Can you use emulsion on wood? We answer your questions

Person painting wooden wall with paintbrush
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It's good for walls, but can you use emulsion on wood? Yes you can but it’s not as straightforward as you might think. The type of emulsion you want to use and the location of the wood will play a big part in deciding whether or not emulsion is a viable option for the wood you want to paint.

When painting wood you typically use a paint specially tailored to work with wood. However, if you have some leftover emulsion and you want to match the woodwork with your wall then this is definitely a scenario where using emulsion is perfectly acceptable.

Here we take a look at where you can use it and how well it will work. 

Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins is a freelance content creator with over two decades of experience working in digital and print and was previously the DIY content editor for Homebuilding & Renovating. 

He is a keen DIYer with over 20 years of experience in transforming and renovating the many homes he has lived in. He specialises in painting and decorating, but has a wide range of skills gleaned from working in the building trade for around 10 years and spending time at night school learning how to plaster and plumb.

He has fitted kitchens, tiled bathrooms and kitchens, laid many floors, built partition walls, plastered walls, plumbed in bathrooms, worked on loft conversions and much more. And when he's not sure how to tackle a DIY project he has a wide network of friends – including plumbers, gas engineers, tilers, carpenters, painters and decorators, electricians and builders – in the trade to call upon.

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