Painting over clear varnish on pine.

mndy1, May 25, 3:30pm
We have a very old divan bed that has a clear varnish on pine. It's about 30 years old and we were thinking of painting it white.
We weren't sure if it would need sealing or not as there's no stain and weren't sure what sort of paint to use.

The drawers smell quite musty but not sure if it's actual mold or not so weren't sure how to deal with that either.
Apart from that it's a good bed and the drawers work well and there's nothing really wrong with it. Well it might be slightly creaky.
Might need some glue or bracing in the corners.
There's not a lot that holds these things together.

budgel, May 25, 4:18pm
A good sugar soap scrub down with a scotchbrite or similar and then a light sanding with 280 grit, followed by a sealer coat (your paintshop will recommend one).
A low sheen water based enamel applied with a small roller will give a hard wearing easy to apply finish.

mndy1, May 25, 11:08pm
Does it have to have a sealer. Apparently they smell really bad.

lythande1, May 25, 11:15pm
Need to sand it first.

jkp58, May 26, 1:19am
resene smooth surface sealer doesnt smell to bad as it is waterbased

happychappy50, May 26, 3:31am
Light sand followed by Zinnser cover stain then paint of your choice . Either enamel(oil base) or acrylic (water base) enamel is more durable tho

zoopa, May 27, 2:33am
Not the Zinsser ones

thistle4, Dec 25, 8:43pm
We've just done 2 bedside cabinets and we sanded the old varnish off and primed before adding the topcoat.