Tips on Finishing Your Painting and Cleaning Up Afterwards

Painting can be pretty exhausting and can seem never ending. However it does come to an end and when it does you need to be clean and tidy up after you.

After you've finished painting you need to give the paint some time to dry properly. When it's dry, give it a good looking over. There may be patches where you haven't painted such as in the corners or around the edges. When you find missed areas make sure you touch them up with some paint. You'll also want to do this before you remove any masking tape or paper you have laid down. Even although the new paint is the same color as the old layer it's still important to make sure it's completely painted. This is because paints change shade over time; they start to fade.

Once you've done the above, you can now remove the masking. Have another look to ensure there are no blotches or streaks. If you strive for quality, make sure you deal with these issues.

If any of your paint edges are a bit wobbly or they overlap go over these areas again with a good steady hand. There might be areas which you feel need some sanding as well. If paint has any bubbles you should sand and re-paint.

Tips on Cleaning Yourself and Your Brushes

You'll probably feel tired and drained after all that hard work but you're day hasn't finished there. You need to clean up after yourself.

Latex Paints: These are easy to clean up with just some soap and water. It doesn't take long.

Oil-based and Alkyd Paints: These are rather more tricky to clean up. If you get paint on your hair or skin you either have to wait for it to rub off or you could help prevent this happening in the first place. Wear gloves, mask, overalls and head covering. Afterwards you can discard of them or keep them for later.

If you don't have any protective clothing to wear you can always try covering your skin with oil or body lotion. This will make it more difficult for paint to stick to your skin.

For removing excess oil or alkyd paints you'll want to use a good solvent. Make sure you wear gloves whilst doing this to protect your skin. You'll also want to make sure the room you're in is well ventilated, or better still, go outside. If you really don't like cleaning up you could always throw your brushes and rollers away. But this could prove an expensive choice.

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