Painting can be fun or dreadful activity. Some people, painting can be a way to cope with stress. But for someone else, it is a nightmare because painting is a tedious work. Paint could spill anywhere if you’re not careful. In that case, we have curated tips and best practices from professional residential painters Melbourne that you can follow.

Create consistent color by mixing several cans of paint in a large bucket

Paint color may slightly differ from one can to another. In a glance, your eyes won’t notice the difference. But if you run out of paint form the first can and open second can in the middle of a wall, the difference may be noticeable. You can avoid this problem by mixing all the paints together from the start. It’s best to estimate the amount of paint you’ll need and mix it in a 5-gallon bucket (a process called “boxing”). When it is not possible to estimate precisely, add more. You can use the leftover for something else.

Let the paint dry, then cut the tape loose for a perfect edge

It is a common practice and mistake to tape edges before painting and pull the tapes once the paint dry. Please don’t pull those tapes off immediately when the paint is dry. Paint forms a film between the wall and the tape, and removing the tape tears pieces of dried paint off the wall. Remember to cut it loose before pulling off the tape.

Usually professionals will wait at least 24 hours for the paint to completely dry. After 24 hours they will use a sharp utility, like knife or box cutter knife to slice through the film.

Note: make sure the paint is dry enough, if you cut the paint while it’s still gummy, you’ll make a mess.

Trim, Ceiling and Walls

Remember this order whenever you want to paint. It is the most common order that professionals follow. Why? Because it’s easier and faster to tape off the trim than to tape off the walls.

It also gives you a peace of mind when painting the trim. You don’t have to worry about the walls. Just concentrate on getting a nice and clean finish on the wood. Don’t worry if the trim paint gets onto the walls. You’ll cover it later when painting the walls. The same principle applies for the ceiling.

Clean dirty surfaces before start painting

Paint will be easy to peel off when it painted over dirty, oily surfaces. So before painting, make sure the walls are clean. You can use a deglosser or heavy-duty cleaner intended for prepaint cleaning. They work well to clean painted, varnished or enameled surfaces to improve the adhesion of the new paint. Pay attention to areas like kitchen and bathroom walls, their walls usually covered by oils and other dirty stuffs. Wipe on the cleaner in a circular motion using a lint-free cloth or abrasive pad. Start at the bottom and work up.

Replace plastic with cotton drop cloths

Spills and spatters will always happen, regardless of how careful you paint. It’s a lot easier to prevent them than to deal with the mess. Normally people would use plastic drop cloths to cover floor. But we recommend you to use cotton drop cloths. They will stay in place, so you don’t need to tape it and you can use it to cover any surface. Plastic drop cloths are hard to walk on because it’s slippery and even worse, paint that stay wet. For certain they can end up on your shoes and get tracked through the place.

In some case like covering hard floors, we don’t recommend you to use canvas. Canvas is slippery on hard floors. You can opt for rosin paper. It works over vinyl, tile and hard- wood. Tape the sheets together and to the floor to provide a nonslip surface.

But even with all the coverage, large spills still need to get wiped up immediately. If not wiped, they’ll seep through. Clean spills with paper towels or cloth rags.