Day 8. Touch Up Paint

Day 8 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

---

Remember when you first painted your house, or when you first had it painted? It looked so perfect, the paint was awesome, everything looked neat, clean and sharp! How long has it been since you last painted your house? For us, it’s been about a year and half and our paint already looks trashed!

I owe it to the kids and the dogs, constantly running their hands or bodies up against the walls, running their hands down the stairwell, hitting things into the walls and kicking them while playing around. All of these things take a toll on our paint, and we don’t even realize it! After a little time of wear and tear, your beautiful fresh paint isn’t looking so fresh anymore. Also… let’s not even get into the damage done by things like baby gates!

You cleaned your walls with me at the beginning of this 30 day guide, but they still aren’t looking as good as they used to? It’s time to touch up your paint!

---

What to touch up:

• High traffic areas
• Corners and edges of walls
• Damaged areas
• Holes and dings in the walls

---

Supplies needed:

• Paint that matches your current paint! It’s best to save from the original cans.
• Spackle
• Putty Knife
• Paint Brush
• Stir Sticks
• Sand paper (if needed)
• Optional: Drop cloths (if you are a messy painter)
• Optional: Painter’s Tape (for areas close to non-painted surfaces)
• Recommended: paid link
  • Flex Putty Knife, 2″ Angled Paint Brush (this one is my all time favorite), Fast Dry Spackle, paint that is the same brand and sheen as your original (plus if it’s the same can)
• Alternative:
  • Any putty knife, paint brush, spackle, and of course matching paint.

---

Touch Up Paint

If you aren’t very familiar with painting, I want to start off by saying DO NOT FULLY DIP THE BRUSH. You only need to dip the very tip of the brush and wipe off access on the inside edge of the can. The paint will quickly spread up your brush through use. My absolute GO-TO is the Wooster 2″ angled paint brush. The handle is short and easy to control, and the angle is perfect to get in tight spaces.

I had a lot of areas to touch up in my house, but the number one area was my stairwell. Instead of using the handrail, everyone uses the wall edge and the paint wears down like crazy! Plus, the owners of this house before us had the house painted poop brown, so it shows through very badly and looks like dirt!

Steps to touching up paint:

1. Determine the areas you need to touch up
2. Prep the areas that you will be touching up. Cover any items you feel need covered and place painters tape in any areas that make you nervous. Touching up paint is not nearly as messy as full on painting a room, so do this to your descression.
3. If there is paint that is peeling up, lightly sand the edges of the peeling paint until the edges are smooth and flat.
4. Get your matching paint color and STIR THAT PAINT UP. You DO NOT want to use unstirred paint. The pigments, and liquids separate as they sit, it will be a different color and will not adhere or dry properly.
5. Lightly dip your paint brush into the paint to cover just the edge of the paint brush and wipe the access paint off on the inside edge of the can (being carful not to get a lot of paint into the rim where the lid sits or else the lid will adhere on once closed).
6. Start to brush over the worn area using brush strokes in the same direction until the area is properly covered. You don’t want to have a thick coat of paint, a thin coat, just enough to cover, will do the truck. Thick coats will end up running down the wall and drying in blobs.
7. Repeat these steps until all worn areas are covered.

Note: if you are painting corners, you will want to brush stroke towards the corner from each side (don’t leave gobs of paint on the corner, as this will cause the paint to chip off easily). If you are painting near edges or trim, you will want to have the longer side of the angle facing in the direction that you are moving away from.

---

Filling Holes and Dings

Sometimes, when we are touching up paint, we notice that there may be holes or dings in our walls. This could be from something bumping up against the wall, or from screw holes on décor or wall hangings that were moved from one spot to another. Either way, painting over these isn’t going to be a fix all!

If you really want that fresh clean look in your paint again, you will want to fill in the holes and dings with spackle prior to painting over them.

What is spackle?!? Spackle is a thick, creamy putty that can be applied to wood, drywall, and plaster. It is used to fill small cracks, holes and defects in the walls surface. It cannot be used as a surface coat, and actually has to fill the hole/crack entirely.

We had a lot of damage to our wall due to the use of baby gates. We took down the baby gates, and were left with a disaster!

How to repair surface defects with spackle:

1. Determine the areas that will need repair.
2. Make sure the area around the defect is clean of oils and debris
3. If there is roughness around the defect or drywall sticking out, sand the area down until smooth.
4. Get your spackle and putty knife ready, and cover any items that you desire (although if done properly this shouldn’t be too messy).
5. Get a small amount of spackle onto the end of your putty knife, probably about a quarter size round amount.
6. Use the putty knife to press the spackle into the hole or crack in your surface. The intent is to fill the hole, not just cover it, otherwise the spackle could easily break off.
7. Once you have pressed the spackle into the hole, you will use the very edge of the putty knife, at about a 45 degree angle from the wall, to wipe off the spackle, and then swipe it over the hole again pressing more spackle into the hole.
8. Continue to repeat this process until the hole appears sufficiently full.
9. You will use the putty knife at the 45 degree angle to wipe the access putty off the wall. You can continue wiping until all putty is cleared.
10. Hard to wipe off areas can typically be easily removed with a damp cloth or paper towel. Otherwise, if there is texture left over after the spackle dries, this can be sanded smooth.
11. Allow the spackle to dry completely before applying paint (drying times can typically be found within the instructions on the spackle you are using).
12. Be sure to paint over the repaired area as soon as possible once the spackle has dried to prevent moisture from getting into the spackle.

If you have run into holes that are larger than 1/4″, you may want to consider using a Drywall Patch Kit for the repair, as spackle on it’s own will usually only withstand certain size holes without some type of support.

---

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 7. Shampoo Carpets and Rugs here.

Check out Day 9. Cleaning tile grout and/or corners of floors/counters here.

If you would like to see the remainder of this 30 day cleaning guide posts, please enter your email below and you will receive email notifications for future posts.