How do I seal a pine door before painting ?

I have to install a internal pine door and the manufacturers instructions state that the wood has to be sealed before painting. But, they say " a primer is insufficient to seal the wood. Use a good quality paint or varnish."

How do I use paint to seal pine ? Can I use a 50-50 mix of spirits and white paint and rub it on with a cloth ?

The final finish will be a white paint.

If the door is particularly knotty you should seal these with a shellac based knotting solution, to prevent bleed through or ghosting in your subsequent paintwork. Follow this with a coat of Dulux Trade wood Primer, 1 coat undercoats and 1 coat gloss/ satinwood.

Thanks Carpenter. The door is not very knotty (pun intended !). Should I still use the Shellac Solution ?

You say I should use the Dulux Trade Primer ? Even though the door manufacturer says that a primer is insufficient to use as a seal, but instead use a qualty paint as a seal ? This is where i'm confused a bit - how to seal using a paint.

A primer is a paint, don't know what they mean TBH! If the knots are small and solid don't bother with the shellac, just give the wood a good coat of the primer. Maybe they mean that you cannot rely on primer only to "seal" your door against moisture?

I agree, this is what has me confused - their use of primer/paint terminology. Are there any special wood seal products available (presumeably oil-based) ?

"Sealing" generally implies some sort of translucent coating, allowing the grain to be visible. If that's what you want you need to varnish the door or use a product like Danish Oil or Tung Oil. Either of these will "seal" the door whilst allowing for a "clear finish".

I've had a quick google and looks like I'll go with your suggestion - use the Dulux Primer and Undercoat then Satinwood finish.

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The review above makes it a bit clearer ...
"A primer forms a good smooth surface on which to paint your undercoat and eventually your topcoat. This is used on bare wood and contains linseed oil which seals the wood and protects it"

Thanks for your help... now wheres me brushes ....