5 Tips for Painting Trim

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of FrogTape® for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

A couple of months ago, we installed some picture frame moulding in our dining room. We wanted to add some interest to the large wall behind our dining room table, and found moulding to be an economical and only moderately-difficult-to-install choice.

We absolutely loved the end result, and wanted the new trim to be a bright white to contrast with the light gray of the wall.

Installing the moulding was, as it ended up, the easy part. Going through and taping and painting the moulding was a task I had put off, because while I do love to paint the walls in my home, going through and painting trim just isn’t my favorite task. Realizing, though, the aesthetic impact newly-painted, bright white trim would give to the room, I decided it was time to tackle this project…

Using FrogTape® brand painter’s tape, I was able to quickly and easily complete the task in an afternoon. FrogTape® is the only painting tape treated with patented PaintBlock® Technology, which reacts with the water in latex paint and instantly gels to form a barrier against paint bleed giving you the sharpest paint lines possible. There’s nothing worse than pulling off a length of painter’s tape and seeing that your paint has bled underneath.

To help with your next painting project, I wanted to share my top 5 tips for painting trim and/or moulding. With these quick and easy tips, painting trim just may become your favorite painting task!

1. Clean trim before applying tape. No matter how great your tape is, if it doesn’t adhere well with your trim, paint may be able to bleed underneath.

2. Use a straight edge to help firmly adhere tape to your trim. This will also go a long way towards preventing paint bleed. A putty knife is ideal for this task.

3. Be sure to read the manufacturers’ directions on your painter’s tape. FrogTape® recommends that, once you apply your tape, you paint and then remove the tape within 21 days. This will help make sure your tape doesn’t remove paint from your wall.

4. Remove tape once you’ve finished painting, while paint is still wet. I’ve done this both ways, and bleeding is definitely reduced if you remove the tape while the paint is still wet (even if it sounds counterproductive).

5. Use a high-quality painter’s tape. FrogTape® comes in several widths (for me, the wider the better!), and comes in a protective canister to ensure tape is clean and undamaged (water, dust and dirt can affect the effectiveness of painter’s tape).