Do's and don'ts

Raksha

Keep all pets out of the area until you are 100 percent sure all surfaces are dry.

Leif

Microfibre roller sleeves give a lovely finish.

Cheap rollers are to be avoided, I spent ages sanding down a wall to remove the fine hairs shed by a cheap roller.

Use good brushes, such as Purdy bought in a multi pack. Cheap brushes leave bristles everywhere.

I've only used Dulux paint, but most people say to avoid cheap paints. Pros used brands such as Johnsons and Leyland, as well as Dulux trade.

Places like B&Q sometimes do 3 for 2 or 2 for 1 deals on paint.

loracan1 wrote: »

Don't stand in the roller tray.

I learnt that one the hard way when I got down from the trestle table, and stood on the paint kettle. It went everywhere. Never again.

cyclonebri1

Alisha2008 wrote: »

I painted one of my bedrooms with a "one coat" a few weeks ago and it was absolutely perfect! Still have half of the tin left as the paint was the same price for 2.5 litres or 5 litres, so I went for 5 litres in case it needed 2 coats (previous colour was blue, sometimes difficult to cover), but it didn't!

So some one-coat, ARE one coat...

:T:T:TGood quality 1 coat paints work perfectly, don't believe the anti stuff, just need a good rub down with emery or sugar soap then good to paint

cyclonebri1

davenport151 wrote: »

Totally agree with macman also don't dip your paintbrush in your cuppa!

And more importantly don't drink the paint:D

Stooby2

There are lots of online tutorials online,

I find online is the best place to find online stuff too. :-)

Take your time in cleaning the brushes, that way they will last. If you're going to be painting the next day, you can wrap the brush in clingfilm to save cleaning it.

Leif

If you are using oil paints, then get yourself a BrushMate. It is a God send.

cyclonebri1

Leif wrote: »

If you are using oil paints, then get yourself a BrushMate. It is a God send.

How does that work then? Never used anything other than white spirits or paraffin etc then soap and water. Is this item better or less messy?

And no I didn't read it: "If you are using oil paints, then get yourself a brush mate"

sunflower_2

if using a roller - cover the floor for splatters (and your hair)

use a good quality fine tipped brush for cutting in.

i keep baby wipes and kitchen roll handy for any errors.

slightly unscrew light switches and elec sockets.

ah i want to decorate now...

cyclonebri1

sunflower wrote: »

if using a roller - cover the floor for splatters (and your hair)

use a good quality fine tipped brush for cutting in.

i keep baby wipes and kitchen roll handy for any errors.:T:T

slightly unscrew light switches and elec sockets.

ah i want to decorate now...

That's 1 worth repeating, I only found the true value of baby wipes when my daughter left a pack lying round, great for dobbs of oil paint on hardwood floors or even on emulsion, much cheaper than say spirit wipes, (which in actual fact they are in a mild sort of form)

Leif

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

How does that work then? Never used anything other than white spirits or paraffin etc then soap and water. Is this item better or less messy?

And no I didn't read it: "If you are using oil paints, then get yourself a brush mate"

Yeah, I used to dip my hair in paint, then drag it along the walls, until I discovered brushes.

You can Google BrushMate. Basically it is a plastic box with a lid, containing a vapour pad which stops the oil paint from drying. So you store the brush overnight in the box, ready for use the next day/week/month. I recently opened mine to find a brush still there, months after I last did some painting, and it was fine. It is so much easier than washing in white spirits each day. Obviously you do eventually have to wash the brush the conventional way, and the pads have a limited lifetime. They are ~£4 each, so not cheap, but worth it. A lot of pros use them.