Giving your home a modern pop of color is one of the best ways to update your decor for the spring! If you’re just painting accent walls or doing a more complicated color block pattern, painters tape is an essential tool in your arsenal. Here’s a few tips on how to master the skill of perfect lines for your next painting project.
Make Sure Your Molding is Dust Free
Using a damp rag on your molding can get rid of surface grime that will prevent your painters tape from sticking as well as it could. It can also prevent any unwanted textures by not immortalizing dust in your paint job! If you’re doing a project in your kitchen, using a mild detergent will help dissolve any grease that has popped from your stove onto the walls over time. Wait for your newly cleaned surfaces to dry before applying the tape.
Use a Handy Tape Applicator
You know the frustration you experience when trying to pull out a piece of cellophane to cover leftovers and it sticks to itself? Using long, continuous pieces of tape can have that same effect! However, you really do want to use long pieces of tape so that your straight line of paint has as much continuity as possible. How to achieve that without the frustration in a fast and simple way is using a tape applicator. It’s designed for precision by using the adjacent surface as a guide and has a built in tape cutter. They’re available at most home centers along with the roll of tape.
Seal the Tape
Prevent any paint from seeping under the tape by using a flexible putty knife to press down on the edge. Start from one end and apply downward pressure along the length of your tape line, tilting your tool slightly towards the edge directly next to the surface you’re painting. This step ensures crisp, clean lines.
Protect Your Other Walls
This is especially important if you’re painting the ceiling or having younger ones help with the paint project. Using lightweight plastic to cover your walls while painting the ceiling will help prevent roller splatter from inadvertently making it onto other surfaces. The trick to hanging it is using a wider tape. Press the top part of the tape as explained above and leave the bottom half un-stuck. Hang your lightweight plastic by pressing it against the curled up edge of your tape. Overlap your plastic sheets at doorways for openings.
Cut the Corners
The trick to getting corners just right is by running the first piece of tape up the wall. Use your edge flattening tool to press the tape firmly into the corner, then use a utility knife to remove the excess on the wall. That way, the next piece of tape you apply doesn’t have to so perfect. This same trick can be used when taping off window glass to paint the trimming.
Protect Your Floors
Whether you have carpet or wood flooring, you don’t want drops of paint on either! While using drop cloths helps deal with that, they can move on you while working your way through an area. Use masking paper along with your painters tape at the baseboards and it will give you the freedom to move your drop cloths from one side of the room to the other without worrying that they remain perfectly against the wall. You can protect door molding from roller splatter using masking paper as well.
Make sure your using the proper tools when considering your next paint project. Remember, not all painters tape is equal and using the right one for the job is important to get the results you want. While it’s best to remove painters tape while the paint is still wet, most water based paints dry quickly, or you may not have time to apply a second coat in one day. Tearing away your painters tape on a semi-dry wall can potentially pull the paint away with the tape. So, if you can’t pull off the tape right away, wait until your wall is fully dry and use a putty knife to break the seal between the paint and the tape. Always pull the tape away at a 45 degree angle to the wall.
