Apply Magnetic Primer to the Children’s Bedroom Wall
Last week, we suggested that you turn a hidden wall in your home (such as a basement or laundry room) into an “ art wall ” to showcase all of your child’s masterpieces. One commentator known as “Jamie Lannister, Kingslayer Private School” picked up another idea we love: Pick a wall or door in your child’s room and paint it with a magnetic primer:
“Depending on how much work you want to put into it, repainting the wall using a product like Rust-Oleum Magnetic Primer may be a good option. Then you can topcoat any color you want and hang the artwork on the magnets.
You don’t have to worry about damaging a wall or artwork, and when that stage of your child’s life is over, you’ll just have a normal looking wall. ”
Other commenters supported the proposal and offered more advice.
Layer, layer, layer
To make it strong enough to hold the magnets in, you’ll need to apply several coats of primer before painting over with a top coat. You can use any regular wall paint as the top coat, or coat it with chalkboard paint for extra fun.
Mix, mix, mix
A CommonVices commenter says this primer needs to be mixed well:
Magnetic primers work by mixing iron filings with paint. Iron is obviously heavier than the liquid, so it has a natural tendency to settle at the bottom of the can. If it is poorly mixed, the primer you use from the top of the can will be less magnetic than what is left on the bottom (which will also become more “cloudy” due to the denser concentration of sawdust).
CommonVices suggests taking the jar to your local hardware store on the day you plan to paint so it goes through the store’s shaker. Then close it and shake vigorously between layers. Commenters who have posted the paint on Amazon also suggest stirring it every few minutes.
Try these magnets
Even after applying all these layers of primer, your magnetic door or wall likely won’t be as magnetic as your refrigerator. However, CommonVices has a few specific guidelines for which magnets are best for:
The most effective magnets to use on it must be (a) very light, (b) very powerful, or (c) very “decomposed.” In addition to magnetic image sleeves , I recommend buying magnetic sheets that can be used to turn stickers, photographs, or artwork into flat magnets that work well on a primed surface. For example, using them in conjunction with alphabet stickers will allow you to cut out flat ABC letters that will work more reliably than short plastic letters with cheap, low-power magnets on the back.
Use this shortcut
Magnetic primer is both more expensive and more labor intensive than conventional primer. So instead of making an entire wall, CommonVices suggests creating a horizontal stripe at child’s eye level.
Use masking tape, primer and then a colorful top coat to create a magnetic racing stripe effect.