A Neat Way to Wipe Up Paint
Even the steadiest of hands spews some paint. Here's how to clean it up.
Good painters don’t use a lot of masking tape. In the interest of efficiency, and as a point of pride, they cut in with a carefully loaded brush and a steady hand. Occasionally, though, some paint strays onto the adjacent surface. The best way to clean it without messing up the paint job is to wrap a cotton rag tightly over the blade of a 5-in-1 tool. This lets you wipe up the paint with surgical precision and maintain a straight line. I can’t remember what painter I stole this tip from, but I’ve used it since, whether painting stair risers and window muntins, or cutting in trim.
Kevin Ireton, New Milford, CT
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Show me a painter who can paint like a sign painter and then I'll believe that they don't need to use masking tape.
Better yet, don't use caulk where trim or base meets a wall. Slip a piece of paper in the joint. ...and put a couple of layers of box board beneath the quarter round when fastening it. This provides a gap into which you can slip a piece of paper so that you don't get paint on that nice hardwood floor.
Chuck Miller showed a great tip for painting the risers on stairs. Give it a try.
A Design-Build company I worked with always contracted with a painting company whose painters wore company logoed dress blazers. They never masked and rarely dripped paint and charged for a job well done the first time. Guess who painted my addition.