Painting tips
1. Choose good paint.
Decent quality paint has more resin in it. Resin has a lovely flow out and also gives paint more durability. Cheaper paint has less resin and the volume is made up with cheap chalks, filler and water. It’s not worth it!
Look for scrubbable paint, instead of washable or wipeable paint.
Good quality paint is packed with high quality resin, which means:
• superior scratch and scuff resistance
• greater mould and chip resistance
• top notch scrubbability.
1. Don’t use natural black bristle brushes.
‘Natural’ might sound good, but they’re a bad idea. Not only are they made from real hogs’ hair and unnecessarily cruel, but they’re also very strong and leave tracks in paint. Use a good quality, soft, synthetic brush instead.
2. Use room temperature paint.
When you keep honey in the fridge, it doesn’t flow well. The same is true for paint. At least 24 hours before you’re going to paint, bring your paint in out of the garage, give it a stir and let it warm up.
3. Prepare your surface properly.
The life expectancy of your paint will be largely due to how diligently you clean and prepare the surface. If your surface is not clean, the paint doesn’t stick to it, but sticks to the contaminants on top of it. That could be any residue of oils, polish, grease or dirt. Wash every surface twice and allow it to dry for 24 hours. Tile grout, for example, gets saturated when you wash it and needs a full day to dry.
4. ePonder the primer.
You generally don’t need to prime previously painted surfaces, but you can give them a light sanding before you start. If you’re painting surfaces that were never painted before, use a multi-surface primer first.
1. Go easy on your roller
Don’t stretch out paint and don’t press too hard on your roller. Forget the white knuckle grip! Hold the handle with a relaxed, gentle grip and paint slowly up and down.
2. Use enough paint!
People often don’t put on enough paint, but if you don’t, you won’t get the scrubbability and the spotless finish. And to make things worse, you’ll have to put on another coat. Keep dipping your roller into the roller tray and make sure you have plenty of paint on it.
If you see stripes on the wall the width of your roller, you are pressing too hard and possibly not putting on enough paint
3. Start high and work down
There’s no hard and fast rule, but most people work from the top down, doing ceilings first, then walls, then woodwork. That way you won’t splash ceiling paint on freshly painted walls or woodwork.
1. Wash roller before you use it and dry it so it’s only slightly damp.
2. If using a cheaper roller, wrap it in masking tape, then pull it off to remove most of lint and loose fibres.
3. If microfiber roller, check it for any loose fibres and remove them.
4. Submerge the roller in the paint trough in the tray. Rotate it a few times and then release a lot of the excess on the grid in the paint tray.
5. Start in the middle of the wall, not too low close to the skirting board or ceiling, as most excess paint will come off on first touch…
6. Go up and down but don’t press on the roller. Too much pressure is counter-productive as you end up taking off nearly as much paint as you put on.
7. Have the ‘elbow’ of the roller moving the way you are painting.
8. Keep the wet edge of the paint, meaning don’t let any paint dry in a section until you finished that section.
Discover the latest from our Instagram
@alchemistpaint
