Painting Trick
I’m one of those weird people that doesn’t mind painting. I love that feeling of the first roll of a new color going up. I love to sit and listen to the radio or talk to old friends and paint. I love the way a freshly painted room looks and feels. Granted, when we were trying to sell our house in Virginia, and I had to paint every room, I did become overwhelmed and started to hate it a little. Now we are here and I’m back to loving painting again.
So, when I was painting the VA house, I read this little trick online and can’t believe I didn’t know about it before. I feel like it might be one of those things everybody knew but me. But in case you might not know, here ya go.
I dislike the cleaning up part. I don’t reuse roller heads, and I’ll toss a brush before it needs to be tossed because sometimes I don’t want to clean it. The cleaning up process takes soooo long. But, this little tip is helpful.
Wrap your brush or roller head in a wet paper towel and it says ready to go much longer. That’s it, easy peasy!
So, for example, I always have 20 minutes of work left to do. I have to leave to pick up my kid and I have 20 minutes of work left to do. So, instead of tossing it all and giving up for the day, I just wrap everything up in wet paper towels and put seran wrap over the paint tray and run out the door. When I get back everything is still ready to paint. Then I can quickly finish the 20 minutes and the job is done and I don’t have to get those colors back out.
I’ve also started wrapping them up as I go along. While I’m rolling, I keep my brush in a wet paper towel, and vice versa. This is espesically helpful when using the brush, the paint just glides on, no more sticky, dried up messy paint. Also, this is helpful when you don’t want to use the dreadful blue tape. Smooth lines and steady hands are much easier when you aren’t dealing with drying paint.
I’ve also heard that you can wrap the stuff and leave it in the fridge overnight. Anybody ever tried that? I’m tempted, maybe in the next room I paint.
Anybody that knows us will be able to guess who’s room I’m painting with these crazy colors :).
Thanks for stopping by!
April
Such a simple and practical tip! I can see that it will make a big difference. I agree – I detest the clean up part.
It really is just the worst! Thanks for stopping by!
It’s the worst! Thanks for stopping by!
I didn’t know that trick, thanks! I do have a couple more for you, though… (1) you can put your brush ends and rollers in Ziploc bags and they will be good to go for at least a day… and I bet even longer if you combined it with your paper towel trick. You don’t have to seal the whole thing in, either, just the part with paint on it — zip up to the handle (you’ll, of course, have them in the bag at an angle so the other side of the handle is against the side of the bag). You can actually use a regular plastic shopping bag as well, as long as you tie it around the handle.
My second tip is — when it’s time to clean, do a rinse and then let them soak in a bucket of water for a while. I put them in hot water with dish soap, but you could use a different cleaner if you prefer. Regardless, much of the paint will come off without any effort to you, and they will stay wet until you’ve got the energy to clean them. It may not be the MOST ideal way to clean them, but it’s a better way than throwing them out. 🙂
That is great! I will try that next time, for sure. Another girl said to wrap them in seran wrap and put them in the fridge, so I wrapped the wet paper towels around, then seran wrap and stuck them in the fridge. I will update tomorrow on how it worked! Thanks for coming by!
I HATE the cleaning up part, too, and usually end up throwing it out rather than cleaning it as well. Good tip! I’ll be painting Kate’s room in May for her bday, so this is helpful. Actually, since you love it so much, maybe we can do it together when you come to visit. hahahaha (only partly kidding). Any other paint tips are welcome!!
Okay, I’ll be there :)! Thanks, Rian! Miss you.
I am with you, I don’t mind painting either. There’s something very therapeutic about it! Although I don’t know if my husband will let me do much in regard to painting the nursery here in the near future in my current condition, but maybe he’ll at least let me get a little out of my system?? 🙂
I painted some when I was pregnant, I couldn’t take it! I totally get it. Thanks for stopping by!
Great tip. I’m going to be painting my bedroom and I can use all the tips and tricks I can get!
Good luck! It’s be totally worth the work. Thanks for stopping by!
Do you know I’ve never painted? I really need to learn how. I’ll keep these tips in mind.
Maybe you’ll love it (or hate it), haha. Maybe I’ll write a whole post about how to paint. Thanks for stopping by!
Clean up is the worst part, thanks for the tips!
Hope it helps, thanks for coming by!
I dont do painting at home but do have classes which use art brushes. There usually arent any places to wash them and they end up all dry when I get home so this is a great way of keeping them moist so I can clean them easily, Thank you.
So glad I could help! I was wondering if this was one of those things everybody but me knew about. Thanks for stopping by!