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Sunday, September 23, 2001		Sunday Activity

Have a brush with paint pots at home

Don’t rest a brush on a jar bottom

THE paint on parts of your doors and windows has chipped off. Your old wooden furniture needs a bit of touching up for the festival season ahead. What would you do? Rush off to hire a painter or roll up your pants and get set for a brush with those painting pots ?

If you’re among the enterprising and resourceful few, who’d rather grab a brush and do the odd paint jobs around the house themselves, here are some handy tips to avoid those messy drips :

When soaking paint brushes don’t let their bristles rest on the bottom of the jar or container as they will become distorted. Drill a hole in the handle of your paint brush, push a skewer, a piece of wire or large nail through it to rest it across the top of your container.

Paint is easy to mix if the jar is left upside down for some time
If you’re taking a short rest from painting, there is no need to clean your brushes. Wrap them in a polythene or foil and secure tightly with a rubber band or string. This keeps them soft for reuse.
For a good paint stirrer, use an old egg whisk.
Paint is easier to mix if the container is left upside down in a warm room.
To remove wax from furniture before painting, rub with steel wool and white spirit.

Jam jar lids make good drip catchers when painting furniture legs.Fix a small nail in each leg of a table or chair to raise it above the floor to make painting easier.

Tie a cloth bag around your waist to hold painting tools
Remove door handles and other door accessories before painting. Else smear them with petroleum jelly.
Protect light fittings from drips by covering with plastic bags.
When painting above your head—on the ceiling, etc—push the brush through a hard paper or foil plate to catch the drips. A big piece of foam pushed through the brush handle can also serve the same purpose. Else, you can wrap a towel around the brush handle ans secure it with a string or rubber band.
Use a paper plate to avoid drips

When painting stairs, first paint only the alternate stairs. This way you can still move up and down the stairway even while the paint is drying.
Before painting a door or skirting, sprinkle a little water on the floor around it to settle any dust that might blow up and spoil the painted surface.
To prevent skin forming on the surface of paint, place a circle of foil on it. Another way is to store paint boxes upside down. This way the skin will form only on the bottom of the paint box.
Strain lumps out of old paint by passing it through old stockings or tights.
To reuse expensive brush cleaning liquids, let the sediments settle and then filter the clear liquid for further use.
Make a secure holder for a paint container by screwing a cake tin into the ladder you’re using .
For a handy holder to keep small tools while you’re painting, thread a piece of string around a small cloth bag and tie it around your waist.

—Chetna Banerjee