How do you touch up Ralph Lauren suede paint?

12 Responses to “How do you touch up Ralph Lauren suede paint?”

1. Monica on October 19th, 2006 1:59 pm

   So far, this is what I’ve found…

   This info is from someone who has painted 3 rooms with Ralph Lauren suede paint! He or she gives a very in-depth account of her experience. This is what he/she says about touch-ups in particular:

   The hitch: Large touch ups.(A round spot larger than 2″ diameter or a strip longer than a few inches.) Once the paint has dried, for some crazy reason a large touch up area on dried suede paint looks like a grease spot. (Found that out the hard way.) I called RL about this, and CS said that, unfortunately, is what happens if you try to go back and apply more suede once the second (final) coat of Xs has dried. If that happens, the whole wall has to be redone. So getting it right with the 2nd coat of Xs is very much to your benefit (and not a big deal).

   Touch ups: I found a way around small touch ups tho. Dry brushing & pouncing it. Had a couple small areas (no larger than 2″) where I removed a curtain rod and needed to spackle and paint the nail holes, or a picture hole, etc. You can do small touch up areas where paint is gone/missing if done carefully. I took one of my artist’s brushes, and dabbed the paint lightly on the spot with the dry artists brush in a gentle tapping/dabbing motion.I intentionally left gaps. Once the paint was on the wall and covered the repair, I quickly took a larger (2″ or so) dry paint brush and gently pounced. Didn’t drag it to make an X, just lightly pounced and gingerly dragged it here and there only on the repair area with the dry brush. Repeated process again (done in very light layers of paint) till it was covered. Those small areas might look a bit “different”, (like a wispy cloud with edges) but not dramatically so. It’s one of those deals where only you know it’s there, since the entire wall has a faux effect. It’s not super pronounced if blended well and brushes kept dry.

   You can read her entire post here. Scroll down a bit to the post made by “moonshadow”.

2. Sharene Garaman on October 31st, 2006 7:06 am

   My painter is using Ralph Lauren suede Desert Plateau) on downstairs wall. After two coats, vertical lines are quite visible.The upstairs was painted by someone else with the paint and there are no lines. Can anyone tell me what happened and what to do about it?

   Thank You
   Sharene

3. michelle on November 7th, 2006 7:51 pm

   Sharene, if the second (the infamous “X” coat) in the Suede style paint is applied correctly, there shouldn’t be any lines of any sort visible… usually we hear the visible line complaint about the River Rock type of paint. however, if the painter isn’t familiar with the correct technique for the paint and is not following those instructions, that could account for your stripes.

4. michelle on November 7th, 2006 8:03 pm

   and that’s weird about the larger touch-up… i had to re-paint a spot about 8 inches in diameter on a wall where polyurethane sealer got splattered on it, three days after i applied the final X coat, and all I did was X-on, X-off (har har) from the same can of paint and it blended in perfectly.

5. Kelly on November 12th, 2006 6:31 pm

   It depends on how dark the shade is. I used a dark brown and it showed every flaw. All the places I touched up are obvious, I have to go over the whole bathroom again. In the living room I used the ’snowdrift’ color and it is much more forgiving. Buy extra paint-it doesn’t go far.

6. Mary Connell on December 10th, 2006 2:35 pm

   I would like to paint the wall with the suede paint technique in a lighter color. What will show through? Will the suede effect or a texture still be visible? Do I have to start all over? If so, do I have to use a primer first? Thanks for your help. Mary

7. Dabell on January 17th, 2007 10:49 pm

   I didnt have a clue how to use this kind of paint. I just knew to x the last coat. 1 wall took me under 2 hours to do. I didn’t give it much thought I just X-ed it and the wall looks Great! I went back to touch the wall up about a month later and just X-ed here and there to make the wall even. now it looks even better! I think fast Thick X’s are the key.

8. Molly on February 1st, 2007 7:34 am

   Hi, I am contemplating using this paint for my bedroom, which will be about 13X13… how many gallons do you suggest I use? Thanks

9. Jules on March 13th, 2007 10:09 am

   I painted my living room three toned RL suede. Dark brown on the bottom, cream on top. I blended the two colours and added glaze and painted a 12″ stipe separating the two colours. I suggest any high traffic area to add glaze to the paint as it cleans up much better than just straight RL suede. I tried touching up an area about 5″ dia of the dark coat and it looks terrible. The “sand” in the paint is clear so if you try to blend it, it tends to look lighter than the original coat. I used a sponge and blotted it on thick and it looks a lot better than using a brush.

10. Shelly on March 20th, 2007 11:13 am

    I am planning to do our bedroom, but I am unsure what color to use. I want to have a camel color for teh finished product, but wandered how the paint would look on the wall. Sometimes a paint looks one color then turns out lighter or darker. RIght now the walls are a flat white. Any suggestions?

11. Helene on December 4th, 2007 2:24 pm

    Has anyone ever tried to do stripes or a pattern with the RL Suede along with a flat paint on orange peel textured walls? Here in the North West all walls have that orange peel effect (not smooth, but dimpled) and I am affraid to spend all this money on the RL paint and have it not tape off well. My plan was do the flat first (two coats) then chalk line my Harlequin pattern, then tape off every other row of diamonds and then follow the insturctions for the RL Suede in those spaces only. I wanted to be daring and do a Harlequin pattern with clean & crips edges. Suggestions anyone? Please!

12. Lynn on March 15th, 2008 2:11 pm

    i want to repaint a room that has rl suede finish.
    do i have to sand the wals first if iwant to paint with a regular finish?

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