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What is varnish?

When you hear the word "varnish", the first thing that probably comes to mind is a shiny surface, an unpleasant smell and bright colours. But there are other types of varnishes that you can use in different areas.

The difference between varnish and paint

Paint is what we call wall paints. These differ from varnishes as they have a different composition and therefore need a rough surface to be able to adhere. They are less impact-resistant on smooth surfaces.
varnishes, on the other hand, bond better with the substrate, are usually thinner and can be painted well on smooth surfaces. Whether or not you need a primer depends on the substrate and not the varnish.
Wood surfaces, furniture, metal and plastic can also be embellished with our varnishes.

Application areas: What you can paint with varnish paint

As diverse as the surfaces in your home are, so are the areas of application for our varnishes.
Use the varnishes as furniture paint to customise your IKEA furniture, adapt heirlooms or upgrade old furniture. With a varnish, you can change the effect without much effort. There are no limits to your creativity. Do you love the colour blue, for example? Then why not paint an accent piece of furniture with blue varnish!
If you want to beautify your staircase, you can paint both the wooden steps and the metal banisters. Our Eggshell Varnish is perfect for wood and metal. A classic for stairs is brown varnish. If you have the courage to go for colour, why not try something unusual like purple varnish.
Did you know that you can varnish your radiators yourself? Use our varnish as a radiator varnish and make your radiator either disappear into the wall or stand out as a special accent, for example with red varnish.
If you can no longer see the tiles from the 80s in your kitchen or bathroom, paint over them with our Eggshell Varnish. The special thing is that you can use these tile colours in the bathroom, as they can withstand splashes of water once they have hardened. You can even use them for bathroom floor tiles. There is only one restriction: water-based varnishes do not tolerate standing water. They are therefore not suitable for painting the shower tray or other surfaces where standing water often collects. If you are painting wall tiles in the shower or expect heavy use, you should finish the coating with To Seal topcoat. As tiles are very smooth, we also recommend priming them before painting.

Which varnishes can I order from MissPompadour?

You can easily buy varnishes for pretty much any area online in our shop. What makes our varnishes so unique is that you can often use one colour quality for many different projects.

The two varnishes in the MissPompadour Just paint collection are the all-rounder Eggshell Varnish and the velvety Matt Varnish. Both our LittlePomp collection and the colours in the CosyColours collection are chalk paints, or more precisely, chalk varnishes.
The varnishes have a matt to satin gloss level. While the matt varnish is best suited for surfaces with little wear and tear, you can also use the semi-gloss varnish on hard-wearing surfaces such as kitchen and wall tiles or floor tiles.
If you prefer Scandi and shabby-style colours, we recommend the colour scheme of our CosyColours, which is characterised by its variety of muted grey and beige tones.
A little bit of everything can be found among the varnish colours from MissPompadour Paint: a strong apple green, a rich pink, but also restrained tones such as grey with various nuances. The LittlePomp collection contains soft, pastel chalk colours that are not only ideal for children's rooms. As you can see, you'll find a range of different products in our online shop, so there's something for your project too.

Which varnishes can I use for which surfaces?

We have put together a brief overview for you here.

MissPompadour Eggshell Varnish
  • Over 90 colour shades
  • Silky matt, slightly shimmering surface
  • Extremely hard-wearing, impact-resistant and washable
  • Suitable varnish for all surfaces: e.g. wood, walls and floors.E.g. wood, wall and floor tiles, smooth surfaces, metal and plastic, painted & unpainted surfaces. Particularly recommended for heavily used surfaces and furniture in the kitchen, bathroom and hallway
  • Can be used indoors & outdoors
MissPompadour Matt Varnish
  • Over 90 colour shades
  • Matt, elegant surface
  • Impact-resistant and washable
  • Suitable varnish for less heavily used surfaces on wood, wall tiles, metal, veneer, plastic, painted & unpainted surfaces
  • Can be used indoors
CosyColours chalk varnishes
  • Over 30 colour shades
  • Chalky velvety surface, muted colour shades
  • Impact-resistant and wipeable
  • Especially suitable as a varnish for furniture, but also on less stressed surfaces such as wall tiles, metal, veneer, plastic, painted & unpainted surfaces
  • Can be used indoors

LittlePomp chalk varnishes
  • 15 colour shades, developed according to child-psychological principles
  • Soft pastel shades
  • Impact-resistant and wipeable, saliva-proof
  • Especially suitable as a varnish for furniture, but also for less stressed surfaces such as wall tiles, metal, veneer, plastic, painted & unpainted surfaces
  • Can be used indoors

Colourful all-rounder: The great properties of varnish

Whether grey varnish or orange varnish: With varnish paints, you can easily and inexpensively change furniture, tiles, kitchens and much more. Paint easily and without sanding if the old varnish does not come off. All you need to do is clean thoroughly beforehand and you're ready to paint.
Choose from a wide range of different colour shades. From subtle and modern to colourful and eye-catching, you can buy varnish paint for any surface from us. How about pink varnish? White varnish as well as black varnish are classics that always fit. Try out an exciting colour and take a look at our red shades. If you get tired of this powerful colour at some point, you can paint over it without having to remove the paint.
Switch to a fresh turquoise, which invigorates your senses, or to the related, darker petrol. You may also want to paint your kitchen with a green varnish that stimulates the appetite and is on-trend. Alternatively, you can opt for a neutral varnish in beige. The selection is huge! If you want to buy varnish online but can't make up your mind, our colour cards will help you.
Whatever colour shade you ultimately decide on, all our varnishes have one thing in common: they have hardly any smell, no harmful vapours and are water-based. With these advantages, you can also paint indoors without hesitation.

Varnishing made easy - even on difficult surfaces

It is important to check whether the joints in the bathroom and kitchen are sealed with silicone. If this is the case, To Seal Silicone from our shop is the right primer before you apply the paint. You don't need a two-component varnish for your tiles. This means you don't have to mix anything and can take breaks in between without affecting the tile paint. As tiles are very smooth, we recommend priming them with To Bond & Block before painting. If the tiles are subject to heavy wear, for example on the floor, it may also be advisable to reinforce the varnish with To Seal after painting.
Even foiled kitchens and plastic doors are no problem for the right varnish. Use plastic varnishes to freshen up your doors or to make your kitchen more colourful. As a first step, you should apply a primer such as To Bond & Block so that the varnish can adhere better to the smooth surface. Perhaps paint your kitchen with a bright, turquoise varnish and bring vibrancy to the room. Or let the sun shine in with yellow varnish. Of course, you can also use the plastic paints in other areas.

If the metal is already rusty, it is important to sand it down well before painting and apply an effective rust inhibitor.


Frequently asked questions about our varnishes

Buying varnish paint made easy! We answer the most important questions here.

What is the difference between varnish and varnish?

You paint varnish to obtain a covered surface. Varnishes contain more pigments than varnishes. The latter are not opaque, as you want the substrate to show through. It is often the wood structure that should still be recognisable. However, the small amount of pigments also limits the variety of colours available; strong colours are not possible with varnishes.

How robust are varnishes?

As with all varnishes, it depends on how much stress is placed on the coating. All of our varnishes are so robust when used correctly that they also work wonderfully as a tile paint for wall tiles. For heavily used tiles, you will find the right colour among our eggshell varnishes. On smooth tiles, we recommend priming with To Bond & Block, our primer that ensures a particularly good hold.
In principle, the varnish can withstand normal everyday wear after curing for 14 days. It continues to harden for several weeks. If you want to further increase the durability, we recommend sealing the varnish colour. . MissPompadour To Seal is well suited for this.

Which Roller is best for varnishing?

Many people like to varnish with a foam roller. We used to use these too. However, we have now had better experiences with the short-pile varnish rollers, which can be found under varnish roller. We therefore always recommend these rollers for painting and varnishing.

Order varnish in the MissPompadour shop

Save yourself the trip to the DIY store and buy varnish paint online from MissPompadour. We ship with DHL GoGreen, which offsets the resulting emissions. We also use no plastic at all for shipping, from the packaging to the adhesive tape.
Get a few more tips and tricks from our magazines or directly from our free customer and colour consultancy while you wait for your delivery. Once you've finished your project, share it with us in our MissPompadour App!