Beautiful walls, the color, the wall accents… but wait! The walls, they look wet and waxy! Such case when your walls seem to have that waxy appearance is called wax bleeding. It could be because you did improper priming or skipped the priming at all. If you have dark walls, it could also be a cause of wax bleeding since dark colors absorb heat more. The paint film may also be not thick enough because flat paints are most likely to wax bleed. Why bleeding? Because the appearance of wax bleeding involves discoloration that affects woodwork, ceilings and hardwood siding. Moisture also causes wax bleeding. Given a long period of time, dirt and other external substances get collected on the paintwork’s top layer thus causing the wax bleeding.
But fear not! There are solutions to treat wax bleeding so you’ll know how to prevent it in the future just in case you decide to remodel your home.
1. Before tearing down your walls to replace them, make sure that what you’re seeing is really wax bleeding. You can try this trick with bleach. Apply a few drops of bleach on the suspected area of bleeding. If the area applied with bleach does not affect the discolored surface, then we’ve got wax bleeding.
2. To treat the stained area, scrub it off using water and soap. That is, for mild stains only. You might need to use tougher solvents to rub off the wax.
3. For prevention, paint your new hardboard within a month’s time with three coats: a primer and two finishing coats.
4. Before you re-paint, select a high quality primer. Priming is crucial to preventing wax bleeding.
5. It was mentioned that moisture could increase the bleeding. Remove any excess moisture surrounding the area before you brush on any primer or paint. To remove moisture, you can use alkyd-based primers followed by a high quality acrylic latex paint. For interiors, use stain-blocking primers followed (again) by a high quality acrylic latex paint. Acrylic latex paint is thick and not flat.
6. Like rocks, wooden walls also weather. Weathering is caused by a lot of factors both internal and external, so consider your environment if you always have wax bleeding on your walls. Remember that moisture and the color of the paint (which increases heat absorption) play key roles in wax bleeding.
Prevention and treatment of wax bleeding must not be treated lightly. You must consider purchasing high quality primers and paint so the benefits are long-term. If you decide to use cheap paint and primer and you have excessive moisture and/or dark paintwork, there are more chances of recurring wax bleeding which will make you spend more. You must also consider your environment and make adjustments to prevent further wax bleeding in the future.
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