Painting Made Easier

by The Family Handyman

Paint-mixing bucket booth
Here’s how to avoid painting yourself and everything else when mixing paint with a drill-driven mixing rod: Put the paint can in a 5-gallon bucket before mixing. In a pinch, you can use a large grocery bag to contain the mess.

Big box spray booth
When you need to spray paint a large piece of furniture, get a large cardboard box from an appliance dealer, cut the front off and use it for a spray booth. Make sure to provide plenty of ventilation and wear a respirator.

Rein in those runaway roller sleeves
This is for anyone who’s been frustrated by those roller sleeves that slip off the end of the roller frame as you paint. Use the corner of a metal file to cut a bunch of shallow notches into the bars of the roller frame. The sleeve will stay put for hours of rolling.

Extension ladder arms
Notch one or both ends of a length of PVC pipe, then slide it through the rung of an extension ladder. The notched pipe will hold paint cans or a small pail.

Perfect for touch-ups
Use cheap, disposable cosmetic sponges for paint touch-ups, staining and other tasks where you need a small applicator.

Easy-build spray-can storage
Half-used cans of aerosol paint have a way of getting lost in the far-back reaches of shelves and cabinets. Here’s a wall-hung rack for keeping all those cans organized. Make the shelves about 5-inches deep, a little bit more than a can’s-width apart and slanted at a 45- to 75-degree angle.

Less-mess spray-can nozzle cleaner
Prevent spray-can nozzles—at least those that are the same size and shape as a WD-40 nozzle—from clogging by removing them, placing them on a can of WD-40 and giving them a quick shot to clean them out.

Helpful hints researched and provided by The Family Handyman

first appeared: 6/6/2004