So you’ve gone through all the work of painting your beautiful piece, and then you see it, a day later, a week later, or even months later, the dreaded Bleed Through! In the world of furniture painting, bleed-through is a problem that comes up over and over again in our discussions on Paint It Beautiful. Even the most experiencer paints struggle with this common problem.
![bleed thru knots on wood](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/28504819_595234850812368_171056539_o-720x960.jpg)
![bleed thru knots on wood](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/28504819_595234850812368_171056539_o-720x960.jpg)
What is Bleed Through?
It’s a shadow or colouring, something that you see peeking through your paint as it starts to cure. Almost like a stain, bleeding through the paint. It can come in the shape of a knot from the wood, or an overall hue colour change.
![](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through.jpg)
![](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through.jpg)
Natural Causes of Bleed Through
What it actually is, are the tannins and resins of the wood trying to escape. Nature is a wonderful thing, and it will almost always win! There is a way to prevent this from happening, it is a VERY important step to take during the PREP stage of painting. If you think you might have this problem with a new piece you have acquired, you are not going to want to miss this step of the prep stage.
![painted furniture with bleed thru](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-example-3-540x960.jpg)
![painted furniture with bleed thru](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-example-3-540x960.jpg)
How To Prevent Bleed Through When Painting Furniture
Applying a stain-blocking primer is crucial to preventing bleed-through when painting. You may want to use B-I-N Zinsser Shellac-Based Primer so that the shellac will hold in the resins and not allow for bleeding to occur. What I really like about this product is that it is white, so it acts as an excellent base primer too when painting with a light colour.
This particular shellac primer also adheres to virtually anything, but beware it does have a strong odour! So learn to love the knots or prep with a stain block shellac-based primer beforehand.
![bleed thru](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-thru-blog-post-image-640x960.jpg)
![bleed thru](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-thru-blog-post-image-640x960.jpg)
The most typical woods that bleed:
- cherry
- mahogany
- knotty pine
- newer softwoods
![side of dresser with bleed through](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-example-1-720x960.jpg)
![side of dresser with bleed through](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-example-1-720x960.jpg)
We hope this helps you to understand why bleed through happens and how to prevent it with your next project!
Save this for later! Pin It!
![wood grain](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-1-640x960.jpg)
![wood grain](https://fusionmineralpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bleed-through-1-640x960.jpg)
Read more from our friend Steve Maxwell on the intricacies of Bleed Through here.
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