Painting your property can be somewhat arduous if you’re new or inexperienced. However, there are lots of shortcuts that you can follow, which will really increase the speed and efficiency of your painting. Avoid applying too much paint and stop dripping onto your favorite carpet with nine of our most favorite painting hacks.
Try These Nine Painting Hacks
These tips will make your job easier and neater. Plus, you’ll ensure better outcome.
Tip #1 – Wrap Your Paint Cans in Elastic Bands
One of our favorite tricks is to use an elastic band around the paint can. When you dip your paintbrush in color, you can easily wipe off any excess paint on the bar. This will ensure that no paint drops down the can and onto the floor.
It will also ensure that you don’t apply too much paint to your surfaces. As an added bonus, you won’t get any color onto the rim of the paint can, which will make resealing it much more comfortable!
Tip #2 – Cover Your Paint Tray in Aluminium Foil
Have you ever tried to clean old or dried paint off a surface? It’s extremely hard at the best of times. To avoid having to do this completely by covering your paint tray in aluminum foil. Press the foil down into every groove and crevice so that it conforms to the tray. However, make sure you don’t pierce or rip the foil.
Pour in your paint and get to work. When your painting is finished, pour any excess paint back into your cans. Then simply throw away the aluminum foil! You won’t have to take care of any cleaning.
Tip #3 – Use a Lint Roller to Clean Your Paint Rollers
When applying paint to a surface, both your brush and body must contain no dirt, dust, or debris. If either is unclean, this will impact the quality of paint you apply to make it less durable and less professional looking. Unfortunately, paint rollers have a habit of collecting dust and dirt.
Before you start painting, use a lint roller and carefully roll across the surface of your paint roller. This will capture any dirt and dust, ensuring that your roller is completely clear – allowing you to paint properly.
Tip #4 – Hide the Smell of Your Paint
There’s nothing better than a freshly painted room. However, you may have noticed that newly painted rooms give off quite an odor. If you really can’t stand the smells, mask the smell with some vanilla extract.
Vanilla extract is great because it smells wonderful and has no effect on the composition of the paint. All you need to do is add one tablespoon of vanilla extract for a gallon of paint. This will eliminate all foul smells and allow you to enjoy your newly painted room in a much better way.
Tip #5 – Get Straight Lines With Tape
Painting in a straight line is challenging even for experienced painters. So give yourself some help by using tape for edges. This will ensure that you don’t get any paint on any surface you’re not supposed to! The tape is handy for windows, skirting boards, and accent walls.
Before you begin painting, simply apply tape over the painted surface. Masking tape is suitable, but you can also purchase special painter’s tape, commonly available in most home and decorating stores.
Tip #6 – Remove the Tape Without Removing Paint
If you have used tape for those straight lines and edges of your surfaces, the next step is removing it when your painting is finished. If you are using masking tape, it has an unfortunate habit of pulling off paint with it.
So when you have finished painting, and everything is completely dry, use a hairdryer to warm up the tape. The heat makes the masking tape much more comfortable to peel off and ensure that you can get it off without damaging any newly painted surfaces.
Tip #7 – Test Your Paint on Your Walls
This is a straightforward painting hack, but one which many people seem to forget. When you are deciding on a color, use samples and actually paint your wall. The paint on your surfaces can be affected by so many different factors, including the lighting in your room, how much natural light enters it, floor color, shadows, and so forth.
So apply some paint in different areas in your room and look at it at other times in the day. Do this, and you will have a much better idea of how your paint will look. It will save you so much time and aggravation if you paint your room and decide it’s not the shade you like!
Tip #8 – Clean Your Brushes With Vinegar
If you plan on reusing your brushes, you must look after them. Clean them after every round of painting, and you will also save money in the long run. Of course, it is a real hassle cleaning brush so when you’ve finished painting, leave them to soak in white vinegar.
Vinegar breaks down the paint and ensures that your paintbrushes won’t harden. Leave them in a pot of white vinegar for about 30 minutes, and then give them a good wash with soap water. Leave them to dry, and you’ll find them in perfect condition when you need to paint again.
Tip #9 – Reseal Paint Cans With Plastic Wrap
Opening up a resealed paint can be a real test of character, even for the strongest person. So when you have finished painting, wrap the can in plastic wrap. This will ensure that the next time you are painting, you will be able to open your paint cans with ease!
Hopefully, these painting hacks have helped you out. If you would like a step by step guide on painting your walls, then read this article.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificates in Natural Health and Herbology from accredited programs. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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