Painting washers & dryers:

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support AutomaticWasher.org:

kenmoreguy89

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
2,998
Location
Valenza Piemonte, Italy- Soon to be US immigrant.
I was watching my Filter Flo tonight and an idea just passed through my mind about painting it my favourite color, teal color so I started googling but no much advices on the web.
I start with saying I never painted something, I'd need to learn also how to do since I have a Zoppas 50s refrigerator in my garage to restore, internally is like new just need external painting...
Someone have advices to give? Do you think is a thing that a non expert person can do alone?
I can read the paint is used is Rustoleum enamel paint....
Look how pretty these people made their painting on their appliances, I'd like a result like these, Impossible task for a non-expert?:
[this post was last edited: 12/25/2012-17:29]

 
I guess it is up to you. Do you want a paint job that looks like it came from the factory that way, or do you want one that looks like a home paint job? I have a 1949 Hotpoint refrigerator that I had painted by someone who paints cars. It was painted as if it were a car. Here is the results. It looks like it came off the showroom floor like that. It was originally white.

countryford++12-25-2012-23-45-34.jpg
 
Nice refrigerator there!!!
painting should have costed alot!
I was told to bring the refrigerator to one of these car painters once but I wanted to get some more info first....what technique and paint they use? I guess is not a thing you can do yourself at home the same way they does...
Looking what these people made with their appliances looked like a DIY job and result is almost a "out of the factory" at least from my screen, but your refrigerator just leave me amazed! Fantastic job! If you would not have told me that I would have never tought it actually was of another color originally!
My Filter-flo got some very light scratches so I thought to try to change color, maybe it is better to keep it so for now, I will consider it later when and if it will get major scratches and estetic imperfections..

For the refrigerator I should ask how much would cost me

How much did you pay if I can ask?
Thanks
 
The guy who painted my fridge is an auto/aircraft painter and therefore uses the same paint that he would on a car. He is also a good friend of the family so therefore only charged me $150 to cover the cost of the paint. I can't imagine how much it would have been if I would have had to pay for the labor as well. I know he sandblasted it down, and got all the dents out of it.
 
Paging rickr!

Freddy:

Rick (rickr) on this board has painted quite a few machines in non-factory colors - if you will search on his name, you will be able to find his posting history and see some of the photos he's posted over the years. He has even painted washing machines' porcelain tops, and claims good results.

So, maybe Rick can come around soon and give you some pointers. He doesn't post as often as he used to, so he may have other things going on.
 
I had the son of one of my employees and his friend paint my '55 Frigidaire. They work at an automotive paint shop and charged me a total of $350 parts and labor. They sanded the fridge down to metal, applied two coats of rust inhibitor, one primer coat, and two paint coats.

 

They sanded it at my house (I have a large compressor) and then we took it to the paint shop to finish it. I painted the toe plate.

 

 

http://home.roadrunner.com/~limited58/1955frigidaire.htm
 
David, what beautiful job on that Frigidaire!

Well, that's alot of money 350$ for painting,  but considering work behind that's fair, I had it donated from a granma of a friend, but I can see that it goes up to 900 euros in good estetic conditions so I could even spend that much, I want to keep it though!

We have friends that are into painting though now that I think about it, not cars.... but I may ask them, their son painted himself his Harley Davidson and did a wonderful job.

Also this is a job we could  do at father's farm, we have 3 large compressors and alot of space.

I hope Rick will come along to this thread, I'm really curious to discover how he does, I will try to find him and write a few lines, hopefully I won't bother him.

Thank you for the info guys!

I'm attaching links of refrigerators like mine:
(Internally mine is even better than this, original seal okay and no yellowing, no chips and bottle shelves  intact)

http://www.subito.it/elettrodomestici/frigo-zoppas-anni-50-treviso-49702263.htm
 
The problem these days with spray painting is that the favourite DIY spay paint, cellulose has been banned and the replacements tend to be more dangerous to use. You generally need airline fed respiration equipment if using 2 pack or the water based car paints.
 
In 1966, my parents had their double-door white Frigidaire refrigerator painted turquoise to match their new Flair range, and Frigidaire diswasher. It was painted by an auto body shop. 40+ years later, the refrigerator is still running fine, and the paint job has also held up during all that time.

On the other hand, I'm not sure how one would re-paint laundry appliances that have porcelain tops, but I'm betting someone on the AW site knows this answer. ;o)
 
Presumably it was not a new fridge or they would have bought one of the same colour as the other appliances.
 
Actually, what happened was that in 1965 the refrigerator was purchased in white a year prior to their purchase of the turquoise Flair range, and turquoise Custom Imperial push-button dishwasher. (No timer knob) My mom loved the turquoise color so the appliance dealer lined them up with an auto body shop (The local Buick dealer)for painting the fridge.
 
Idea

I was just re-reading a post in the Imperial Forum about the pink 1956 Frigidaire laundry pair and it occured to me that this would be one way to achieve colors on washers and dryers. Frigidaire kept all tops white (porcelain) and only painted the bodies. For newer washers and dryers, with and without porcelain tops, why not only paint the cabinets? If it worked for Frigidaire back then, why not make it work now?

lawrence
 
Lawrence:

That would just depend on a particular collector's approach. There are some people here who do some very intriguing and creative modifications.

OTOH, there are those of us - like me - who value originality, and like to keep things true to factory specs, or at least within factory specs. Example: If I miraculously stumbled on a Maytag 906 pair in Avocado - a color I can't abide - I would be okay with finding White cabinets for them. I would not be okay with painting them and their porcelain tops Turquoise, because Maytag didn't do painted tops at that time.
 
Our washing machines and dryers were never top of the line nor the least expensive. Mom always selected middle of the road appliances. I would like to see a porcelain top washer some time to see what the difference is.
 
When I went through the HA806 for my parents, I had the cabinet repainted using automotive paint. Since you can't really buy harvest gold paint off the shelf anywhere, I took the front panel with me to the Sherwin Williams Automotive Paint Store and had them match it. They did a great job. I purchased one quart of paint, and the total cost for the paint, the hardener, and the reducer was right around one hundred dollars. Then, I took the cabinet and paint to a body shop I've dealt with in the past and left it with them to paint whenever it was convenient for them. Several weeks and another fifty dollars later I picked it up looking like a new cabinet.

 

Here it is just after being delivered to my parents house. All fittings, including the data plate, were removed prior to painting.

d-jones++1-3-2013-02-24-41.jpg
 
Rinso,

Ok, I know what you mean then. Our '68 GE drop in range had a porcelain top. The finish is better looking. I remember the rounded edges or sides of the cook surface. Had to be porcelain. Thanks.
 
Question for the group

I have a 1952 Frigidair Refrigerator I purchased last year and it needs a paint job. I may see if the local high school can do it but did I not see a thread where someone painted an appliance themselves? Also what's the best way to polish the chrome pieces? I was thinking of using an automotive technique for the chrome which would involve buffing.

jamman_98
Joe
 
Joe, in professional shops enamel paint is baked after it's applied. Not many people have provisions for this at home, but the heating is required for any kind of long-term durability.
 
Well it looks more difficult than I thought.... I guess I will have to ask to a car paint shop ... my filter-flo have porcelain top, not the lid though.
Actually the filter flo  just got very light  scratches on the painted lid and body,  the porcelain top  got two small chips, unfortunately putting it upside down when I replaced the oil seal got them hitting the floor,  I fixed it with a touch up product.

So a painting on porcelain would result bad?
Anyway for the fridge if parts have to be baked of course  most of the people can't do that theirself.
 
Freddy

In looking over your posts above, I see that you have access to a farm and compressors, so you should be able to do this yourself. Not that a farm is needed, it just means you likely have the space you need to do this properly. Furthermore, it isn't necessary to bake the cabinet in an oven or even sit it in front of heat lamps as long as you use an enamel with a hardener added to it. These are often referred to as catalyzed enamels, and the catalyst, or hardener if you will, ensures that the paint hardens all the way through.

 

To reduce the risk of runs and sags you'll also want to use a descent spray gun capable of producing an even spray pattern. Make sure that the hose you connect to this spray gun hasn't been used with an oiler for air tools at any time, as oil in the paint will ruin it. In fact, if you have any doubts about the history of the hose you'll be using, buy another one. They aren't all that expensive so why take chances.

 

Make sure you have a water trap at both ends of the hose. A large one on the tank side will catch most of it, a smaller one at the spray gun hose fitting should get the rest.

 

A pressure regulator at the gun is also helpful, as pressure drop though the hose is always an issue. The longer the hose, the greater the drop, especially with smaller diameter hoses. All of the spray guns I've ever used have a minimum required pressure at the gun to ensure proper atomization of the paint. So set your tank regulator above what you need, and then use the regulator at the gun to make your final adjustments.

 

Spend more time prepping the surface of your cabinet before you start painting. Very often the difference between a great job and a poor job is found in the prep. Feather out your chips and scratches and use primer surfacers where needed. You want your surface to be smooth and defect free prior to applying any paint.

 

You'll want to buy a bit more paint than you'll need so that you can practice on something unimportant before you actually paint your cabinet. Painting can be a bit tricky until you figure things out. If you apply it too dry(meaning not enough paint applied at once), it won't flow out properly and your finish will be rough and textured like an orange peel, a condition that's even referred to as 'orange peel'. Apply it too wet and you'll end up with runs and sags. When spraying your practice piece, pay attention to what the paint surface looked like just before a run or sag formed. Then you'll be able to avoid them better when you spray your cabinet. If you do end up with a small run or sag, don't panic. Let the paint dry thoroughly and then you can glue some fine wet sand paper to a small flat block. You can then use this block, along with water, to sand the top off the defect until it's the same height as the surrounding paint. Then polish it out to bring the shine back.

 

In spite of what others have done, I would personally not paint over porcelain enamel unless it was badly scared and chipped up. Scars, like chips and deep scratches, can be touched up rather effectively  with paint as long as you have a really good color match. It requires patience though, as you'll need to build up several layers of paint, letting each one dry in turn until you've built it up above the level of the surrounding porcelain. Then using a small flat sanding block as described above, sand the touch up paint back down to the the level of the porcelain. By applying plastic tape to the surface of the sand paper at both ends of your block, you can get enough height at the center to keep the paper from sanding the porcelain. Then as mentioned above, use a polishing compound to bring the shine back. Done properly your touch up will be difficult for most people to spot.

 

Painting isn't easy, but it's a worthwhile skill to have. Nevertheless, after reading all of this, you may very well decide to have a body shop do the painting for you. If you're only planing to paint one cabinet it may even be cheaper for you. But if you think you're going to be painting multiple cabinets(or cars) in the future, the investment you make in equipment now and the time you spend learning, can save you money in the long run.
 
> Furthermore, it isn't necessary to bake the cabinet in an oven or even sit it in front of heat lamps as long as you use an enamel with a hardener added to it. <

Nice theory, but untrue. If it was, you can bet major appliance (or auto etc) manufacturers wouldn't spring for the extra cost. It's "good enough" if all you ever do is look at your appliances.
 
Back
Top