How To Do Touch Up Paint Instead of The Whole Wall?

How To Do Touch Up Paint Instead of The Whole Wall? The wall of your house gets its fair share of ill-treatment. Smudges and scraps are imminent to emerge, be it pets, kids, or daily life’s normal tear and wear.

But there is nothing much that can warrant repainting the whole wall. The scrapes and smudges are something that can be sorted with simple touch-up paint. This solution is ideal because apart from being easy, it is also a cheap method to make your look as good as new.

Though touch-up painting may sound easy, if you don’t use the appropriate techniques and tools, the results you may get can be so dissatisfying. Also, you’ll see some insight blotches that are stuck out more than even the blemishes they were intended to cover.

Suppose your wall might use a facelift, then you should read this article to learn the best and most appropriate way to give a clean look to your home without shelling out more from your pocket.

How To Do Touch Up Paint Instead of The Whole Wall?

First thing first, for your touch-up paint to match flawlessly with the space in your home, it is important and advisable to use similar paint and even the applicator – both brushes and rollers that were used initially to paint the wall.

You’ll have in your store the left applicators and paint from the last time your wall was painted the first time. If it has been extended and you can find them, it is now your job to ensure you get paints matching the same color and sheen of your wall.

Where you can find matching paint?

Use color matching technology

Many hardware stores and even paint supplies analyze spectrometers to find the right color and sheen for your paint wall. To use such a service, you’ll be required to come with the sample of your wall paint that you need to match.

In most cases, this will be a physical thing you take out of the wall, like, for instance, a one-inch sq that you remove from your wall using a knife.

You may find that other stores will be in an excellent position to analyze the picture taken using your phone; however, the accuracy of such a method may not be like that of using a physical sample.

Using a smartphone app that matches paint

The other option you can opt to go for is using mobile apps. Many free apps are used to detect the color of your wall with the appropriate paint name.

Even though this can be the fastest and most convenient option, you can never rely on the findings that it may give. In other words, accuracy is not guaranteed.

If you’re not confident with the applicator that was used initially when your house was painted, you can take advantage of a roller because it is the best option that is often suitable for touch-up painting.

Also, rollers are usually ideal because they provide greater control levels and even precision.

Safety precautions

Safety is fundamental, particular when handling paints. If you didn’t know, paint fumes have a great possibility of causing vision problems, dizziness, lung and eye irritation, and even sometimes headaches.

So to ensure you’re not experiencing this kind of issue, you need to do the work in a fully ventilated space. Ensure to open the doors and windows fully. Also, you may consider using a fan to drive away fumes. And most importantly, you should wear a face mask, eye goggles, and respirator.

How To Do Touch Up Paint Instead of The Whole Wall? – Requirements

Tools to avail:

• Dry rag
• Damp Rag
• Putty knife
• Small foam brush
• Small brush
• Fan
• Respirator/Face Mask
• Goggles

Materials to avail:

• Paint of your choice
• Latex primer (Interior-grade)
• Spackling compound
• Sandpaper (120-grit)
• Paint mixer (mixing stick or a drill mixer)
• Paint thinning agent (mineral spirits, turpentine, water)

Instructions that you’ll need to take to accomplish your task:

#1. Area preparation

Before anything, the wall should be freed from holes, dirt, blemishes, and gouges that can deter the paint from sticking to the wall. The first thing is using a damp sponge to clean the wall. Then, dry it using a very clean rag.

Ensure you get on cleaning the wall until you can’t see any trace of grime, grease, or dirt. Then the next thing you want to do is fill the gashes, holes, or even gouges using the spackling substance.

Also, you should knock down any rough surface using 120-grit sandpaper and then wipe out the remaining dust using a damp rag.

Load the end with a spackle using the putty knife and now smear it over the spot to fill. After the spackle is dried, you can also bring the sandpaper to leave a smooth and straight wall. You can then clean the dust particles using a damp rag.

#2. Apply a light coat of Latex primer

Now, this is the next thing you should do to make sure that the touch-paint blends into the other side of the wall, ensuring the paint sticks well.

While applying this interior-grade primer, provide to use a small brush to apply on the area you previously prepared and only apply on the area of concern.

#3. Paint preparation

The next thing to do is mix the paint in the can well to ensure it blends with all its pigmentation and even binders. This is usually done manually using a stick or an electric drill mixer. Besides, you can also thin it to ensure that it blends well with your wall.

In most cases, it is recommended that you thin the latex paint by mixing it with water to ensure between 5 to 10 percent of the volume of the paint. In contrast, you may want to thin using a similar quantity of mineral spirit or turpentine for oil-based paints.

For that case, you may wish to refer to the specific thinning instruction as provided by the manufacturer of a particular paint.

#4. Paint application

It is time to do the actual job. You should start by loading your roller or brush with just the needed paint to cover the touch-up region. If possible, start in the center of the area that needs touch-up and extent outward towards the edges of the touch-up area.

Now, feather the edges of the touch-up paint by light stroking and extending slightly over the edges of the adjacent wall. And that is all!