FAQ

Below is the answers to our most frequently asked questions about our products. Feel free to contact us with any further questions or queries!

  • What is the difference between Silk Finish & Chalk Finish?

    Our Chalk Finish is a smooth creamy chalk & clay based paint, perfect for creating blended, textured, distressed and decorative looks. Like traditional chalk paints, it dries to a soft matte finish and needs sealing with either our Beeswax Polish, Liquid Wax, Hemp Finishing Oil or one of our clear liquid Sealers
    Our Silk Finish is a beautiful silky mineral paint that dries to a eggshell shine (between matte and satin). It does not need sealing and gives a gorgeous easy clean surface. Silk Finish is perfect if you love clean, modern and smooth look. 
  • Do I need to prime?

    Our Chalk Finish does not need priming unless you believe there may be tannin bleed through. In this case, we recommend giving your project a scuff sand (with approx 120 grit) to remove any sheen and applying our Base & Blocker.
    Our Silk Finish is best used with a waterbased, flat, matte primer, we recommend using our Base & Blocker.
  • Which primer should I use when?

    Pureco has a primer called Base & Blocker, it comes in two colours - White & Grey.
    We recommend to always use prime underneath our Silk Finish.

    White Base & Blocker is best used under Whites, Pastels and our Neons - Snow, Porcelain, Cotton, Cloud, Seashell, Calico, Fossil, Macadamia, Gumnut, Sugarcane, Pistachio, Meadow, Blush, Chiffon, Buttercup, Summer, Surf, Morning, Protea, Jacaranda, Mist. 

    Grey Base & Blocker is best used under Brights & Darks - Fawn, Mrytle, Colonial, Reef, Harbour, Ironbark, Rainforest, Bergamot, Turmeric, Firebird, Rosewood, Mulberry, Dandelion, Peppercorn, Brick, Denim, Petal, Bluebell, Capri, Periwinkle, Alpine, Sunset, Fern, Lagoon, Chino, Carbon, Forest, Peacock, Ochre, Lead, Engine, Eucalypt, Inkwell, Mermaid, Cranberry.

    These are only best recommended uses, you can use either of our Base & Blocker colours underneath any paint colour however the above will produce the best most efficient results.

  • Do I have to seal?

    Pureco Chalk Finish like any chalk/clay based paint does require sealing. We recommend any of our Sealers and Waxes for use over our Chalk Finish depending on the sheen level and final look you are after.

    Pureco Silk Finish does not require sealing, however if your piece is for outdoor use we recommend our exterior grade Semi Gloss or Gloss Sealer over the top. Also an addition sealer may be desired on top surfaces of your piece in a high traffic area or high usage.

    Our Beeswax Polishes, Liquid Waxes and Hemp Finishing Oil are not recommended for use over Silk Finish unless using a wet sanding method to polish the surface. The Silk Finish does not absorb the waxes as the Chalk Finish does.
  • Which Sealers are the toughest?

    Our toughest sealers are our Semi Gloss Sealer, Gloss Sealer and Hemp Finishing Oil

    Both our Semi Gloss and Gloss Sealers are exterior grade. Can be used for outdoor furniture and decor. Our Matte Sealer, Satin Sealer, Beeswax Polish and Liquid Waxes are for interior use only. 

    Beeswax Polish once cured (up to 1 month) is a great option for sealing our Chalk Finish and is surprisingly tough and water resistant. We do recommend using coasters etc on table tops that are waxed to avoid any reheating of the wax. 

    Our Hemp Finishing Oil is a polymizer which means it dries to a tough, hardened, water proof sealer.
    It will harden and become one with the surface (cure) and reach its strongest finish and bond once it has fully dried, lending its strengthening property to the finish of paint and wood. This can take between 14 to 35 days depending on environmental temperature and humidity. You may still use your piece finished with hemp oil but we suggest you protect it from water and heavy wear and tear until it has cured. Hemp Finishing Oil is suitable for outdoor use, after it has cured gives water resistance finish.
  • How much paint do I need?

    Below gives you an idea of how far our paints can go. Note - it will vary depending on the colours chosen, type of surface and painting techniques.
  • Why do some colours need extra coats?

    Sometimes depending on the colour you may need to apply an extra coat to achieve full opaque coverage. This is due to the paint bases used to achieve an individual colour. There are 3 most common bases White, Light/Deep and Ultra Light/Deep. This applies for all paint types, for all brands.

    To achieve most bright colours we need to use an Ultra Light Base or Clear base, which means extra coats are necessary to get full coverage.

    Think of it like this- If you had 3 glasses, 1 with milk, 1 with milky water and 1 with just water. Drop some red food colouring in each. You are left with the glass of milk being a pale pink, the glass with milky water a mid toned pink and the one with water will stay the original bright red colour.

    The base used makes a big difference on the final colour, brighter and darker colours require the lighter bases to avoid that extra dilution from a white base. This, of course, affects the amount of coats needed to achieve full coverage. We could, like most other brands, avoid making these bright (and extremely fun) colours in our Silk Finish range (the thicker consistency of Chalk Finish causes better coverage abilities), or we could do what we are doing now... create the fun, possibly risky products, and allow YOU to decide if it's your thing or not!

    You will find that you get the best coverage with our tinted whites, pastels, neutrals and dark colours. Mid range colours and brights are the most affected as they are made on a light base and contain no black tint. 

    To make it easier for you, we have added an * indicator next to the colour name that have been made on a light/clear base and will need an extra coat to obtain full coverage.
  • How do I get a smooth brush stroke free finish?

    Our Silk Finish paint is so silky smooth (hence the name) and has amazing self levelling properties which means you can easily achieve a beautiful smooth finish.
    If you are using our Silk Finish for the first time we suggest dipping your brush in the paint and just wiping off the excess from only 1 side, as coats that are too thin will affect the self levelling properties, this paint needs a little extra to perform its magic levelling properties.

    Our Chalk Finish paint is  a beautiful velvety custard consistency and loves to be used for textured looks but if you prefer chalk paints we have a few tips. You can use a damp brush or use a mister spray to help move the paint more, this will give you a longer working time to softly smooth out any brush strokes. Alternatively you can easily sand your final coat smooth with a 240+ sandpaper.

About Pureco (said Pure Eco)

We are an Australian owned family run company producing high quality eco-friendly paints and finishes specifically for furniture artists. We make every effort to produce safe, sustainable products made for Australian conditions. Our products are low or zero VOC (volatile organic compounds). High VOC cause ozone and smog and contribute to harmful health effects. Our aim is to use the best Australian ingredients to produce affordable, high quality, easy to use products to take your painted furniture business or your most loved out of date pieces to the next level.

We sell only to small business not huge companies as we believe small business take a more personal approach to service and support of their customers. We love the idea of supplying the actual owners of the business and getting to know them as a part of our team. Eco is not just the contents of our products but our practices every day, everything is either reused, recycled or disposed of thoughtfully.

We want to make as little impact on the earth as possible. We encourage you to reuse your containers as well, our plastic packaging is PET and recyclable, our wax tins are reusable once empty. We reuse all boxes sent to us and use recyclable bubble wrap and fillers. Not only are we Australian made and owned, we strive to, wherever possible use other awesome Australian products or businesses when creating all our products. We use Australian suppliers for all our ingredients, packaging, labelling etc and use small businesses as much as we can. We hope you enjoy using our products as much as we enjoy making them for you.