Do we need primer to paint plastic milk jugs?

My class wants to paint plastic milk jugs with themes, but we’re not sure if we need to pre-paint the jugs with a base coat or primer before painting with acrylic or whatever. Can anybody help?

Answer #1

acrylic will paint straight onto plastic, as it is plastic based itself .. it paints onto most things actually :) Just try not to water it down too much.

Answer #2

Ooh, painting milk-jugs… what joy… and it’s not going to happen.

Nothing that’s really going to last, anyway. Primer prep or not.

The rub is that milk jugs are high density polyethylene plastic. Without getting into incredibly complicated chemistry, a chemical bond with polyethylene plastics is for all purposes impossible. Which leaves you with only a mechanical bond as the option. Basically, anything you put on the milk jug, including super glue and epoxy and the like is going to come right off. The surface is almost like Teflon (and is actually chemically related.)

Sorry… just no good way to do it.

More Like This
Ask an advisor one-on-one!
Advisor

Hones T Painting LLC

Painting services, Home improvement, Contractors, Custom painting services

Advisor

Prime House Painting

Painting Services, Residential Painting, Commercial Painting

Advisor

Sullivan Commercial Painting,...

Painting Services, Commercial Services, Contractors

Advisor

Mclean Painting

House Painting, Interior Painting, Exterior Painting

Advisor

Fantasy Painting

painting services, drywall services