Universal Tints For Faux Painting

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback about finding the universal paint tints I use for faux painting.

I find it hard to believe that large chain stores don’t have this item in stock. But… no accounting for some peoples business practices.

And… often the only available bottles are large and expensive.

This brand of universal tint called Tints-All is available in small tubes and I used to have a good source on eBay (actually a hardware store on eBay) for you but they’ve apparently gone away.  I’ve now linked it to a page on Amazon for you.

The tints come in a variety of colors so you may have to sort through to find the colors you want.

I hope this is helpful in your search for Universal Paint Tints.

The following question is in response to one of our recent posts called:

How can I Paint My Walls with a Leather Faux Look

“I’m wondering if you could tell me the exact colors you used on that wall??? … as well as each step involved???? My daughter loves it and we’re hoping to paint her bedroom. Of all the examples we’ve seen, she loves your example the best. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Paula”

Hi Paula,

We would be happy to help answer your question for you. The following is a step by step process of how to achieve the red faux leather finish.

1. Choose your color. In your case, you will choose a fire engine red. This will be your base color for the faux finish. “The reason for the bright colors is that the glaze over the top is very dark and if you start out with a deep color, the walls will just look black”

2. Prime your walls with a primer that is specific to the color that you choose. Once you pick the color, bring it to your local paint store and ask them to mix a primer for you. It will probably end up being a medium pink color, so don’t be alarmed. You will need to roll on 2 coats of primer.

3. Paint your fire engine red base color.

4. This next step you can do a couple different ways.

• Mix glaze with colorants, according to TPL article:

“At the big box hardware store, you know – Home Depot or Lowe’s, (or any good paint store) you can find Universal Tints or Colorant. It’s the dark colors that are added to paint cans when the guy behind the counter mixes your paint colors. Well, you can buy this stuff in bottles. It is very concentrated, so get the smallest tube they offer.

You’re going to mix up glaze and colorant. That’s it. It will resemble stain. Mix well and keep mixing as you glaze the walls as the colorant tends to settle.

Start with a mixture of one pint glaze to 1.5 oz colorant.”

• Mix paint with glaze. Choose a dark stain color and mix 1 part paint to 3 parts glaze.
  

5. Start Glazing your walls, according to TPL article: “Brush this mixture on the wall with a throw away brush. This goes on in patchy, puzzle shaped areas. About 2 ft x 2ft areas then you have to blend in the patch. I like to use a Woolie Lambwool Faux Applicator Tool because it’s soft and creates a very soft texture, even if you don’t have textured walls.”

Let us know if you have any more questions. Good luck on your painting project!!

Now get out there and splash some paint around!