Wetsand or clearcoat over epoxy?

[ddschmalz]

When shopping for a replacement dishwasher, I found a great deal. But they only had black, so I bought it and repainted the front panel with epoxy to match my refrigerator and range. I turned out great, but the finish is not quite as smooth as the finish on the other appliances. I've never used epoxy before. I thought about westanding with 600 sandpaper and then polishing it, but i don't know if you can do that to epoxy, and it looks so good now I didn't want to risk messing it up. Could I apply clearcoat over the epoxy and then polish that?

Thanks,

David

[Dupli-Color-Specialist]

You can wetsand and buff epoxy just like paint. It depends how hard the finish is though. Was this applied with an aerosol? I am assuming you painted it with a 2 part system in a spray gun. I am unaware of any epoxy aerosols. As far as sanding I would start off with a finer paper than 600 and go from there. You don't want to put any deep scratches that you won't be able to buff out. Try 1000 grit first.

[ddschmalz]

Thanks for the reply. It was an aerosol. I thought it was Krylon from one of the chain home centers, but I looked in one and they only had Rust-Oleum, so that might be what I used. It says it is Appliance Epoxy, Ultra-hard Enamel for indoor metal applications. Even though it says Ultra-hard, I assume from your reply that it is not as hard as a two-part application would be. Would you still try it with 1000-grit?

Thanks again,

David

[Dupli-Color-Specialist]

You are right. Krylon does make an Epoxy Appliance paint and Rustoleum may as well. It is a durable finish but certainly not as hard as a 2 part catilized system. The think with wetsanding an aerosolized paint film, it is very thin. You can go as fine as 1500 grit and go from there. Don't be surprised if you sand through your finish though. It all depends on how many coats were applied and what grit paper you use. Either way you can always sand your current finish smooth and add several more coats, sand again then buff.