Painting your own home’s interior can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be messy. That’s why we put together this list of tips to follow as you do the painting yourself. You don’t have to hire an expensive professional to paint your home, but you should know the best way to work efficiently and not end up with a big mess afterwards.
Use Cotton Drop Cloths
Most people will buy plastic drop cloths when they paint their home, but that’s not necessarily a good idea. Plastic cloths will keep the paint wet for longer, making it much harder to clean up and often resulting in big mess when you move around on the cloths or try to remove the drop cloth.
Even using newspapers can be a bad idea as they can become scattered too easily and they can expose parts of your floor as you walk across them. Like plastic, they can be slippery, and you may be putting yourself in danger if you place a ladder on top of them and expect it to be stable.
You are better off going with cotton drop cloths. Even though the may be slightly more expensive, they are a good investment. They will leave you with less of a mess to clean up and a safer work environment.
Keep a Brush Storage Bucket Nearby
How do you store your rollers and brushes when you are finished with them? Do you carry them all the way to a sink to clean them off or do you just set them on the floor until the next time you paint in that room? It’s better to keep a bucket or some other storage container in the room you are painting in. Then you can transport the brushes and rollers to where your want to clean them and prevent them from dripping all over the house.
By having a consistent storage area for them, you can reduce accidents and find them faster. You won’t be tripping over them or making a mess on your clothes as you step on them accidentally either. Once again, this may cost you slightly more than other methods of handling your paint brushes, but you can save money over time this way and work neatly and more efficiently.
Don’t Use Any Water
Sometimes, you may want to add some water to your paint to make it spread easier, but you need to avoid the mistake. Most modern paint does not need any additional water. It is meant to be thick enough to dry quickly and stay on your wall for a long time. If you add water, you can keep it from drying properly, cause it to run and leave behind uneven paint on your wall and dilute its effectiveness at sealing and preserving your wall. You might be tempted to make the paint last longer and go farther by adding water, but you will only be wasting the paint and making a huge mess when you try to apply it.
Here is another great article: https://www.networx.com/article/the-ultimate-house-painting-tips-guide