Clear protective coat on painted MDF to preserve childs handprints?

[Kevin Murdock]

Hi,

A co-worker of mine built a table top out of MDF for his kids to play and draw on. He painted it with high gloss latex paint then had his children place handprints on it with flat enamel latex paint.

Now he wants to protect and preserve the table top with the hand prints. What would be the best clear finnish to put on top of the paint?

I didn't want to make a suggestion without asking the forum first. I'd hate to mess up his piece of history cause I've never tried to put a hard clear coat over paint.

Recommendations on product and even a specific brand handy at the local borgs would be great.

Thanks in advance for your help!

/Kevin

[Jim Becker]

Tough choice since you're needing to put a (harder) clear finish over a very, very soft finish. I'd suggest you stay waterbourne both for compatibility and to avoid a color change. Ideally, spraying something like Fuhr or Target Coatings acrylic finishes since they will not hurt your latex paint, but for expediency, you should be able to use a waterbourne varnish from the 'borg.

[Corvin Alstot]

I would suggest testing on a scrap material too!