8 Great Painting Tips
Use these tips to make your painting projects go quicker and stress-free.
Painting Tips
1. Self-Cleaning Paintbrushes
If you’re using paint thinner or mineral spirits, set the jar outside to keep fumes out of your house. Be sure it’s away from children and pets. After a day or two, remove the brush and give it a thorough rinse in clean solvent.
Click here for more paintbrush cleaning tips.
— PAT GUSTAFSON, READER
2. Patch, Prime, Patch, Prime…
— MATT KARL, FIELD EDITOR
3. Make Your Own Stir Sticks
Forgot to grab stir sticks at the store when you picked up the paint? If you have a band saw and a hunk of 2×4, you can make your own! Take a 2-ft.-long 2×4 and draw a perpendicular line in the middle. Next, “rip” several 3/16-in.-thick strips on the band saw up to the pencil line. Then, to release the stir sticks, chop the 2×4 at the pencil line. This method keeps your fingers a safe distance from the saw blade.
— LES EASTEP, FIELD EDITOR
4. Baby Wipes for Small Messes
— CARL EDOUARD DENIS, FIELD EDITOR
5. Touch-Up Paint Bottle
— RON HAZELTON, TV HOME IMPROVEMENT EXPERT, RONHAZELTON.COM
6. Shelter Baseboards from Splatter
— MICHAEL WHITING, PRO PAINTER
7. Take Photos of Paint Can Lids
Have you ever thrown away a paint can and later wished you hadn’t because you couldn’t remember the name of the color you painted the bedroom? Paint can lids usually have labels with color information printed on them. Take photos of your paint can lids, print them and tuck them away for future reference.
-GARY WENTZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
8. Splurge on Self-Sealing Tape
With regular painters’ tape, you run the risk of “paint bleed”— paint creeps underneath the tape, leaving a ragged line where a wall meets trim or another wall or ceiling. We like self-sealing tapes like FrogTape and ScotchBlue Edge-Lock tape because they’re specially designed to prevent paint bleed, giving you crisp, straight lines. They cost a lot more than regular masking or painter’s tape, but they’re worth it.
— TOM DVORAK, FIELD EDITOR