Americana Clear Chalkboard Coating by Decoart

I was given a bottle of Americana Clear Chalkboard coating from Decoart at CHA.  I smuggled it in my liquids bag and onto the plane home.  I couldn’t wait to give it a test.  Make any surface chalkboard?  Well lets just see about that!

The Decoart website has the following to say about this product:

Apply directly over existing wall cover or painted surface to turn them into a chalkboard/memo board for writing/drawing. Fast drying, matte finish. Easy to erase & clean.

I dove right into my 2 oz bottle.  There is no noticeable odor to the product and it is rather thick.  Also, the directions state to shake well before using.

I tested the product with a variety of Americana paints also from Decoart.

In addition to the painted surfaces, I also tested the product on some unpainted surfaces.  The product is intended to work with painted surfaces but I really wanted to see what I could do with this product.  Testing the boundaries for you so you don’t have to!

First up is some popsicle stick swatches.  The left area is just painted with no chalkboard coating.  The right is covered in chalkboard coating.  As the directions state, you apply the chalkboard coating in one direction, wait 1 hour, then apply in the opposite direction.  This is after 24 hours and I was conditioning the surface.  You must rub chalk on any chalkboard to prepare the surface before using.

I then wrote in chalk and chalk marker on each test stick.

As you can see, both the chalk and the chalk marker erased perfectly even off of the unpainted test stick.  You can also see below that there is very little color change of your paint with the clear chalkboard coating.  There is a slight glossiness to the coated side but otherwise the color remained unchanged.

I was encouraged to do some more testing.  Next up I tried a couple of unpainted tags just to see what the results would be.

Again the chalk and the chalk marker erased away from the surface perfectly.  I must say I was loving this product at this point!

The only failure I had was when I attempted to put the chalkboard coating on glass.  I cleaned the glass with alcohol before applying but still the coating would easily rub off.  I see on the Decoart website that they are coming out with a new chalkboard product specifically intended for glass.  Hopefully we can get that review up on Craft Test Dummies once the product hits the shelves.

I also tried the clear chalkboard coating out on a galvanized bucket and it also worked great.

Now would we dare try to make some chalkboard paper with this coating?  Oh yes we dare!

The product worked really well on paper as well.  There was slight “witness” marks left behind on the paper that I did not really observe on the other surfaces tested.  But all in all it worked surprisingly well.

So maybe you thought those chalkboard popsicle sticks above were only for testing.  Well you would be wrong!  This coating makes the most perfect colorful plant markers!  Come on spring…mama needs some new little baby herb plants to mark with these!

I also coated a chipboard box completely in the chalkboard coating.  Now I can write on whatever surface is showing in my craft area and stay organized.

I also made a few colorful chalkboard tags.  I love that you can now have a colorful chalkboard quickly and easily.  No more black chalkboard tags for this girl.  If you want to see more of the organizing bins pictured below, head on over to The Country Chic Cottage for more information on how I organize my baker’s twine and washi tape.

I am a huge fan of the Americana Clear Chalkboard Coating from Decoart if you can’t already tell.  You can use this product on painted surfaces with confidence.  It is easy to use and you can turn any surface into a chalkboard quickly and easily.  This product is intended for painted surfaces but I also had success on unpainted, galvanized metal, and paper surfaces.  This product will not work on glass but Decoart is coming out with a new product for all of you glass container lovers.  All in all this product is wonderful and you can kiss your boring black chalkboards good-bye!