Magnetic Paint Hints and Uses

Hints and Tips for Magically Magnetic Paint

Helpful hints, decorating tips for children's rooms and suggested uses for Magically Magnetic Paint Additive

Areas of Application

Magically Magnetic Paint is for indoor use only. Magnetic Paint can be affected adversely by moisture. Use paint treated with Magically Magnetic Paint Additive only in areas free of moisture and condensation.

Adding Magnetic Additive to Your Paint

LYTLE Magically Magnetic Paint Additive comes in a convenient powdered form. You will need a container that holds more than the amount of paint you are mixing, because the additive adds to the volume of paint it is added to. Pour your paint into the mixing container. With a paint stick, stir your paint while adding the powdered additive. Do not store the mixed magnetic paint. Use all that you mix. If at all possible, we recommend using a premium quality, white, oil-based primer/sealer paint to mix with our additive. Any brand will do. If oil based paint can not be used, a premium brand of white, latex, primer/sealer, stain blocker paint will work just as well. These paints hide stains and cover unpainted or previously painted surfaces. They make good sealers on unpainted walls and can be used over oil-based or latex paints making a good base coat for final coats of paint in your choice of color, latex or oil-based. We do not suggest using alcohol or shellac-based paint to mix with our additive as they tend to be too thin, dry too fast and do not dry smooth.

Magically Magnetic Additive works best with thicker paints. Do not thin. Never add water to latex paints containing Magically Magnetic Paint Additive. Be sure to provide adequate ventilation while any paint dries. Follow directions on the can of paint you are using. Use a ¼" to ½" thick foam roller or a low nap fiber roller and paint tray. Two coats should be sufficient on a smooth wall although some people prefer three or four coats. It's not so much the number of coats as the thickness of the coating built up. Some people stretch the paint when painting with a roller. With magnetic paint, you are not so much changing the color of the wall as you paint. You are trying to build up a sufficiently thick coating of the magnetically attractive particles on the wall. Don't stretch the paint. Try for as thick a coating as possible without runs or drips. Allow magnetic paint to dry thoroughly between coats and test for desired strength of magnetic attractiveness with the sheet magnet supplied with your additive. For the strongest attraction, three or four coats may be desired. The more coats you apply, the thicker the magnetic coating and the stronger the magnetic attraction.

Top Coat With any Paint

Let the magnetic paint dry for 24 hours before applying final topcoats of regular latex or oil-based paint in your desired color. Latex paints will appear dry to the touch within an hour but will take up to twelve or more hours to be completely dry. Painting a new coat over a previous coat before it is completely dry runs the risk of trapping moisture underneath the new coat.

Use a new paint roller cover and tray for finish paint. The finish coats of paint should act as a moisture barrier to the magnetic particles and act to smooth out the finished appearance. We recommend two finish coats. The end result will be a beautiful, lightly textured wall that will attract sheet magnet, opening all sorts of decorating opportunities.

Application Tips

Painting on Textured Walls
Magnetic paint works best on smooth walls. Textured walls such as cinder block or concrete block walls have high and low spots that interrupt solid contact of the magnet to the magnetically attractive particles in the paint. Textured walls can be smoothed out with filler compounds before painting with magnetic paint.

Avoid Drips and Runs
To avoid drips and runs when painting with a roller, saturate your roller evenly with paint and apply the paint to the wall with light pressure in an area approximately 4 square feet in size. Blend sections together smoothly, and then refill the roller. Allow sufficient drying time between coats.

Prepare the Surface
You may not want to cover an entire wall with magnetic paint. Only the area that will be used to display art or photos will need to be treated. Because any magnetic paint has a light texture that will show against an absolutely smooth wall, it may be desirable to mask off the area to be made magnetically attractive. If the area is already painted, clean the surface well and remove any dirt or dust. Remove or mask off switch plates and outlet covers. Use a pencil and straightedge to outline the area to be painted. Use blue light-tack painter's adhesive tape to mask the area being sure to mask off any woodwork or other areas to remain unpainted. Then tape newspaper to the painter's tape to protect the wall from splatters or overpainting. After applying the Magnetic Paint, allow sufficient time for the magnetic paint to dry. Remove the tape and newspaper except from woodwork and switch covers etc, and then paint two coats of your finish color over the entire wall. This will help to blend the smooth wall with the light texture of the magnetic paint. The straight edge produced by the masking tape will give a professional finished look to the job.

Between Coats
Clean your paint tray after each coat of magnetic paint or use disposable paint tray liners. Wrap the roller with tin foil or a thin sheet of plastic wrap or a plastic bag to keep the paint on the roller from drying out between coats. In this way, you will be able to reuse the roller for multiple coats without washing it. Washing a roller cover with water between coats when using latex paints is a good way to introduce water into the paint. never add water to latex paints mixed with Magically Magnetic Paint Additive. Use a new roller and roller tray liner for your finish color coats.

Mix Only What You Need
If you have purchased enough additive to mix with a gallon of paint, you can mix a portion of a gallon (1, 2, or 3 quarts at a time) so you don't waste paint or additive. Mix 2 pounds or one cup of magnetic additive with each quart of paint. Mix only what you think you will use for the application. The unmixed additive has a longer shelf life sealed dry in it's can than paint mixed with magnetic additive. Use what you mix. With Magically Magnetic Paint Additive, your magnetic paint is always fresh.

Suggested Uses

Mounting Posters Magnetically
Once you have painted your walls with Magically Magnetic Paint, you'll want to mount all kinds of photos, art and posters on the wall. Here is an easy method to hang your posters and other frames magnetically without marks or holes.

• Helpful hint: You can find old movie posters to decorate with at video rental stores or local theaters

Wall Decorations
It’s fun to make your own wall decorations for your magnetic wall. If you have favorite children’s book illustrations, make copies on a color copier and blow them up in size. Remember, these are copyrighted works of art so you can only make them for your own enjoyment, never to sell. Cover the back with self adhesive sheet magnet and cut away the scrap material. Now the book illustration can be used as a decoration in a child’s room.

Every holiday season brings colorful decorations to the stores. Usually they are hung with tape, tacks or nails on walls. Now that you have made your walls magnetically attractive, you can simply cover the backs of your favorite decorations with inexpensive sheet magnet and mount them magnetically. Best of all, you can save the decorations for next year and the magnets continue working, year after year. The magnetism never wears out.

Kids love making their own holiday decorations out of colored construction paper and drawings. Anything a child makes can be magnetized with our self adhesive sheet magnet.

Photo Groupings
Anyone with children or grandchildren knows how difficult and expensive it can be to frame and mount a grouping of photos. That’s a thing of the past now thanks to Lytle Magically Magnetic paint and magnetic frames. Easily turn any ordinary wall into a magnetically attractive show area with our Magically Magnetic Paint Additive and your regular paint.

Using our magnetic photo frames, mount one photo anywhere on your magnetic wall. Then, mount another near by. After you mount a third photo in a magnetic frame you can easily go back and re-space them to get the look you want. With magnetic frames on a magnetic wall, you can easily raise or lower your frames or move them to the right or left until they are just right. No nail holes or uneven frames, just a beautiful grouping of photos or art. You can even move the entire grouping anytime or add pictures and re-arrange them.

If you are renting and it’s time to move, you won’t have to worry about losing your deposit. No nail holes in the walls or tape marks to force your landlord to re-paint the walls. You can just take down your framed photos and art and box them up to go to the new apartment. You will most likely be painting there so be sure to use Magically Magnetic Paint again. Your new landlord will love you for it. Maybe if you tell him about Magically Magnetic Paint, he will paint it on for you or at least pay for it. Well, he might.

Making a wood trimmed display panel

A grouping of pictures looks great by itself on a magnetic wall, but for a beautifying touch, add decorative magnetic wood trim to the area. Click here to see how easily it is done!

Magnetic Wallpaper trim
Every wallpaper store offers many attractive trims, available in rolls. Usually, these trim rolls are adhered to walls with wallpaper paste. Not anymore! Now with Magically Magnetic paint, you can mount these decorative trims with self-adhesive sheet magnet on the back. Change trim easily later for an entirely different look. This is a wonderful idea for a child’s room.

Magnetic Words and Poetry
Here’s a great idea for a child’s room. Print sheets of different words in large bold letters, then adhere them to sheets of self-adhesive sheet magnet. Cut the words apart and let the kids arrange them into sentences, stories or poems. What a great way to help your children learn to read, write and compose while playing a game on their wall. Kids love making messages for each other while they learn. These magnetic words can be used over and over and can even be taken along on road trips and vacations for hours of fun. Just take a cookie sheet to arrange the words on. Better yet, take a cookie sheet along for each child and keep them all busy. "Are we there yet?"

Magnetic Chalkboards
Many of our customers have shown interest in making a section of a child’s room into a magnetic blackboard using our magnetic paint additive and commercially available chalkboard paint. We tried some experimentation with the chalkboard paints. Click here to see how it is done.

• A nice finishing touch is to put a magnetic three-dimensional wood trim frame around the blackboard. Click Here to see how this is done.

Click here to order LYTLE Magically Magnetic Paint Additive
introduced 04/09/2002

Individual results may vary depending greatly on personal painting technique, environmental conditions, surface characteristics, paints employed, etc. No warranty is expressed or implied.

Magically Magnetic Inc. sells LYTLE Magnetic Photo and Art Frames exclusively, the smart, easy, fun, modern way to protect and display your favorite photos. They're the Original and they're the best. All LYTLE products are protected by US patent and copyright laws.