I’m excited to share a Rustoleum milk paint review with you! I must say that I was super thrilled to see Rustoleum come out with a milk paint. I’ve used their brand for years and absolutely love all of their products.
This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Rustoleum. All opinions are my own. The post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for full details.
Let me start by saying that the Rustoleum milk paint is different than any milk paint I’ve ever used in the past. I’ll share what I mean below. I painted my kitchen bar stools using Rustoleum milk paint in the color Eclipse, which is a matte black. These bar stools were in our home when we purchased it and they were originally a yellow color.
Rustoleum Milk Paint Review
Pros
Comes Pre-Mixed
The Rustoleum milk paint comes pre-mixed. You can open the can, give it a stir, and get to work! I’ve always used powder forms of milk paint that you reconstitute with water. In a previous post, Chalk Paint vs. Milk Paint, I talked about how powder forms can sometimes create a problem when you run out of paint before finishing a project. You won’t encounter that problem with this pre-mixed paint. If you are looking for more information on how to use milk paint or chalk paint, you can find that in my article Chalk Paint vs. Milk Paint.
Minimal Prep work
Prep work is minimal to none. As with most chalk and milk paints, you can just give your piece a quick cleaning and get to painting. The milk paint has great adhesion properties, so no sanding or priming is necessary.
Easy to Layer
It is easy to layer coats with the Rustoleum milk paint. The milk paint goes on thin and is very buildable so you can customize the coverage you want. You can even layer multiple colors to create an old vintage look.
Easily Distresses
The Rustoleum milk paint dries to a matte finish with a light brushed effect and good texture. The milk paint is great at highlighting the original details of your piece. If you have a piece that has a lot of ornamental detail, this would be a great paint to use. It is also easy to distress to create an antique look. I used a clear wax as a top coat to protect the paint since our chairs get quite a bit of use by my 3 boys. It is always a good idea to seal milk paint, especially if it is a high use piece.
Cons
Unable to Create Chippy Look
With the Rustoleum milk paint, you are not able to create a “chippy” look. This may be a pro for some of you, but the ability to create a chippy look is one of my favorite things about using milk paints.
Thin Consistency
In general, milk paint is known to have a thin consistency. However, I noticed that the Rustoleum milk paint took more coats that I’m accustomed to using. I generally use 2 coats of paint on my projects. On this project, I used 3 coats and even had to touch up some areas with a 4th coat.
After First Coat
Long Drying Time
I also noticed that the Rustoleum milk paint took a lot longer to dry between each coat. I’m used to being able to start a second coat as soon as I’m done with the first due to super quick drying times. However, this paint took a good 30 minutes to dry between each coat so it took a lot longer to complete my project.
Overall thoughts on Rustoleum Milk Paint
Overall, I would say that the Rustoleum milk paint has not been one of my favorite paints to use. While I love the end result that I was able to achieve, I feel that I can achieve a similar look using paints that are a little easier to work with. I’ve been able to get very similar end results with less effort by using Rustoleum chalk paint. However, if you want to use different colored layers to get create a vintage look, milk paint will definitely be a better option.
I do plan to try the milk paint again using the classic white color. To be fair, I must say that I’ve never used any paints in this dark of a color. I almost always go with whites. So some of my comparisons may be biased based on that difference.
Now it’s you turn. I’d love to hear your favorite paints and why you love them.
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