A metal magnetic board in your own home provides innovative space for photos, lists, postcards, or other small items. It is not necessary to buy such a ready-made board directly.
Mix your magnetic paint in just 3 simple steps. Be creative in the application and design your magnetic pinboard according to your wishes and needs. Magnetic paint can be used without hesitation anywhere in the living room.
You don’t need much besides ordinary wall paint and iron filings. Magnetic paint is not magnetic by itself but a mixture of colors that contains iron filings. At the same time, the dye is harmless to sensitive electronic devices because it does not have a magnetic field around it.
Try it yourself and upgrade the walls at your desk, kitchen, or children’s room with magnetic separators. We’ll guide you and give you essential tips on top of that.
What is magnetic paint?
Magnetic paints are mixtures of primer and excellent iron dust. The surface with which the magnetic paint is coated subsequently acquires magnetic properties, after which, for example, pictures or notes can be easily attached to the wall using magnets.
Because magnetic paint is a primer, any color can be painted over it without hesitation. Alternatively, magnetic paint can also paint doors, plastic surfaces, or wood. There are no limits to your creativity.
What you need: Materials & Tools.
If you want to apply magnetic paint at your home, you will need different tools to use it and different materials to make it yourself.
Magnetic paint: The tools
No special tools are used when applying magnetic paint. The magnetic paint is applied as usual with a brush or a foam roller. The use of so-called painter’s tape to mask door frames or the desired location should occur in any case to achieve a clean result.
We additionally recommend the use of a lambskin roller. This favors a particularly even coating of the magnetic paint. To ensure that the magnetic surface you are aiming for is even and straight, we recommend using a spirit level and a folding rule.
Likewise, using a painter’s suit is advisable for magnetic paint.
Magnetic paint: the materials
In any case, you need 1 liter of conventional wall paint, a mixing bucket, and 250 to 300 grams of fine stainless iron filings CUT 150. A drill with a paint stirring attachment is also advantageous to mix the individual components.
Alternatively, we recommend the paint mixing service of various DIY stores, such as Hornbach or Obi. This would save you the expense of a drill whisk and hours of effort if you wanted to try mixing by hand.
Note: If you use the paint mixing service, you will, of course, no longer need a mixing bucket.
Make magnetic paint yourself: step-by-step instructions.
The prices for a liter of magnetic paint are high, at least 30 euros. In addition, the paint consumption during use is high because you have to paint the wall several times with magnetic paint. Why don’t you make your magnetic paint? Making it is easier than you think.
Step 1: Preparation
Even before you start mixing your magnetic paint, you should do some preparation. If there are holes in the wall, they should first be filled and the surface level before applying the paint.
If you are sure about the shape and size of your magnetic wall, it is also necessary to mark out this shape with painter’s tape. Usually, only sockets or door frames need to be masked. On the other hand, if you only want to paint a specific part of the wall with magnetic paint, then mask it off.
Use a ruler and spirit level to measure an even area and mark it with a pencil. Then pull the painter’s tape along the pencil line and pin down your place with it.
Step 2: Determine the required amount
Now you need the materials we listed to mix in the proper proportions. Pour the complete 1 liter of wall paint into the mixing bucket. Our recommended mixing ratio works with 1 liter of color and a good third of fine iron filings.
So if you only need 500 ml of wall paint, you should add a third in grams of iron filings. In this case, that would be a good 165 grams of chips. You can increase the iron filings content or apply the paint several times later for a stronger magnetic attraction.
Insider tip: If you already know that you want to paint over your magnetic paint, calculate a more substantial mixing ratio right away since wallpaper reduces any magnetic force due to its thickness.
Step 3: Mix the magnetic paint
Once you have calculated the amount you need, it’s time to mix. To do this, gradually stir the iron filings into the wall paint using the drill whisk or the paint stirring attachment.
The paint must be stirred very well to ensure its magnetic force remains constant throughout. Take your time to achieve an optimal result. The color should appear homogeneous.
Note that the addition of the iron filings will change the tone of your wall paint and almost certainly make it slightly darker. Thus, the color tone usually changes in the direction of gray to anthracite.
However, this is no reason to worry because the finished color can be painted or even wallpapered over.
Insider tip: So that you can paint over the magnetic paint later without any problems, make sure when mixing to leave you to paint accordingly or buy twice the amount right away.
Design magnetic wall
There are no limits to your creativity when designing your magnetic board. Design the magnetic surface according to your wishes. You can either paint or wallpaper over the dark color to cover the dark color.
Apply the magnetic paint
After mixing the wall paint with the iron filings, you can now apply it to the wall with a roller or brush. Under certain circumstances, painting may be more difficult due to the iron filings, but this is quite normal.
So that the magnetic paint can develop its full effect, it should be applied in several layers. The more layers, the more iron particles are on the wall and the greater the magnetic force. We recommend 3 to 4 layers of magnetic paint.
Painting over magnetic paint
After the magnetic paint has dried, you should paint over it with conventional paint, such as white, to create a uniform color appearance. Depending on the mixing ratio of the magnetic paint, the consistency may be slightly more granular than wall paint without metal particles.
We recommend not to apply the wall paint too thickly; otherwise, the magnetic power of the magnetic paint may be limited. In addition, it is possible to paint over the magnetic paint with so-called board paint.
This blackboard paint is paint whose surface can be used as a blackboard and written on with chalk after drying. Especially for children, this is a great idea.
Wallpaper over magnetic paint
An alternative option is to wallpaper over the magnetic paint with a thin wallpaper. Before wallpapering over, however, you should test whether the magnets also have sufficient adhesive force through the wallpaper.
FAQ
How to remove magnetic paint again?
Theoretically, magnetic paint does not have to be removed again. If you no longer want the wall surface to function as a magnetic board, you can withdraw your notes.
Insider tip: If you know in advance that you want to remove the paint again, apply the paint to a piece of wallpaper, which you can peel off.
How well do magnets stick to magnetic paint?
How well magnets can hold to your wall that has been painted with magnetic paint depends on the type of magnets. Ferrite magnets, for example, are too weak to stick to magnetic paint.
So-called neodymium magnets are more suitable. They have very high adhesive force with a small size. For attaching notes and larger sheets of paper, a magnetic thickness of a good 6 to 8 mm is required. On the other hand, for letters and postcards, we recommend a thickness of 12 mm.
Is magnetic paint worth it?
If you only need a magnetic wall in your home for a short time, magnetic paint is too expensive. For larger areas, it quickly takes a lot of colors, which, on top of that, has to be painted over several times.
However, magnetic paint is an absolute must if you want to set creative accents in your home permanently. This not only allows you to create unusual wall ideas. First of all, magnetic walls act as useful placeholders in innovative invisible bulletin boards.