[Image via Family Handyman]
Most of us dread room painting. It’s monotonous, messy, and time-consuming. If there ever was an activity that could benefit from thoughtful tips and techniques that make it easier, neater, and more all-around pleasant, it would be room painting. Here is a small collection of painting tips that we like. They mostly apply to house painting, but many of them can be applied to all sorts of domestic and hobby painting.
We’d love to hear what some of your favorite painting tips are. Please leave them in the comments below.
Use a Paint Shield Instead of Painter’s Tape
Instead of using painter’s tape to mask off above baseboards and other areas you don’t want painted when painting trim, use a so-called paint shield. They are inexpensive and come in various styles and sizes. You can also use a wide putty knife, a dust pan, even a piece of cardboard with a straight edge. The shield is especially useful when painting baseboard on a carpeted floor.
Link: How to Paint Trim
Raise the Furniture That You’re Painting with Screws
To raise up chairs and other pieces of relatively light furniture for painting, drill some temporary screws into the bottom. Just be careful not to split the wood. Raising the piece up will keep it from sticking to whatever you are painting it on and will raise it up a little higher for easier access.
Link: Paint a Room Without Making a Mess!
Add a Drip Stopper to Your Paint Can
To give you a better, neater way of wiping paint off of your brush (so you don’t get it in the gutter of the lid and down the sides), create a drip stopper/squeegee in the middle of the can. You can use a bent coat hanger for this or even just put a taut rubber band around the can and across the center of the top.
Link: Paint a Room Without Making a Mess!
Poke Drain Holes in the Gutter of Your Cans
To prevent paint from pooling in the gutters of your cans (and spattering everywhere when you tap the lid shut), sink a few drain holes in the gutter with a nail or ice pick.
Link: Jimmy DiResta’s Jimmy Tips: Paint Brushes & Cans
Trim the Edges of Your Rollers
Trim the crusty, splayed edges of your rollers at a tapered angle to prevent the edge of the brush from creating tracks as you paint.
Link: Secrets to Using and Preserving Paint Brushes and Rollers
Use Aluminum as a Paint Masker
For a quick and clean masking material for door knobs and fixtures, use aluminum foil to cover them.
Link: Aluminum Foil Paint Protector
Keep Paint Tray Clean with Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil can also be used to cover the inside pan (extending over the edges) of a paint tray so that clean-up is little more than balling up the foil. Cover will several layers in case the foil tears.
Link: Lowes Fix in Six
Make a Milk Jug Paint and Brush Holder
You can make a quick and handy paint receptacle and brush holder out of a plastic milk jug.
Link: My Home Look Book
Turn Any Acrylic Paint into Fabric Paint
You can take your favorite acrylic paint, in any color, and turn it into fabric paint simple by adding Textile Medium to it that you can get in any craft store.
Link: 10 Painting Tips Tricks You Never Knew
Use Binder Clips to Suspend Brushes in Cleaning Solvent
When cleaning brushes, you never want to let the brush rest on the bottom of the solvent container. An easy way to create a brush holder that suspends the brush to the desired height in the solvent is simply by using a splayed-out binder clip in the manner seen here.
Link: Secrets to Using and Preserving Paint Brushes and Rollers
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