You know how we cover our gadgets with screen protectors to keep the display from accumulating nicks and scratches over time? Well, some people like having the same protection for expensive items in their home. You know, those antique cabinets, marble counters, and all that. Since covering furniture and fixtures with plastic is just tacky, most people have no recourse but to be careful with their stuff (and to pray every night that their small kids magically grow up soon). Belay offers a new alternative.
Billed as “peelable paint,” the coating can be applied to various furniture and fixtures around the house, giving them a protective cover to absorb any rough contact. Instead of that expensive dining table accumulating tiny dings over time, all of that goes to the coating instead. When the coating is already too damaged, just peel it off the furniture and apply a fresh one to make everything look brand new.
Belay can work on wood, tile, ceramic, aluminum, and smooth stone surfaces, so that should cover most home furniture, countertops, and similar fixtures. Do note, it won’t work on porous surfaces, so don’t even attempt applying it to leather, steel, and similar materials. The paint can be applied on all the above surfaces whether it’s flat, curved, or uneven, essentially acting similar to regular paint during application. To use, start by wiping the surface you’re going to paint to make sure it’s clean, then dry it thoroughly. From there, pick up a brush and start painting on the material just like you would with regular paint. They recommend one or two coatings, depending on how large the surface is, then leaving it to dry for 24 hours before using.
According to the outfit, a coating of the transparent paint should be replaced every few months (no exact timeframe was given) to ensure the paint doesn’t bond too strongly to the material, which they claim, can happen if you keep the same coating on for extended periods. When peeling off, the coating should be treated as a single unit, so start by peeling at the end sections, then lift the entire thing as if you’re removing a screen protector from your smartphone.
Belay comes in both transparent and colored variants, so you can use it as a purely protective coating (I mean, who would want to paint over that beautiful wood surface), as well as a decorative coat to give your home furniture a more unified color scheme. You can choose from any of ten colors, with the transparent variant available in either gloss or matte, so you can protect and decorate expensive items in your home to your exact preference.
As of now, the paint is only available in Japan. Given how a lot of people around the world will probably appreciate protective coatings for their furniture, we can’t imagine it staying local only for that long. Simply put, expect your favorite Japanese import shops to add this to their inventory in short order.
Pricing for a single bottle of Belay starts at around $145.