How Long Does Enamel Paint Take To Dry?

Enamel paint is known for being incredibly hard-wearing and has many uses. But it is not one of those paints most people are familiar with.

Because of that, lots of questions come up when using enamel paint. One such question is how long does enamel paint take to dry. Let’s have a look and find out!

The answer is, it depends. I know, it’s a crappy answer. But it is the truth. Different brands of enamel paint can have completely different drying times.

Because of this, I have included detailed drying times for some of the most popular enamel paints below.

Touch Dry V Recoatable V Fully Cured

Not all drying times are created equal. Manufacturers will often include two or three separate drying times.

These are often the touch dry time, recoatable time and the fully cured time.

Touch dry is what it sounds like, this is when the paint has formed a skin and will be dry to the touch.

Recoatable is when the paint has dried enough that you can apply another coat on top. This will always be longer than the touch dry time.

Then the final and longest time is the fully cured time. Many manufacturers don’t specify this time on their paints. This is when the paint is fully dry and has hardened up to its maximum level. This can often be 7-14 days after painting.

QD Enamel Metal Paint

QD Enamel provides a cost-effective high gloss coating suitable for industrial applications to metalwork & steelwork where good resistance to petrol, paraffin and mineral oil spillages is required.

Drying Time

Touch dry in 15 minutes. Recoatable in 60 minutes.

Humbrol Enamel Paints

The modellers favourite. If you have ever played with Airfix models then you will have no doubt come across this paint.

A solvent-based, fast-dry paint developed for use on plastic model kits but which can also be used on other substrates. Matt, Satin, Gloss, Metallic, Metalcote and Clear finishes are available.

Drying Time

Gloss: 1-2 hours. Matt & Satin: 20-40 mins touch dry, up to 24 hours for hard dry. Metallics: hard dry in approx. 10 days. Recoat: 6 hours minimum.

Renotub Bath Resurfacing Enamel Paint

Renotub is a durable two-part modified acrylic isocyanate-free coating specially formulated & designed to provide excellent adhesion, durability & colour retention in high moisture areas.

It is ideal for use to renew cast iron, steel, enamel, ceramic porcelain, fibreglass, bathtubs, toilets, bidets & sinks. It is not for use on galvanized steel or flexible plastic.

Drying Time

Touch dry 2 hours, recoatable 4 hours minimum, fully cured after 7 days.

How To Speed Up Drying Time

Paint drying time is all down to the evaporation of the liquids or solvents which then leaves behind the actual paint particles.

So because it is just evaporation it can be speeded up. The temperature makes a big difference. The hotter it is the quicker paints will dry.

So turning the radiators up or even dragging a fan heater out of a cupboard can speed up the drying process.