You’re driving by in your car and you see people making street art using spray paints. Doesn’t it make you want to grab some spray paints and start an artwork for yourself? You probably tried doing it because it looked too easy, only to find the experience on the contrary.
Perhaps you don’t have the proper outdoor workspace and that’s coming in the way of your spray painting. In any case, whether you’ve experienced a failed attempt or the desire to spray paint is super fresh, this is your guide to doing spray painting right!
Are your doubts about using a paint sprayer indoors keeping you from this fun activity? Are you looking for spray painting tips for beginners or wondering how to do spray painting at home?
Here are the best tips for spray painting, smart diy spray painting hacks, as well as the necessary safety measures to help you get started. With our tips, you’ll be spray painting away your cute little artworks or other things at home in no time.
Create a Proper Work Space
Still wondering how to do spray painting at home? Well, you do it by creating a proper workspace. Spray painting will require a controlled environment, and frankly, you also want to avoid making a mess.
When spray painting, you want to avoid direct sunlight and the wind blowing dust and dirt on your work. That can make using a paint sprayer indoors difficult as not all homes have a spare room to transfer into your art room.
However, fret not. We have got you covered with our diy spray painting hack. If you do not have a spare room to spray paint in, make one for yourself! Yes, it is that simple! And to ease your doubts, there is no construction work required.
All you have to do is go to the nearest superstore or any store that sells cardboard boxes. Find one that is big enough to suit your needs and bring it home. Assemble the box and lay it on its side, leaving the flaps open on the side facing you.
Finally, place your spray painting object inside and turn the switch on to your creativity! Make certain that there is enough light around you to help you see what you’re doing.
Selective Spray Painting and Avoiding Mess
When you are spray painting an object, there may be areas of that object you want to avoid. Perhaps you want to spray paint them with a different color. How do you go about that?
This is the moment you discover a pretty smart use of the masking tape. Whichever area of the object you want to protect from the spray paint, cover it using masking tape. Once you’ve put it on, you can freely spray paint the item and remove the tape once it’s dried. Now, cover the painted areas and start working on the unpainted areas with a new color.
A spray painting tip for beginners: if you’re worried you won’t be able to control your hand movement and may end up creating a mess, get plastic sheets. Cover your workspace with plastic sheets to avoid spray painting everything.
In case you do not have a large plastic sheet, here’s our diy spray painting hack for it. Get a lot of newspapers and lay them down. You can tape them together to ensure they don’t move and put something heavy on them so they don’t fly away.
This tip is useful not only for beginners. But generally, anyone using a spray paint indoors who wants to keep the area around them clean as they spray paint.
How to Not Spray Paint?
These don’ts of using a spray paint can be useful spray painting tips for beginners. In fact, they’re one of the most key and best tips for spray painting that everyone should know.
Don’t Coat a Thick Layer
When a person is just starting this endeavor, the excitement can really glue your finger to the spray paint nozzle. You keep coating layer after layer of the spray paint because you want to get it perfect. However, the thick layer of paint you’ve created will eventually start to crack.
To avoid this disaster, use two thin coats of spray paint at a time. You can wait for the paint to dry to do more coats but do NOT be coating layer after layer in one go.
Don’t Spray Paint Vertically
Do not spray paint vertically! Painting any surface vertically can cause the drips to form. This can really ruin the appearance of your object or artwork. In order to avoid thick drips, always face your objects facing up. This way even if you end up spraying more, the paint will disperse and even out across the object.
Don’t Immediately Flip the object
This is one mistake that almost everyone makes. Be it the excitement of the process, an incident of forgetfulness, or haste. People tend to flip their objects as soon as they are done with spray painting to start on the other side.
BIG MISTAKE! Your paint is still dry which means you can ruin it by putting the model object face down. Moreover, the spray paint that fell around the object is wet, even if you think the object is dry. Flipping your object onto a wet surface can also ruin it.
Hence, always have patience and wait for the objects and the surface to dry.
Shake the Spray Paint Can
Some of us are in too much of a rush to do it. Others just shake the can mechanically (which is great). However, why is it so important to shake the spray paint can?
Shaking the can well (at least for 30 seconds or a minute) helps to get the proper and even color. If you spray paint without shaking the can, the color may be different and form streaks since it hasn’t mixed well in the can.
DIY Spray Painting Hack For Metal Objects
If the object of your spray painting activity is metal, for instance, a model car, this tip can make the process more convenient. Basically, you use metal to tame metal.
Magnets are a great way to control and position your metal object without touching it. You can reposition the metal to change the position of your metallic object or rotate it, etc. This way you avoid touching and messing up the paint on your object.
So, here we have another spray painting tip for beginners who may constantly touch the objects. Keep some magnets handy!
Keep Yourself Safe
Although we’re discussing it last, safety ALWAYS comes first. As innocent and harmless as spray painting sounds, it can easily cause allergic reactions, skin irritations, or other problems. Therefore, it is important to wear adequate protective gear when using spray paint indoors or generally spray painting.
Here are the absolute must-have safety items.
- Clothing to fully cover your skin like long-sleeved shirts
- Hand gloves
- Goggles to protect eyes
- Face mask to prevent inhaling spray paint fumes
Final Word
To leave you with the most important of our best tips for spray painting, practice, practice, and practice! Practice makes perfect. Now you know how to do spray painting at home so don’t let the ‘I don’t have a proper excuse’ stop you.
You know using a spray paint indoors requires proper arrangements so make those proper arrangements. Basically, you are now equipped with the necessary tips and guidelines. So, don’t let petty excuses stop you.
With these handy tips, we don’t guarantee you professionalism (that depends on your efforts). However, what we can guarantee is a smooth passage into the world of spray painting. Practice smooth swipes on surfaces, remember to shake the can, stay safe, and go rule the art of spray painting!