A Guide to Painting Tiles
Our Intelligent Paints have a built-in primer which means they can be used to paint a range of household surfaces, including tiles. Available in our complete palette, you can use these groundbreaking finishes to bring fabulous, long-lasting colour to wall tiles in kitchens, bathrooms and more.
Read our step-by-step guide and learn how to paint tiles with our self-priming paints, transforming your tiles with a durable finish and beautiful depth of colour.
Can you paint tiles?
Yes, you can paint tiles. However, you do need to make sure you use a suitable paint finish that will achieve the required durability.
Traditionally, painting tiles would mean using a specialist primer that adheres securely to the surface. Only after this step could you apply your chosen tile paint for kitchens and bathrooms.
Our Intelligent Paints use Intelligent Grip™ technology, which combines primer and topcoat in a single tin. Using these finishes to paint bathroom or kitchen tiles is a very efficient process, whilst delivering a durable, hard-wearing finish.
These unrivalled finishes combine a hardwearing, self-priming finish with the full palette of Little Greene colours. This means there are endless design opportunities to incorporate tiled surfaces into your decorating projects, from coordinating colour pairings to colour-drenched schemes.
Our Intelligent Paints are perfect for painting tiles on a whole variety of household surfaces, such as your kitchen splashback or bathroom wall tiles. However, for any areas that come into direct contact with water – such as the inside of your shower – we would recommend using specialist tiles.
How to paint tiles: step-by-step
1. Choose the right paint
For painting tiles, we recommend using Intelligent Satin or Intelligent Gloss, which are two of our most durable paint finishes.
Tiles are usually found in high-traffic parts of the home, such as kitchens and bathrooms. They often feature on surfaces that are cleaned regularly, so it’s important that the surface is tough, hardwearing and washable.
Our Intelligent Paints are up to 15 times more hardwearing than ordinary paints. Their water-based formulations dry quickly with low odour and almost no VOCs. They are also fully washable and easy-to-clean, ideal for rooms that experience lots of activity and everyday wear and tear.
Intelligent Satin has an elegant mid-sheen of 30-35% and Intelligent Gloss has a reflective high sheen of 87-90%. With both finishes available in all our colours, you can choose your preferred sheen level and paint colour to begin your tile painting project.
2. Repair any imperfections
Before you can apply the paint, it’s important to properly prepare the tiles to create the ideal surface for painting. First check the tiles for any imperfections, such as cracks or damage to the grouting. Make sure to fill in any repairs or complete any necessary re-grouting. Taking the time to complete this step will prevent any flaws in the final painted surface and make sure you achieve the best results possible.
3. Clean the tile
It’s important to give your tiles a thorough clean, especially if they feature within an existing kitchen or bathroom scheme. Use warm water and sugar soap or another degreaser to remove any dirt and grime from the tiled surface. Allow the surface to dry completely before moving to the next step.
4. Sand the tile
Sanding your tiles will create a key for painting, improving the adherence of your chosen finish. Use a medium-grade sandpaper to give the tiles a light sand all over. For best results, try to ensure every area of the surface has been sanded so it’s well prepared for painting.
5. Prime & paint tiles
When you use our Intelligent Paints, you can prime and paint the surface of the tiles from a single tin of paint. Simply apply this revolutionary paint directly to the surface to achieve optimum adherence and durability.
We recommend applying two full coats to attain full depth of colour and protect your tiles with a robust, washable coating. If you are using a finish that isn’t self-priming, or for a dramatic colour change, first apply a coat of Intelligent All Surface Primer. This is tinted to a slightly lighter shade than your chosen colour.
6. Allow the paint to dry
For best results, it’s important to let the paint dry fully between coats of paint. The surface may be dry to the touch after 1 hour. But we recommend allowing up to 4 hours for Intelligent Satin and up to 6 hours for Intelligent Gloss before you apply a new coat.
Once you have applied the final coat, it may take between 3-7 days for the surface to cure fully. Before this point, we recommend only light use of the space to prevent any damage to the coating. You should avoid exposing tiles in kitchens and bathrooms to any heavy surface condensation in the first few days, as this can cause surface marking.