Help with painting

 

Preparing interior walls and ceilings for painting

 

Before you start, always ensure that the surfaces that you are going to paint are sound, dry, clean, and free from any dirt, grease, oil and other materials that may affect the finish. Sugar soap can be used to give your surfaces a clean, and be sure to use rubber gloves.

When you are cleaning, take extra care to avoid water getting into electrical outlets and switches.

Remove any loose paint or plaster, and use an appropriate filler to mend any cracks or holes. Sand down any repairs, making sure to wear a suitable dust mask if dry sanding.

Additional preparation may be needed depending on the type of surface that you are painting, and this has been detailed below.

 

 

Bare, newly plastered or plasterboard lined walls and ceilings

 

Always ensure newly plastered or plasterboard lined surfaces are fully dry before you start any painting. When dry, brush the surface to remove any plaster dust or other dirt.

Newly plastered surfaces will need sealing to address the high rate of absorbency. To do this, apply a mist/sealer coat. You can create this from The Pure Edit Matt Emulsion thinning with up to 10% water. A good quality matt emulsion paint in a similar colour could also be thinned to create a mist coat. The mist coat will be quite runny so take extra care.

When the mist coat is dry, look out for any imperfections and lightly sand these down.

 

 

Previously emulsioned walls and ceilings

 

If the previously painted surface is in sound condition, it’ll make a good base for painting over. Lightly wipe away any dirt or dust with a damp cloth, rinsing the cloth regularly. If the paint previously applied is older, flaky or uneven, more preparation will be needed to ensure your walls are as smooth as possible.

 

 

Preparing your room for painting

 

1) Begin by clearing the room, including taking down curtains, mirrors and pictures. Move any furniture that is easy to move and use plastic sheets or drop cloths to cover up anything left in the room that you don’t want to potentially spill paint on, including flooring.

 

2) Apply masking tape to any fixtures or fittings that cannot safely be removed to protect them from paint drops.

 

3) Cover edges and corners close to the surface you are painting with masking tape. If you do apply masking tape to freshly painted areas, make sure the surface is hard and completely dry. Masking tape could peel paint off if the surface was not prepared properly or if it was not completely dry. For that reason, a low tack tape that is easier to remove may be preferred. Another option is to use a paint shield. This straight edge acts as a barrier between two surfaces, for example skirting and wall. Be sure to regularly wipe the paint shield clean.

 

4) Give all surfaces in the room a thorough clean, removing any dust or dirt that may end up on the paint roller and brush.

 

5) Open windows to keep the room well ventilated. Don’t apply paint in very damp or humid conditions, or if the temperature is below 10°c.

 

 

Where to start painting

 

Always start at the top of the room so that any paint that falls does so onto yet to be finished surfaces, so always paint the ceiling first.

 

Start with the ceiling so that any falling paint lands on surfaces that you haven’t started yet.

 

Next, move on to woodwork and trim. This way, any paint that laps onto the wall while you are neatly painting the woodwork can be covered later. When the woodwork is dry, you can then paint the walls or hang the wallpaper. With the woodwork being painted in eggshell, any emulsion that lands on it will wipe off immediately with a damp cloth.

 

Doors can be painted at any paint of the project, just be sure to carefully wedge them open so that they can’t swing.

 

How to paint walls and ceilings with The Pureedit Emulsion

 

Always stir paint thoroughly before you start. With The Pure Edit paint being mixed to order, it is mixed in the can and therefore you may see streaks of pigment when you take the lid off. Separation can also happen when paint has been sat out for a while and in both situations, a simple stir of the paint will resolve this.

 

If you are going to be using different cans of paint, for example you have one tin to finish before you start a new tin, premix before painting. This is recommended by manufacturers as differences in colour from one tin to the next can sometimes be visible. If you have large quantities of paint, it may be easier to mix them when you reach natural breaks or when you are painting a second coat. Adjacent walls often appear a different shade, so natural breaks like corners are perfect for any changes in batches or tins.

 

Consider using an amount of one tin for the first coat, then mixing the remainder with another tin for subsequent coats. Most importantly, don’t change tins halfway through a wall or ceiling.

 

Start your painting project by cutting in. This means painting around all edges with a small brush, usually at a width of about 7-8cm. This then means you can ‘fill in’ the rest of the wall with a large roller with less risk of accidentally painting onto frames, skirtings or adjacent walls. If you have the time to do so, you can cut in using a small brush and a mini roller at the same time. Cover a fairly small area of 1m at a time as you’ll need to make sure that the paint remains wet both when you apply the roller over the brushed area and when you join each of your strips together as you work along the wall. The perfect place to break would be in a corner or at another natural vertical feature.

Be sure to always apply two coats of cutting in, just as you will be doing for the main section of painting, and allow this to dry before you cover the main wall.

 

Pour around 1 inch worth of paint into the deep end of the paint tray. Dip your roller into the paint without fully submerging it, before rolling it on the shallow end of the tray. Make sure that the roller is covered well and evenly but is not dripping with paint.

 

When painting a wall, start at the top near the ceiling and work down the wall. Paint a small area of around 60cm² at a time, and always finish in the same direction each time.

 

Paint can often build up on the edge of the roller and if this happens, simply re-roller these paint marks on the wall immediately before the paint dries to smooth them out.

 

It’s really important to refrain from applying another coat until the paint has fully dried, including if you spot an area that looks thin. Applying more paint prematurely can cause the paint to stick to the roller again, creating a textured effect and causing the colour to appear differently. We recommend a minimum of 4 hours between coats.

When you’ve finished, remember to remove any masking tape and remove excess paint from brushes and rollers with a paper towel or by painting onto an old newspaper. Before paint dries on them, wash the brushes and rollers in warm water.

 

Painting woodwork and metalwork with The Pure Edit Eggshell

 

The Pure Edit Eggshell is perfect for properly prepared wood and metalwork, along with areas of high humidity or high traffic, offering a high quality, durable finish.

Always prepare bare surfaces with the appropriate primer. Clean the surfaces that you are to apply the paint to.

Apply paint generously with a synthetic bristled brush, avoiding over brushing and making sure there are no drips or runs. Our water-based paint dries quickly – especially compared to older style oil-based paints – so expect to apply two coats and don’t try to rebrush areas that have already started to dry.

As you paint, be sure to brush back to into the last applied area and not brush from the last applied area. This creates a better join between painted sections.

We advise waiting 4 hours between coats, although the paint will be touch dry in 1-2 hours.

When you’ve finished, remove excess paint from your brush and wash it in warm water.