7 Tips for Minimizing Mess While Painting Interiors in Sheboygan, WI

Painting interiors can be a rather messy ordeal, but it doesn’t have to be.

There are things we can do — precautions that we can take — to minimize the mess that is made while painting interiors.

Let us consider the following seven tips for minimizing mess while painting interiors in Sheboygan, WI.

1. Cotton Drop Cloths Over Plastic or Newspaper

For catching dripping paint, there are several techniques and materials that you can use.

There are plastic drop cloths, cloth drop cloths, and the least expensive material that many people still use — used newspapers.

Plastic drop cloths are easy to use, but the paint stays wet on them longer.

When it comes time to move around the drop cloths, it will be more challenging to do so because of that fact.

Newspaper is better than plastic, but it is easy for them to become separated and just come apart while you are walking around the painting area.

It’s dangerous to put a ladder on top of the newspaper that is at all wet from paint.

Cotton drop cloth, therefore, is the best of all because it dries the fastest and is not prone to issues like the spreading newspapers.

2. Water Not To Be Added

Some people have the impression that they can improve their paint by adding a bit of water to make it easier to spread.

This is not a good idea as what ends up happening is that the paint does not dry properly if you add anything to it, including water.

The paint is in the bucket is already formulated to dry in a specific time frame, but adding water makes the painting process messier. It will ultimately require you to get more paint to correct the mistake from the first attempt.

3. Move Large Furniture For Easier Access

The more cramped the quarters, the more easily spills and messes can be made.

If you move your furniture before painting, it will give you much more space and therefore prevent messes before they happen.

4. Remove Cover Plates Prior To Painting

The cover plates that protect your electrical outlets and light switches are fairly easy to remove.

The next step is to cover them up with the painter’s tape.

It’s much easier to do this than to clean any drips that might occur onto the 

5. Light Fixtures In Bags

Ceilings getting painted can get messy — but one easy way to prevent causing stains and paint splatters on your light fixtures is to cover them with bags.

Though it might seem like too simple a solution to work, it definitely works — you will need to make sure that the hanger wire can support the fixture and then detach it from the ceiling and cover it with a bag before painting.

6. Pie Tins For Paint Cans

If you attach a disposable pie tin to the bottom of a paint can, perhaps through hot glue, the drips that are often found on the bottoms of paint cans will instead deposit themselves into the pie tins.

Once you are finished painting, the pie tin can be thrown out, or it can be saved for a future painting project.

7. Use A Paper Grocery Bag To Mix Paint

One of the simplest ways to avoid a mess while getting ready to paint is to place the paint bucket into a paper grocery store bag prior to mixing it.

Any spills that occur — splashes that come forth from the paint bucket — will go inside the bag instead of landing on the floor.

Hi-Tech Painting & Decorating can help you with your interior painting needs. Contact us here or give us a call at 920-457-7695.