Paint Can Do's

I hate a messy paint can, but I don’t mind doing some painting of my own. It’s almost the only DIY I feel I can competently do and have professional looking results.

Here are a few tips for keeping your CAN from becoming a goopy mess:

• When you open your paint can, you can use a little plastic implement (about $3) to snap onto the lip of the paint can to help pour out the paint. If you use this, you don’t get runs down the can, and there is no paint in the lip of the can. It is easily washed and it can be used again and again. I've had mine for about 10 years - no kidding.
  

  

  image www.flexiproducts.com

• Closing the can is easy with a rubber mallet. Who has these? I don’t, but I used a hammer on my rubber garden slippers to properly close a paint can by gently tapping all around the lid. Closed well, I’ve used paint from 5-8 years after first buying it. And yes… you want to keep your paints for any scuffs or marks that may come in the years ahead. Even if you had the colour mixed again, there would be a slight difference in the batch.

• If you are painting with a brush, put a rubber band lengthwise around the can to be able to wipe excess paint when painting. It keeps the lip of the can paint and clump free. This is a Martha idea… and I tried it last week. It’s definitely a ‘good thing’ I will always use moving forward.

  

  image origin unknown - likely Martha

Here are a few more handy paint tips:

• If you need a lot of paint for a project, get all the cans mixed at one time – to avoid batch colour differences.
• To be extra careful for colour match, pour the multiple cans into a huge plastic bucket and stir fully so you blend them before painting your walls.
• Buy good quality rollers… cheap rollers often leave lint in the paint. What you can do is roll your roller with a pet-fur sticky roll before using it. This removes bits of lose ‘fluff’
• If you want a clean line, use the painter’s tape. (I don't know about you but my hand gets shaky and tired after a little while, so my free-hand lines are not acceptable.) Paint one stroke parallel along the tape edge before painting the wall to avoiding bleeding. That first little bit of paint on the tape edge ‘seals’ the edge.
• Keep a bowl of water and some paper towels always handy – almost everything is latex paint now and it’s easy to fix a mistake if you do it immediately with a damp paper towel
• Keeping a ‘wet edge’ really does work to give a streak-free, uniform, professional finish
• I don’t care how ‘good’ new paints are – I think a second coat is needed to give a flawless finish. I let my first coat dry for a day before I do the second… lots of drying and curing time and a lot less marking or scuffing. 
• Remember I said 'keep the paint'? Buy cheap little paint brushes from the dollar store and use them to stipple scuff marks that can't be cleaned with water and sponge. They are so inexpensive, you can just throw them out after each use. Another 'Martha gem' I remember from ages ago is to pour some of each of your paints in clean, dry baby food jars. You can see the colours easily and they are handy for small fixes. If your colours are similar, label the jars with a sharpie. To keep them from drying out, store them upside down so no air seeps in.  
• Store your paints in the basement - the garage gets too cold. The wide variance in temperatures and humidity experienced in the garage will  not be good for the paint longevity.