Painting doesn’t have to be messy, difficult or costly – Molly Maid provides four simple time-saving tips that will make your next DIY paint job easy!
Milk jugs make great paint can liners! Just cut the bottom off a plastic milk jug and use its spout as a spout!
1. Use a Plastic Sheet or Trash Bag to Line Your Paint Tray
Painting your home can bring fresh new life, but painting can also be an extremely messy project. No matter your DIY experience or level of skill, there are numerous simple hacks you can use to reduce preparation and cleanup time without compromising quality.
Use a kitchen garbage bag as a paint tray liner! Just turn it inside-out and slip it over your tray – this will help avoid messy paint-covered workstations! Plus, any extra paint left behind after finishing can simply be dumped back into its can!
Aluminum foil makes for an easy cleanup solution; just be sure to tape off its edges with some painters tape to protect your walls.
2. Clean Your Brushes Before You Start Painting
Storage of paint in brushes can quickly make them hard and gunky, completely ruining their potential use for future painting sessions. To prevent this from happening, soak your brush in vinegar after each session is complete!
This hack will help keep your painting clean without spending hours applying painter’s tape. Instead, grab a file folder and slide it along as you paint. You’ll achieve perfect lines without dealing with messy removal afterwards!
An effective way to save time when painting is using a milk jug as a paint holder! Simply cut a hole in the bottom of a plastic milk jug, cut out its bottom section, and store your paint and brushes inside it. This method can save time when switching between multiple cans of paint; plus it helps prevent your brushes and rollers from drying out too quickly!
3. Use Petroleum Jelly to Prevent Your Doors or Windows From Sticking
When painting your family room, there may be metal fixtures like doorknobs that you do not wish to paint. Instead of trying to wrap these with painter’s tape – which can often prove cumbersome and ineffective – try applying petroleum jelly instead – this will prevent paint from adhering and can easily be removed when finished!
Vaseline can also help prevent paint from adhering to specific areas on your doors or windows, especially if you’re painting over existing paint; this technique can cover up scratches or damages more effectively.
Dot some Vaseline onto the exterior of your paint can, and pouring will become effortless! Additionally, this method will reduce drips on your floor and facilitate easy clean-up – just don’t forget to secure it with a rubber band so no paint gets onto any edges of its container!
4. Use Cling Wrap to Cover Your Paint Tray
Trapping paint all over surfaces you don’t intend it for can be both time consuming and expensive, so using self-adhesive food wrap, like Glad Press’n Seal, to catch drips may save both you time and effort.
Once your work is completed, simply remove the plastic sheet to get ready to paint again. For large areas to paint quickly without worrying about any smudges or spills.
Use this hack to keep your paint trays, rollers and brushes fresh between coats of painting on multiple days – it works well with keeping paint trays full or rollers used during multi-coat painting sessions clean! Secure the cling wrap to ensure it won’t shift. Alternatively, sheets of saran wrap also provide similar results. Lastly, for paintings framed with glass or featuring fragile corners cut a piece of air bubble wrap or microfoam sheeting large enough to cover both front and back edges with an overlap – position this on top of cardboard then tape around all sides for secure wrapping to prevent movement during handling/shipping processes.
