I have a bare mdf table for our bell tent and I just wanted to know what I should paint it up with to properly seal it.... will regular oil-based undercoat work or will it not 'stick' properly to the mdf?
I know this perhaps a little off topic for this forum but I know that lots of you are very knowledgeable and a lot more practical than me!
thanks in advance for any help
jo
I don't know if you have a Boyes store near you. They sell plasticated fabric on a roll suitable for making table cloths with.
I removed the supplied top of our caravan table and replaced it with some much lighter and slightly smaller MDF and then stapled this stuff too it. Its easily washable and you get to pick any fabric pattern they've got so we use a cheesy red and white check.
You don't need the special primers, a good coat of polyurethane varnish will seal it just as well, or for that matter a good quality oil based gloss, you need to thin your first few coats though as MDF will drink it up.
The thing to remember is that MDF will expand if it gets wet, and that means you'll need to seal it all round including inside any joints. If the MDF is either green or has a green core then your lucky as its moisture resistant to start with (still requires a top coat though).
For reference, My experience is from my profession (Cabinet Maker).
In the old days when I made my own furniture with MDF (much to my dad's annoyance as a cabinet maker) I used to just give it a coat of watered down PVA followed by cheap white emulsion then a couple of coats of coloured emulsion followed by a water based varnish (or not depending what I was using it for) but you do have to cover every bit of it or the water gets in and expands it.