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Can You Mix Satin and Semi Gloss Paint Together? (Answered)

Consider using satin paint if you plan to apply new paint in your kitchen or bathroom. It works exceptionally well as the hardworking paint where you can regularly clean and use the cleaner safely. Mainly, you should use satin paint in your hardworking area.

It can safely resist all the cleaners and give you the best cleaning and beautiful experience. Apart from that, the semi-gloss paint can also be used, but the practice would be to use this paint in less hardworking areas.

Can you mix satin and semi-gloss paint together?

You can mix satin and semi-gloss paint together, but it will not give you the best use of satin. Mainly, when you mix the satin with the semi-gloss paint, you will get the semi-gloss finish in most cases. Satin will not work as you expected. The semi-gloss paint will suppress the satin.

The satin paint is entirely different from the semi-gloss paint. You can interchange them or mix them by following the simple process.

But to get the best satin surfaces, you should always avoid mixing them, particularly if you intend to get a strong and durable surface where you can do all the rough and tough tasks.

Besides, if you have the bathroom and kitchen area for hardwood coverings, I’d advise you to only go for the satin paint. It will give you what you want to get from such a surface. 

You can do that if you want to get a mixture of satin and semi-gloss paint. It will give you both one experience at a time. But the fact will be about perfection; you will not get the perfect semi-gloss finishing or satin durability. The semi-gloss paint will suppress the satin paint.

Also, you cannot mix these two paints as per your requirements. You have to go through the process and mix them accordingly. It will give you the best quality mixture. Otherwise, the mixture will be of no use. Some other factors will also influence the quality.

You need to decide whether you want to get the glossy finish or you will go for the satin quality. If you prioritize the satin quality, you need to add more satin paint than semi-gloss paint. You can interchange them; you go for the vice-versa.

3 reasons why you can mix satin and semi-gloss paint together

If you ask why you can mix satin and semi-gloss paint, you should know these three reasons that we will cover in this section. Mainly, you will find different versions of satin and semi-gloss paint. Among them, you have to choose the same ingredients made for paint.

The satin and the semi-gloss paint should come with the same variant. Either they have to be water-based paints, or they could be oil-based paints. It’s the main reason why you can mix these two paints.

Similar Variant:

You can mix satin and semi-gloss paint together because of their same variant.

You can mix the oil-based satin and similar semi-gloss paint if you buy them. You cannot mix the water-based paint with the oil-based paint. They will react and won’t mix properly.

Luckily, you will find the same satin and semi-gloss paint variant in the market or any paint shop. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about their compatibility. If they come with the same ingredients as water or oil, you can mix them.

Secure Compatibility & Bonding:

You will find the best compatible paints when you buy a similar variant of satin and semi-gloss paint.

They will not detach and will mix better than anything else. The bonding or mixing quality of these paints will surely amaze you. That’s another reason why you can mix them.

Drying Surface:

You can do that without mixing if you want to get the best glossy finish surface on the satin paint. You should first paint with satin and then apply semi-gloss paint over that. It will give you the best glossy finish surface on your satin paint.

Here, the main reason will be the dried surface. You can mix these two paints because the surface will be dried.

What happens if you mix satin and semi-gloss paint?

The below things will happen if you mix satin and semi-gloss paint.

Domination:

If you mix satin and semi-gloss paint, the satin will be the clear winner. A ratio of one-part satin to two parts semi-gloss would likely produce the desired effect.

Protection:

The protection offered by semi-gloss polyurethane will be superior. The high sheen of the finish makes it less prone to acquire scuff marks and dents than finishes with a lower shine.

Due to the high sheen, the drying and setting times for the satin and semi-gloss polyurethane mixture are significantly lengthened.

Glaze:

A satin finish has a low gloss, which causes it to reflect less light and appear drab and non-shiny. On the other hand, semi-gloss polyurethane has a more lustrous appearance than satin polyurethane, with a low shine.

While it does not shine as brightly as high gloss polyurethane, semi-gloss polyurethane is still more reflective than satin polyurethane.

Once the mixture of satin and semi-gloss paint has dried completely, the surface will reflect light greater than if you only used satin and lesser than the sole usage of semi-gloss.

Moisture Compatibility:

Because the mixture of satin and semi-gloss paint is more resistant to moisture than other finishes, it is particularly well-suited for use in wet environments, such as kitchens, bathroom walls, and inside doors, trim, and baseboards, as well as exterior walls.

As your current mixture has a portion of semi-gloss, you might be tempted to apply it in places that require frequent cleaning and rooms that have to contend with high humidity.

What are the differences between satin and semi-gloss paint?

You will find some common differences between satin and semi-gloss paints. You should know the differences to choose the best one for your house. The differences are:

Shining:

The main difference between the satin and semi-gloss paint is their shining finishing. You will get a shiny surface if you use semi-gloss paint. But you will not find that glossy finish when you apply the satin paint.

So, you need to decide if you want to get a glossy surface; you will love a non-glossy surface.

Durability:

You cannot expect to use the semi-gloss finish in your kitchen or bathroom. It will not allow you to use the semi-gloss paint in a hardworking area.

The semi-gloss paint will easily come off the surface. But if you use satin paint, it will give you a strong and durable surface for a hardworking surface.

Cleaning:

Another difference would be their cleaning and resistant features. If you apply satin paint in your kitchen, you can use anything to clean the area.

It will resist the water and other cleaning materials. But the semi-gloss paint will not allow you to use all the cleaners.

You must buy soft cleaners that will not damage the glossy finish surface. Also, you cannot clean the semi-gloss surface every day. You have to use the semi-gloss surface carefully. That’s why satin paint is better for bathroom and kitchen areas.

How do you add semi-gloss paint to satin paint?

You can add the semi-gloss paint to satin paint by following this simple process.

Select Base:

Both varieties of polyurethane can be combined, but the component that serves as the foundation must be the same.

Because of this, the only two types of polyurethane that can be combined are water-based satin polyurethane and water-based semi-gloss polyurethane.

Additionally, oil-based satin is combined with only oil-based semi-gloss polyurethane. Mixing polyurethane sheens that have different bases will result in the paint being permanently damaged.

Mix Proportionately:

To begin with, there is not an additive that is known to accomplish this goal. On the other hand, you can easily mix the two types of paint by adding semi-gloss paint to satin paint. In general, the proportion of Satin and Semi-gloss is 2:1.

You can get a glow somewhere in the middle by mixing the two paints in the same proportions.

However, the degree of sheen you want to achieve is entirely up to you to decide. You need to be aware that the gloss of the matte paint will decrease proportionately to the amount of satin paint added to the semi-gloss paint.

Dry:

You can always try the final mixture by painting it on a clean wall. Once the mixture of satin and semi-gloss paint has dried completely, the surface will reflect light greater than if you only used satin and lesser than the sole usage of semi-gloss.

Final Thoughts

You can mix satin and semi-gloss paint together using a similar paint variant. Otherwise, they will not mix properly. However, you must keep in mind that the semi-gloss paint will not allow the satin to expose the quality; instead, it will make the surface glossy.