From prepping the wall – in the easiest way imaginable – to keeping paint from dripping down the sides of your paint can, we’ve found some wonderful painting hacks that will make painting seem more like a fun task and less like a job.
Keep Paint Cans Clean With Rubber Bands
If you place a rubber band around your paint can before you begin painting, you can use the can as a paint tray and still avoid messy spills and drips. When you dip your brush into the paint can, simply wipe off the excess paint with the rubber band. This keeps the paint from dripping down the can and making a mess and it keeps those can edges clean so the can is much easier to reseal when you’re finished
Slap It On, Then Smooth It Out
When painting trim or other woodwork with a brush, I’ve found it’s best to load my brush with paint and then lay it on heavily in small sections using short, quick strokes—just to get enough paint on the trim to work with. I then blend the paint into the section I painted before and smooth it all out using long finishing strokes in one direction – Greg Scholl
Preserve a Brush With a Glove
Remove Masking Tape With Heat
One of the hardest things to do after painting is getting off all that masking tape without pulling on walls or furnishings. You want to use the tape to avoid painting areas that don’t need painted but sometimes the tapes sticks too well and you end up damaging the surface of those covered areas. You can easily remove that masking tape by heating it first with a small heat gun or blow dryer. Once it’s warm, it peels right off.
Thoroughly Clean Brushes With Vinegar
When it’s time to put your brushes away, you want to make sure that they are clean. Leaving paint in brushes makes them really hard and gunky and basically ruins them for future paint jobs. You can avoid this mess by soaking your brushes in white vinegar after you’ve finished painting. Leave them in vinegar for about half an hour and then rinse them clean with soap and water.
A Push Broom Handle Reaches New Heights
Cardboard Protects Floors Best
I don’t like drop cloths. They’re usually too big, slippery, clumsy and just downright messy—especially when I need to move them around while they’re still covered in wet paint. That’s why I prefer cardboard. I set it tight to the wall and slide it with my foot as I work my way around the room – Beckie Boggs
Turn Acrylic Paint Into Spray Paint
If you need spray paint but just can’t find the right color, you can turn acrylic paint into spray paint. This is a neat trick for furniture and other things where spray paint would make more sense than traditional cans of paint. There’s actually a neat little kit that turns your acrylic into an aerosol and you just have to mix the paint with a medium to get the perfect color every time.
2/3 Prep, 1/3 Painting
A good prep job often takes more time than painting, but it pays off. The more time you spend prepping a room for new paint, the better your finished paint job will look. Washing, patching, sanding and vacuuming walls, ceilings, trim and doors before you pick up a brush or roller are time well spent. If you don’t take care of small imperfections now, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb once the paint goes on – Arthur Barfield
Skip Brush Cleaning Between Coats
Whenever I take a break from painting or if I’m done for the day, I toss my brushes into a 5-gallon bucket of clean water to keep them from drying out (make sure all the brushes have the same color paint on them). Then, when I’m ready to start painting again, I swish the brushes around in the water and spin the excess out with a paintbrush-and-roller spinner. Do the spinning inside a second empty bucket to protect surrounding walls from flying water drops – Ann Wisnoski
