We've been doing so much home renovation lately, I thought you all would get a kick out of this tip. People often ask how I manage to accomplish anything on the house with three little boys running around. There IS a hack I use to pause painting when something comes up and I need to step away from a wet roller due to an emergency (or due to a child getting hungry, or needing a bath, or preschool pickup…you get the point).
This one tool in my painting arsenal allows me to step away for as long as I need, sometimes even overnight.
Yup, it's an Apple store bag.
I simply seal my paint can firmly and then slip this bad boy over a wet roller or brush. They're perfectly-sized to fit a paint pan, so I can squeeze the whole shebang in there, seal it up tight and walk away. The trick is to seal it really, really firmly. Minimize the air in there as much as possible.
Another big key for keeping your brushes from drying up mid-job is to dip them in water (if you're using latex) or paint thinner (if you're using oil paint) before you begin painting. Wrapping your brush in a rag dipped in either of those things can also help if you need to step away for a quick moment. Also, take care to never EVER leave brushes baking in the hot sun and always seal your can in-between pours.
When you're doing a final clean, use a brush comb to get paint out from every pore of the brush and dip it in a fresh pail of water when you think it's all the way clean. If the water clouds up, you still have work to do. Finally, fold a newspaper over your clean brush to retain its shape during storage.
Another CRITICAL painting tip is to buy the right brush for the job. A quality cub brush will save you hours of aggravation getting into tight angles, and a thick mat roller will get into the annoying crevices of popcorn ceilings or stucco far better than any standard surface brush.
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