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The final universal primer in this article series is the oil (or "alkyd") universal primer. All oil universal primers are fast drying. Rather than taking 24 -48 hours to dry like a conventional oil primer, they dry in about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Two downsides to this fast drying capability are the strong fast evaporating solvents used with this primer, and the relative britleness of this type of primer.
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Universal Primers
part 3
You absolutely need to provide good ventilation with oil universal primers, both during and after priming. Some are worse than others, but all require good ventilation. You will quickly be overcome with the solvent fumes if you don't heed this warning.
The other oil universal primer that I like to use is XIM's version which is called "400 white". If you need a universal primer that has extremely good adhesion, 400 White is the way to go. 400 white is very fast drying, sometimes maybe a bit too fast (XIM makes a retarder for longer "working time" when needed), The ultra fast drying of this primer requires that you don't "re-work" of re- brush over primer that you have just laid down, or you will tear up and lift the previously laid down primer, leaving a gritty brush grooved spot that will need to be sanded smooth after drying. 400 White is also a bit more expensive than Coverstain, but it is a good high performance product when the situation requires such. Xim 400 White is my second choice for an oil universal primer.
Having said this I think that Zinsser's Coverstain is probably the most "universal" of the universal primers. It is both an interior and exterior primer (unlike shellac which is an interior only and some other oil universal primers which are too brittle to use on the exterior) it sands well enough to be used on interior trim (UMA sands better in my opinion), is a good stain blocker, has very good adhesion to most surfaces, and is fairly inexpensive. If I had only one universal primer to choose, it would have to be the oil version, and more specifically it would be Coverstain primer.
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