Changing the color of a room is a great way to refresh your home, however, you need to find the right primer to successfully change colors without needing multiple layers of paint to get the job done.
If you don’t spend the time taking the right precautions by priming your walls and ceilings, you could end up running the risk of wasting precious time and resources on trying to cover dark paint.
Paint primers not only lay the foundation but also give the surface that you’re painting a professional finish. If you are looking for a method to cover dark paint whilst also achieving a sleek finish then you need a good quality primer!
Keep reading to find out the best primers to cover dark paint.
5 Best Primers to Cover Dark Paint
KILZ Premium High-Hide Stain Blocking Interior/Exterior Latex Primer/Sealer, White, 1-gallon
The Kilz Premium High-Hide Stain Blocking Interior/Exterior Latex Primer/Sealer is designed to help you to achieve a uniform finish around your home.
This primer seals surfaces, hides stains and previous colors, and offers excellent adhesion to most interior and exterior surfaces, making it perfect for covering dark colors.
With excellent adhesion for most surfaces, use on interior and exterior drywall, plaster, woodwork, paneling, masonry, and brick. It is also ideal for high-humidity areas including bathrooms and laundry rooms
PROS
- Low VOCs – This paint is low odor and easy to clean up with soap and water makes it safe to use in occupied homes and workspaces.
- Mildewcide protection – To prevent mildew and mold from growing in your house.
- High hide formula – Works to block previous colors and medium stains, including water and smoke stains.
CONS
- One customer claimed that the packaging of this particular paint primer was flawed and there was room for improvement.
KILZ L204511 Kitchen & Bath Interior Latex Primer/Sealer/Stainblocker with Mildew-Resistant Finish, White, 1-Gallon, 1 Gallon, 4 l
The KILZ L204511 Kitchen & Bath Interior Latex Primer offers a high hide for color changes, making it great to paint over a dark color around your home.
This KILZ primer provides an enhanced mildew-resistant film that helps prevent mildew growth on the primer surface which may become trapped between the primer and paint coats.
This is a low odor, very low VOC latex-primer that can be cleaned up with soap and water for your convenience.
PROS
- Stainblocking – This primer blocks light to medium stains, promotes adhesion and seals porous surfaces.
- Quick drying – Can be recoated after one hour for your convenience.
- Mildew resistant – Helps protect the primer from mildew growth, meaning that you’re helping to minimize the risk of mold.
CONS
- A few customers noted that this particular paint primer was prone to clumping.
KILZ Restoration Maximum Stain and Odor Blocking Interior Latex Primer/Sealer, White, 1-gallon
The KILZ Restoration Maxmium Stain and Odor Blocking Interior Latex Primer is a water-based primer, sealer, and stain blocker developed with new technology that is formulated to perform like an oil-based product.
This primer is quick drying. It dries to touch within 30 minutes and dries to recoat in an hour for your convenience.
Versatile! This primer tackles tough stains including medium to heavy water damage, rust, smoke, nicotine, grease, tannin, ink, pencil, felt marker, pet stains, and more!
PROS
- Stainblocking – Designed to cover tough stains including medium to heavy water damage, rust, smoke, and more as a multifunctional product!
- Odor sealing – If your home is plagued by pet and smoke odors, this primer works to eliminate foul smells.
- Years of experience – KILZ has been making premium primers and paints for 40 years, so you can rest assured knowing that you can put your trust in them.
CONS
- A few customers claimed that this particular paint primer arrived damaged.
KILZ Original Multi-Surface Stain Blocking Interior Oil-Based Primer (Low VOC Formula) White, 32 Fluid Ounces
The KILZ Original Multi-Surface Stain Blocking Interior Oil-Based Primer is designed to make paint color appear truer and allows you to use less paint.
KILZ Original Low VOC oil-based primer blocks most stains including water, smoke, tannin, ink, pencil, felt marker, and grease.
Use this versatile primer on interior surfaces including wood, drywall, plaster, paneling, wallpaper, masonry, brick, painted metal, and properly prepared glossy surfaces.
PROS
- Quick drying – Dries to touch in 30 minutes. Recoat or top-coat after one hour for your convenience.
- Stainblocking – This primer covers the majority of stains, including from water and smoke.
- White color – This allows you to cover dark paint with ease.
CONS
- One customer noted that they found this particular primer difficult to apply.
Rust-Oleum 286258 Primer, 31.5 oz, Gray
The Rust-Oleum 286258 Primer is an all-purpose, high-performance, water-based primer for interior and exterior applications.
This gray primer works excellently under vibrant, vivid colors whilst also allowing you to save time and money by improving coverage of deeper colored topcoats.
This primer has excellent stain blocking resistance and can be used over any oil or latex topcoat.
PROS
- Water-based – The formula seals uniformly and will stick to the surface without sanding.
- Quick drying – Dries to the touch in just 30 minutes, ready to recoat in 1 hour which is great if you’re under a time restraint so you don’t have to waste hours waiting for paint to dry!
- Grey color – The color of this primer means that it can cover dark paint well while still allowing for bright colors to be painted over it.
CONS
- One customer said that the color wasn’t quite as they were expecting.
Buyer’s Guide
You will need to take a few factors into consideration when choosing the right primer to cover dark paint in your home, but it mainly comes down to the color, the project environment and formula, and the durability of the paint.
It is worth noting that you will want to purchase a good quality primer. Considering the reason that you’re seeking a primer is most likely to avoid having to use multiple coats of paint, you’ll need a stain-blocking primer that is light in color and of good quality to ensure that it can cover the dark paint.
Check out the following features before choosing a primer to cover dark paint.
Color
When choosing a primer to cover dark paint, you will need to consider the color that is going to be most effective at tackling the job at hand.
The color of your primer is important when it comes to covering dark paint around your home because you don’t want to be forced to waste layers of paint or spend unnecessary time decorating. A common mistake that people make is choosing the wrong color.
Generally speaking, to cover dark paint you will want to choose a light color, such as white. You could also use a light gray color, but typically speaking, white is the most effective color that you should opt for.
Project Environment & Formula
When purchasing a paint primer to cover dark paint you will need to consider the project environment and formula, as not all primers are designed for the same environments. Generally, paint primers come in three formulas: interior, exterior, and interior/exterior.
Oil-based – These primers work with both oil paints and latex paints, making them incredibly easy to work with, versatile, and applicable to multiple different surfaces.
Latex-based – Latex primers are water-based and perfect for prepping unfinished drywall for painting. When compared to oil-based primers, they are generally more flexible, quicker at drying, and are less brittle, making them less susceptible to peeling and cracking over the years.
Shellac primers – Shellac-based primers are good for interior decorating and are often seen as the best stain-blocking primers, working well on severe water and smoke damage to walls and surfaces.
Whichever primer you decide to choose, you should consider the project environment and formula and choose your primer in accordance with that. The best primer for you will be the one that best suits the jobs that you intend to be carrying out, so choose wisely to avoid having to buy multiple different primers for different jobs!
Durability
Before purchasing a primer to cover dark paint, you should consider the durability of the product. Although this sometimes comes down to trial and error, a good indication of whether a product is durable or not is to check the product reviews section.
If a customer has experienced any problems with the primer itself peeling or not providing the coverage or finish that they were hoping for, it is highly likely that they will have told you so in the product review section.
The product reviews section is also a great place to look for information on any customer service issues that customers have experienced. Although problems occur that are sometimes out of a company’s control, such as the delivery of a product arriving damaged, how a company rectifies that issue reveals a lot about a business.
If a customer has experienced bad customer service, the easiest place to find that information is in their review.
Always do your own research and make sure that you are satisfied with the product reviews before going ahead with your purchase.
Dry Time
Dry time is something you’ll also need to consider when you’re choosing the right paint primer. If you have a busy household, finding the time to do a DIY could be tricky, especially if a particular room is going to be out of action whilst the paint dries.
Typically speaking, the average paint primer will take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. This might not seem like a long time, but when you add the length of time each layer takes to dry, as well as the paint you’re going to be adding on top of it, the time adds up.
It might not be convenient for a room to be out of action, so you’ll need to weigh up whether the primer is worth the duration of time that it takes to dry.
You don’t want to be in a situation whereby you are inconveniencing your whole household if the lounge is out of action for a longer period of time due to dry time. This is why you should always take the dry time into consideration before going ahead with your purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of primer should I use to cover dark paint?
Choosing the right primer is essential when it comes to covering dark paint. Intuition might tell you to opt for a dark gray primer to cover a darker color, but generally speaking white is the color you should look for.
Choosing white primer will allow you to go from dark to light with ease and with fewer layers, saving you time when it comes to decorating.
