Why taping isnt enough when you paint

 I've seen a lot of comments by people curious, even complaining about the painting tips or "hacks" they see suggesting that simply taping the edges off when painting isn't "good enough".  The tip is in response to people unhappy with lines not being as clean and sharp as they hoped for.

The issue with tape, even the best tapes out there is that pressure on the sides and ends isn't evenly applied when laying the tape down.  So that edges and ends often don't have a fully complete attachment and allow a bit of bleed-under when painting over them.

It's physics.  One tip is to apply a coat of the "base" color or the color you are covering over.  What that does is giving you a seal over the edge of the tape in which the paint will bleed under but is basically "invisible" because it's the same color that's already there.  That seals the edge of the tape so that when you apply the new color paint over it, the line will be the clean, sharp distinction you intended.

But, what if you don't have any paint that is the base color and you don't have the budget to buy more of that, just to paint over it? That is a very reasonable question.  The answer is paintable caulk.  Run a bead of paintable caulk along the edge of the tape then smooth it down with your finger, or maybe a putty knife if you don't press to hard and leave a mark in the wall.  I just wear rubber gloves and use my finger to press it down smooth and firm along the tape edge.  

Let the caulk dry enough to actually paint over then go ahead and start painting over it with the new color.  You'll get the clean, sharp line you were looking for.

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