Tricks of the Trade: How to Use Painter's Tape

Looking for tips on getting clean lines with your tape?  You've come to the right place!

Of all the painter's tape out there, the tried and true original blue tape is still the best.

Did you read the post on caulking yet?  If not, you might want to go do that first.  If your baseboards and other wall joints are all caulked up and ready to go then we can get started!

What you need:

2" Scotch Blue Painter's Tape

your finger, a stir stick or an old credit card

5 main points you need to know here.

1. use long pieces of tape
2. make sure you overlap tape generously
3. burnish burnish burnish!
4. feather paint lightly onto tape
5. pull tape off gently at the proper angle

We should probably start with #1, right?  Try to use longer pieces of tape when you're ripping it off the roll

each time you end one piece of tape and start a new one, you increase the chances of the paint seeping underneath by 236%.

OK, you're right.  That isn't a real statistic.  I don't know what the chances are; just trust me that longer pieces are better.  I usually make each piece almost as long as my arms can reach.  Go any longer and you might end up with a mess of tape all stuck to itself and you :)

You are also going to want to overlap your tape generously.  About an inch or so

You just want to make sure paint isn't going to get into there, between the pieces of tape.  Also, the main reason I always tape the baseboards is to prevent the splatter from the roller getting onto the trim.  It works well for protecting carpeting if the dropcloth pulls away from the wall at all.

Just make sure your "overlaps" don't look like this (I worked with someone once who taped this way and it drove me nuts)

Once you have your tape laid down properly, you're going to want to burnish it.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!  Sorry for yelling, but if there is a trick in this Tricks of the Trade post, this is it.

"How do you burnish?" you ask.  Simple:  rub the tape where it meets the wall or baseboard until your finger feels like it will spontaneously combust.

Heat (caused by friction) is what activates this tape really well.  If you aren't looking forward to losing the feeling in your finger, you can use a stir stick or old credit card to burnish the tape.  Just be careful you don't rub so hard that the tape rips.  I usually use my finger for this reason (I get really angry about ripped tape).

Now you're ready to paint!  I always paint two coats... I know many paints now advertise "one coat coverage" but I don't believe there is any such thing.  Like unicorns.  I've always wanted to believe there were unicorns and one coat paints out there.  Unfortunately, no such thing.

Feather the paint in very lightly with your first coat.  It can be thicker the farther you get from the tape, but that centimeter or so really close to the tape you'll want it to be a thin coat.

After doing this, you can go back and make your cut-in thicker, but I just wanted to illustrate how lightly you want to brush it down by the tape.  If you goop it on, you increase the chances of it seeping underneath the tape.  I don't have an exact stat for the chances on this one.

Once you're finished with two coats of cutting in and two coats of rolling, you get to pull your tape and admire the beautiful clean line!  I always hold my breath for this part.

See how the tape is being pulled (gently) down and away?  You want the paint on the tape to make a clean break from the paint on the wall and the best way to do this is to almost fold the tape back over on itself as you're pulling.  Paint is manufactured so that it will bond to itself when it dries... you don't want some of the wall paint coming off with the paint on the tape.  If you pull the tape straight up toward the wall, the tape might take some of the wall paint with it!

Have any questions?  Let me know in the comments!  Be sure to include your email address if you're a "no reply" blogger.  Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie
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*Update:  A few people have asked how long to leave the tape up.  I usually take it off within an hour or two after I painted.  You can leave it up for a few days, though.  I tried to respond to some of the questions people asked in the comments, but many were "no reply" bloggers.  Please change your settings or include an email address if you'd like me to respond personally to your comment :)  I try my best to get back to everyone within a couple days!

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