thesedays

I painted all 4 walls a pretty blue and want to paint stripes on the back wall in swiss chocolate brown .....however, every time I have used the painters tape for edging, paint ALWAYS leaks through if I'm not very careful.

What is the secret for painting these stripes and not having the paint leak under the tape? I want the stripes to be straight / crisp and perfect !!

Since it's a dark stripe over a much lighter blue, it won't be so easy to touch up in paint gets under the tape.

Thanks for your help !

Kerrylib

Two tips.

"burnish" the edge of the tape by pressing it tight to the wall with the edge of a putty knife, or similar tool. Just don't gouge the wall.

Lay out your lines w/ faint pencil, or perhaps laser line on the wall. Then use a good brush to paint up to the line. A little practice and it isn't all that hard. Use a clean dry rag to wipe up any "goofs" right away.

Daryl in Nanoose

You may also find it better to use a foam roller.

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thesedays

Thanks for the tips .......now if I have to do two coats of the brown, does this matter since everything I have read on this says I should pull the tape off right away ...will it get stuck and take some of the brown paint with it if I have to wait for the first coat to dry before adding the second coat?

glennjanie

Hello TheseDays:
Yes, it will take the paint off if you wait. Its best to pull it, let it dry, and apply another line of tape for the second coat.
Glenn

Johnboy555

Check with your local "Paint" store ( Sherwin-Williams, Ben-Moore, etc) not the big boxs (they pay them the "Big Bucks" there. They will point you to the right masking tape. There's a newer one out that's designed to do exactly what you want. A little bit higher cost but gives a razor edge, with no paint seepage.

jka

The trick is to buy clear paintable caulk and caulk with your finger on the side of the tape. It is easiest to spread the caulk if you wet the area before you caulk, then wipe away the excess with a damp rag. I just did it and it worked great...except I had to do four coats of my stripe color and some of the paint peeled off when I removed my tape. If you use the paintable caulk and remove the tape right away, you will get those crisp lines you are looking for. If anyone knows an easy way to fix my stripes, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise I think I need to wait a few days and retape the areas that pulled away.

Raminator

The newer tape is green, and I think it makes reference to some lizard of sorts. Sorry I can't be more specific, but the guy at the paint store said it has a sealant on the edges that seal it to the wall better, giving you that razor edge you are after. IIRC, it wasn't much more expensive than the blue 14 day tape.

lenozhka

Here's what you can do to prevent paint seeping under the tape:

after the base coat is dry and the stripes are taped off, go over the tape edges with the base color to seal the tape. Once it dries, roll on your stripe color.

Yelena

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superjedi

I've been doing a lot of painting the past few days in our new house and as Raminator mentioned, the green tape (called Frog Tape) works really well. I think it's better than the "standard" blue painters tape.
I usually pull my tape off when the paint is surface dry and haven't had any problems with anything peeling up.