Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

"Kitchen helpers" can make painting easier

FALLBROOK – Looking to make the next interior painting project easier? Take a look around the kitchen. Within the kitchen, a host of helpful items can be found that can simplify every step of the project, from surface preparation to paint application, and cleanup and storage, too!

Here are some examples, courtesy of Debbie Zimmer, expert on home painting with the Paint Quality Institute.

When painting walls or ceilings, it’s always important to clean the surface before applying the new coating. Speed up this prep work by using a Swiffer® to quickly wipe things down. Don’t have a Swiffer? Then wrap a clean, moistened rag around a mop head to minimize effort.

Plastic wrap is a great all-purpose painting companion. Among other uses, it’s the best way to protect lighting fixtures from spatter, especially when painting the ceiling overhead. Just wrap fixtures in plastic, press the plastic tight, and worry won't be necessary about stray paint flecks and droplets. (Tip: Top quality 100 percent acrylic latex paint spatters less than ordinary paint.)

Don’t have enough drop cloths to cover heavy furniture? It's easy to purpose plastic wrap for this job, too. Press the plastic wrap down around the edges and the furniture will be safe from paint spatter. To protect sofas and other oversized items, cut apart large plastic trash bags instead and tape them firmly in place. But for safety reasons, never use slippery plastic to protect floors.

When starting to paint, keep paint cans, stirrers, brushes, and similar items in an empty cardboard water or soft drink box. This is a great way to contain drips.

Also, when applying paint, keep an old, wet dishcloth or moistened paper towels handy. Either can be used to quickly pick up errant droplets before they dry and become more difficult (or impossible) to remove.

Aluminum foil can be used to keep paintbrushes or rollers from drying out when one needs to take a break from painting. Just wrap the applicators tightly in the foil to keep out air, which can begin the drying process. They’ll be good to go when one is ready to resume work.

During very short breaks or interruptions, place brushes or rollers inside a Ziploc® bag as insurance against accidents, especially if children or family pets are about.

There’s also a role for a lint roller when reusing a roller cover from the day before or from a previous project: Run it along the nap to remove loose threads and "fuzzies" that could otherwise embed in the fresh paint or simply make application more difficult.

For the adventurous souls who create their own paint color by combining two or more leftover paints, be wise and use a measuring spoon or measuring cup when mixing the hues together. And write down the "custom" formula on a piece of masking tape placed right on the side of the paint container. That way, it will be easier to produce a close match if one is ever needed.

Assuming one only has a small amount of leftover paint when the project is completed, transfer it to a screw-top jar for storage, sandwiching a layer of plastic wrap between the lid and the jar before closing it tightly. The jar will take up much less room than a standard-size paint can and there will be no worry that rust particles will spoil the paint.

To avoid guesswork and/or trial and error when doing future touchups, use masking tape on all paint containers to label the brand of paint used, as well as the sheen and color, the date the paint was applied, and the rooms where it was used. While some of this information appears on the paint label, it may be obscured by paint drippings, so it’s best to be thorough.

As one can see, there are lots of helpful items in and around the kitchen that can make painting easier and trouble-free. What’s more, all of them are either very inexpensive, or free! So be smart, be resourceful, and make use of what is easily available when doing interior painting.

For more information on home painting, visit the Paint Quality Institute blog at blog.paintquality.com, or go to its painter-

friendly website at http://www.paintquality.com.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/28/2024 20:44