it works - the moment you need an exact part in an exact part, it becomes very HTF. Shipping charges on the correct part will probably be less than you'd spend on painting prep, paint and application for the top you have.

And David (d-jones) is right about why manufacturers switched from porcelain to paint. It's much cheaper for them - not just a materials-cost savings, but a savings on a whole porcelainizing operation. And it means most consumers will end up with a shabby-looking appliance much sooner, making them want to replace it earlier, which generates more sales.

Why consumers don't use their clout is beyond me. When Whirlpool switched to painted tops, they should have been met with stern resistance in the marketplace, which would have persuaded Whirlpool to go back to porcelain. Instead, everyone decided their name was Ben Dover, with the result that paint has spread beyond Whirlpool to more or less become the industry standard. [this post was last edited: 2/4/2013-10:41]

 

[kb0nes]

Epoxy Primer

I used to work at a shop where we painted motorcycles. We used a PPG primer called Ditzler DP-40 which is a catalyzed polyurethane epoxy primer. Every surface we applied it to, which included a variety of plastics and chrome, we never once had an adhesion problem. I'd be quite confident that with a 400 grit wet sanding on the porcelain, DP-40 would stick. It looks like today PPG has replaced it with DP4000.

The trade off with high performance finishes like this is that it is expensive and nasty stuff to work with with a short working life. Let it kick in the gun and you buy a new spray gun!

I'd go to an automotive paint retailer and talk to them about your needs. They can match any color you would like. Perhaps you will even get lucky and they can recommend someone that would take on the job of spraying the paint for you also as a side job. It might cost a bit more then a DIY job but it will hold up and might even be as good (or better) then the factory paint!

 

[bluejay]

Re-porcelaining option...

There is a guy in Illinois that does re-porcelaining. I doubt it'll be cheap, but he may be able to do it in Harvest Gold. As far as I know, he's one of the few that does this.

http://www.customceramic.com/index.htm

 

[danemodsandy]

Why On Earth....

....Would anyone want to spend the money for professional repainting or reporcelainizing when there are still plenty of tops out there in this color in good condition?

Even with shipping from Bugtussle to East Jeebus, it's still cheaper to just locate a top in the right color.

You can buy a whole machine for a fraction of what reporcelainizing would cost, and strip it for your parts stash in addition to getting the top.

 

[goatfarmer]

Is the top on an 06 to 08 series the same as a 712? I'm not sure if the console fits the same, or if there is a difference. Never had the need to look.

 

[Soap-n-Suds]

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the late response, I've been moving. Yuck!
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I did talk with the guy I got them from, he's been in biz here for over 30 years. I asked if he got any HG appliances in (any kind) and he said doesnt see much of that at all. He had a really cool Amana HG dryer with a brown face, cool dial and orange and dark yellow colors, but wouldn't sell it to me. Said it was to old. I'll have to work on him a bit to get it. The (un)funny thing about this is I had a HG 1-18 for years, tried to find a dryer to go with it. Never could, so when I sold my house and moved into a smaller place, i decided to sell it to Todd on here. Now, two weeks ago I was cruzing craigslist, not really looking for anything and BAM, a white 1-18 AND matching electric dryer for a 100 bucks! I hauled by but 2hrs away and got them. I'm just not in love with them. Their just plain old white. The washer works great, no lint filter though, but the dryer timer sticks so I have to time it and go check on the stuff after about 40-50 minutes. So that why I got the maytags. Figured I could paint them I would NEVER paint over the Frigidaires. That would just, just, I don't know, it would be bad I know for sure. So I guess I'm stuck with the white.
Thanks again all of you for the info and help! - Laurent

 

[Soap-n-Suds]

Hey Phil, thanks for the epoxy info. I would absolutely want a professional to do this. I remember my mom, back in the 70's, painted our white, bottom freezer mount frig, to chocolate brown (must be where I get it from LOL) and it looked great, but I'm guessing refrig's aren't porcelain. If I get a wish in this whole thing, I would wish that someone has a beautiful set in harvest that they can't stand and their dieing to find a white set with a slightly off dryer timer. lol

thanks again for the info.