Distressed bookcase

[Trey Isbell]

I wanted to put a distressed finish on a bookcase I am about to complete for my aunt. I dont want the beat up dings and dent look. I just want to distress the paint job. I am going for a white topcoat and a undercoat of a dark brown. What I want to do is show the brown through the white topcoat in areas that would normally recieve abuse. Has anybody ever done this and what process did you use. Thanks
Trey Isbell

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Yep - done it many times.
Apply the brown and let it cure.
Rub paraffin wax on the spots you don't want the white to adhere to.
When the white cures, remove the wax with VMP Naptha.

Experiment with feathering the edges of the wax by dabbing the edges with q-tips saturated with VMP Naptha.

[Trey Isbell]

Thanks for the reply what kind of paint do you use when distressing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Sorry it took so long to get back.
I'm partial to oil based materials - usually oil based semi gloss w/Penetrol added - because of their longer open time.