Archive for the ‘Painting’ Category

Powder Paint Preparation & Software Suggestions

There are numerous actions in utilizing powder paints/earth pigments to paint rawhide:

Paint & Sizing Preparation
Producing Brushes
Painting the hide
Software of Fixative (Sizing)
Paint & Sizing Planning

Powdered paint pigments had been manufactured from a range of crushed native rocks and mineral deposits and ended up applied from the earliest occasions for painting rawhide and buckskin. They also have been stocked often in quite a few early trading posts. Buckskin was frequently painted by merely rubbing in dry powder, but, for rawhide, powdered pigment was normally combined with cover glue for sizing. This solution can also be applied to paint tanned hides, but a somewhat thinner remedy really should be utilized. (See resolution mixing beneath.

Outlined below are the paint supplies that are necessary:

Powdered paint or earth pigment
Fixative/Sizing
Choices:

The painting instructions under refer to the use of either powdered or liquid hide glue.
A great substitute for powdered disguise glue is Knox gelatin, observed at most supermarkets. Knox gelatin is purified cover glue.

Yet another conventional sizing is prickly pear cactus juice
Bone or wood “paintbrushes” or really stiff artist’s brushes
A number of tiny containers for mixing paint and sizing

Prior to mixing paint with fixative, the earth pigment really should be ground to a quite good powder, then sifted by way of a wonderful sieve to get rid of any noticeable particles. When generating the paint solution, do not make really a lot at 1 time. A tiny paint goes a lengthy way, and it is finest to experiment at first until studying what functions finest. Different shades can be combined together in order to acquire the precise shade desired. For instance, a tiny black blended with red will make the attribute dark brown utilized for outlines, although a small yellow mixed with blue makes green. Sometimes, a drop of black can be added to the green for a barely different shade, and so on.

Note: A widespread misconception is that the painting on parfleches should have a watery, washed-out appear. This comes from observing museum specimens whose colours have faded over time. Even though the paint should not be “electric”, it really should be reasonably saturated and bright.

Sizing Consistency – For painting tanned buckskin, the sizing answer ought to not be sticky but also should not really feel fairly like plain water, being only really somewhat sticky when felt with the fingers. This will assist keep the layout correctly boring, as a shiny, fashionable-paint appear is to be avoided.

A bit heavier glue remedy is preferred when painting rawhide pieces, thus giving the paint far more of the characteristic shine. Experiment with diverse consistencies on scrap rawhide till you discover your preference. A good location to begin is with a remedy that provides a tiny bit of sticky tension to your pores and skin as you attempt to separate your fingers.

Make up some liquid sizing by adding a small amount of liquid or powdered conceal glue to warm drinking water. Experiment right up until you’ve extra sufficient hide glue to make the blend just a minor syrupy, then skinny this blend with a little far more warm drinking water till watery, not syrupy. Then, in a separate container, mix one portion powdered pigment paint with 2 parts of this liquid cover glue and a single component 100% clear aloe vera gel (accessible in shops underneath “skin care products”).

Test this combination on a dampened item of your parfleche. If it sits on leading of the rawhide and doesn’t soak in, then skinny the mix with aloe and much more of the watery glue solution. If it soaks in and bleeds, then thicken the blend with much more powder paint. The perfect paint mix will soak into the rawhide with no bleeding. The exact same holds true for painting tanned hides. The answer really should not sit on best of the leather, but ought to also not bleed following it soaks in.

Brushes – Earth pigment paint was traditionally utilized by a piece of bone fashioned into a “brush”. An alternative to bone was a wooden stylus. Both are easy to make, but the bone holds a lot more paint. The bone “brush” is really a stylus produced from a extremely porous section of bone. The finish joints of prolonged bones or pieces of rib are excellent. Use a saw to reduce off sections from totally cleaned bones. Cook greasy bones for a brief time in extremely hot h2o to remove the fat. (Do not boil.) Use a belt sander or huge file to make a beveled conclusion on the most porous part of the bone. This finish may possibly be ” to 1″ wide and should be one/16″ to 1/8″ thick. (These dimensions are not vital.) Make at least 1 brush with a quite thin edge to be employed for design outlining.

A wood brush is also easy to make. Cut a wood dowel, this kind of as a 6″ prolonged article of dried, cured tree branch, about three/8″ – ” in diameter. Willow is simple to locate and operates nicely. Eliminate the bark from the stick. Reduce a extended bevel (roughly 30 degrees) on the greater stop of the stick. This is your completed brush. Because this “brush” is not particularly porous, it will hold significantly much less paint than the bone brush, and thereby requires frequent dipping.

Painting the Cover – You can paint the cover while it is even now on the body, but it ought to be lightly hydrated. If a conceal is not stretched, then parfleches will warp if painted whilst wet, then allowed to dry. The trick is to stretch the moist disguise, let it partially dry, paint it, then permit it to fully dry. Details are as follows:

For the significant, flat folded parfleches, first, get rid of the dried disguise from the stretching body and cut out the cover in the general define of the parfleche but with extra conceal around all edges. Partially rehydrate the conceal by dipping it in a tub. When fairly moist – but not soaked – stake out or re-stretch the cover in a frame. When it is almost dry (just barely damp), paint it (as beneath), then enable it to dry. Once entirely dry, unstake the conceal and reduce out the actual shape of the parfleche.

For smaller parfleche articles, reduce out a item of rawhide bigger in all dimensions than the expected ended product. Nail it to a article of three/4″ plywood to maintain it in area even though painting but stretch it only really barely. This will also maintain it from warping when it dries.

Paint is to be used to the flesh side. If the location to be painted has dried out, it should be barely dampened with a sponge or cloth. If it is quite damp, the paint will bleed.

Painting ought to be completed with a extremely stiff brush, wood stick or bone brush in order to get the proper impact, and the paint ought to be rubbed into the hide in the course of its application. Some previous items in fact have an incised appearance from this process. Observe that, in previous parfleches, the various paint shades do not touch. In a triangle layout, for example, the define of the triangle is very first painted. Then the fill colour is extra to the inside of the triangle, but the fill coloration only comes close to – but does not contact -the triangle outline. This prevents color bleeding.

Fixative Utility – The use of “sizing” (also called fixative) is the exact same as applying a slender, clear varnish more than a concluded modern painting on canvas. Sizing should be utilized although the parfleche is nevertheless tacked out or stretched.

When the entire parfleche has been painted, the subsequent step also demands a moist floor. For a little parfleche, the surface area may well nevertheless be damp. But if the whole piece or any component of it has dried, it ought to be lightly rehydrated. Take a moist (not wet) rag or outdated towel and lay it over the cover. Do NOT rub the rag into the hide but, rather, lay it down gently more than the painted region. Allow the cover to absorb some of the moisture for just a few minutes. The thought is to make the conceal damp but not so wet that the paint will smear.

When moist, the floor should be gently coated with a light layer of thinned conceal glue, aloe vera gel, or prickly pear juice. The sizing resolution ought to be a small thicker than the paint and hide blend described above, but it really should even now be skinny ample so that if flows on extremely very easily. Practice on a piece of scrap rawhide right up until you get a satisfactory answer combination. (Note: The conceal glue, when dried, might create a yellowish cast on the completed cover.) Use prolonged, gentle strokes, and do not go again over your work (to steer clear of smearing the paint).

Enable to dry. If you deem it needed, a 2nd coat of fixative can be applied over the 1st. The disguise does not have to be re-dampened for this second coat. But, once more, use long strokes and do not go again around the operate.

Rather of making use of cover glue fixative, painted parfleche may possibly be coated with a boring finish spray varnish or artist’s fixative. This functions fairly effectively in humid parts of the country where traditional sizings can remain tacky for some time following utility. Even though the use of business items is not traditional, it does give satisfactory outcomes.

Be aware: Some parfleche makers really coat the total parfleche floor with fixative Prior to they apply the painted designs, then apply yet another coat of fixative above the style. You may possibly wish to experiment with this variation in method to see if you prefer the final “look” of the layout work.

Completing the Parfleche- Following the rawhide thoroughly dries, get rid of the tacks holding it to the board and reduce out the completed form. Rawhide can be reduce with tin snips, heavy leather shears, or even a hand-held electric jigsaw.

Holes will be necessary for lacing up sides or tying a flap cover in location. Ideally, holes really should be burned. Tiny, commercial soldering irons with pointed ideas work effectively for this and are offered in hobby shops or hardware stores. Or you might favor to use a large, heated nail held with a pair of pliers or vise grips. Burning the gap seals the hole edges and helps prevent lacing from tearing the gap. Small holes produced with an unheated awl can be used for sinew-sewing the sides of an envelope.

Make all the holes, then attach the laces. Your parfleche is now finished and ready for use.

Additional Sources – Just as there are quite a few tanning tactics amongst Native Americans, there is an practically endless number of “tricks of the trade” for creating and painting parfleches. The data above will assist get you started, but we also advise that you experiment on your personal, speak to other people who do parfleche operate, and seek out written sources such as the following:

The American Indian Parfleche: A Tradition of Abstract Painting by Gaylord Torrence, Univeristy of Washington Press in association with the Des Moines Art Center. 1994. ISBN -205-07333-one.

Indian Rawhide: An American Folk Artwork by Mable Morrow, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. 1982. ISBN -8061-1637-4.
2005 Crazy Crow Trading Post Revised 3/8/06

Pay a visit to Crazy Crow Trading Post’s internet site for more details on Native American Arts and Crafts and browse our choice of above 8000 Native American and Mountain Man Supply items.

I enjoy writing articles for everything from freight factoring to travel destinations and everything in between.

Author: Clint Rory X Gilbert
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger

Powder Paint Preparation & Software Suggestions

There are numerous actions in utilizing powder paints/earth pigments to paint rawhide:

Paint & Sizing Preparation
Producing Brushes
Painting the hide
Software of Fixative (Sizing)
Paint & Sizing Planning

Powdered paint pigments had been manufactured from a range of crushed native rocks and mineral deposits and ended up applied from the earliest occasions for painting rawhide and buckskin. They also have been stocked often in quite a few early trading posts. Buckskin was frequently painted by merely rubbing in dry powder, but, for rawhide, powdered pigment was normally combined with cover glue for sizing. This solution can also be applied to paint tanned hides, but a somewhat thinner remedy really should be utilized. (See resolution mixing beneath.

Outlined below are the paint supplies that are necessary:

Powdered paint or earth pigment
Fixative/Sizing
Choices:

The painting instructions under refer to the use of either powdered or liquid hide glue.
A great substitute for powdered disguise glue is Knox gelatin, observed at most supermarkets. Knox gelatin is purified cover glue.

Yet another conventional sizing is prickly pear cactus juice
Bone or wood “paintbrushes” or really stiff artist’s brushes
A number of tiny containers for mixing paint and sizing

Prior to mixing paint with fixative, the earth pigment really should be ground to a quite good powder, then sifted by way of a wonderful sieve to get rid of any noticeable particles. When generating the paint solution, do not make really a lot at 1 time. A tiny paint goes a lengthy way, and it is finest to experiment at first until studying what functions finest. Different shades can be combined together in order to acquire the precise shade desired. For instance, a tiny black blended with red will make the attribute dark brown utilized for outlines, although a small yellow mixed with blue makes green. Sometimes, a drop of black can be added to the green for a barely different shade, and so on.

Note: A widespread misconception is that the painting on parfleches should have a watery, washed-out appear. This comes from observing museum specimens whose colours have faded over time. Even though the paint should not be “electric”, it really should be reasonably saturated and bright.

Sizing Consistency – For painting tanned buckskin, the sizing answer ought to not be sticky but also should not really feel fairly like plain water, being only really somewhat sticky when felt with the fingers. This will assist keep the layout correctly boring, as a shiny, fashionable-paint appear is to be avoided.

A bit heavier glue remedy is preferred when painting rawhide pieces, thus giving the paint far more of the characteristic shine. Experiment with diverse consistencies on scrap rawhide till you discover your preference. A good location to begin is with a remedy that provides a tiny bit of sticky tension to your pores and skin as you attempt to separate your fingers.

Make up some liquid sizing by adding a small amount of liquid or powdered conceal glue to warm drinking water. Experiment right up until you’ve extra sufficient hide glue to make the blend just a minor syrupy, then skinny this blend with a little far more warm drinking water till watery, not syrupy. Then, in a separate container, mix one portion powdered pigment paint with 2 parts of this liquid cover glue and a single component 100% clear aloe vera gel (accessible in shops underneath “skin care products”).

Test this combination on a dampened item of your parfleche. If it sits on leading of the rawhide and doesn’t soak in, then skinny the mix with aloe and much more of the watery glue solution. If it soaks in and bleeds, then thicken the blend with much more powder paint. The perfect paint mix will soak into the rawhide with no bleeding. The exact same holds true for painting tanned hides. The answer really should not sit on best of the leather, but ought to also not bleed following it soaks in.

Brushes – Earth pigment paint was traditionally utilized by a piece of bone fashioned into a “brush”. An alternative to bone was a wooden stylus. Both are easy to make, but the bone holds a lot more paint. The bone “brush” is really a stylus produced from a extremely porous section of bone. The finish joints of prolonged bones or pieces of rib are excellent. Use a saw to reduce off sections from totally cleaned bones. Cook greasy bones for a brief time in extremely hot h2o to remove the fat. (Do not boil.) Use a belt sander or huge file to make a beveled conclusion on the most porous part of the bone. This finish may possibly be ” to 1″ wide and should be one/16″ to 1/8″ thick. (These dimensions are not vital.) Make at least 1 brush with a quite thin edge to be employed for design outlining.

A wood brush is also easy to make. Cut a wood dowel, this kind of as a 6″ prolonged article of dried, cured tree branch, about three/8″ – ” in diameter. Willow is simple to locate and operates nicely. Eliminate the bark from the stick. Reduce a extended bevel (roughly 30 degrees) on the greater stop of the stick. This is your completed brush. Because this “brush” is not particularly porous, it will hold significantly much less paint than the bone brush, and thereby requires frequent dipping.

Painting the Cover – You can paint the cover while it is even now on the body, but it ought to be lightly hydrated. If a conceal is not stretched, then parfleches will warp if painted whilst wet, then allowed to dry. The trick is to stretch the moist disguise, let it partially dry, paint it, then permit it to fully dry. Details are as follows:

For the significant, flat folded parfleches, first, get rid of the dried disguise from the stretching body and cut out the cover in the general define of the parfleche but with extra conceal around all edges. Partially rehydrate the conceal by dipping it in a tub. When fairly moist – but not soaked – stake out or re-stretch the cover in a frame. When it is almost dry (just barely damp), paint it (as beneath), then enable it to dry. Once entirely dry, unstake the conceal and reduce out the actual shape of the parfleche.

For smaller parfleche articles, reduce out a item of rawhide bigger in all dimensions than the expected ended product. Nail it to a article of three/4″ plywood to maintain it in area even though painting but stretch it only really barely. This will also maintain it from warping when it dries.

Paint is to be used to the flesh side. If the location to be painted has dried out, it should be barely dampened with a sponge or cloth. If it is quite damp, the paint will bleed.

Painting ought to be completed with a extremely stiff brush, wood stick or bone brush in order to get the proper impact, and the paint ought to be rubbed into the hide in the course of its application. Some previous items in fact have an incised appearance from this process. Observe that, in previous parfleches, the various paint shades do not touch. In a triangle layout, for example, the define of the triangle is very first painted. Then the fill colour is extra to the inside of the triangle, but the fill coloration only comes close to – but does not contact -the triangle outline. This prevents color bleeding.

Fixative Utility – The use of “sizing” (also called fixative) is the exact same as applying a slender, clear varnish more than a concluded modern painting on canvas. Sizing should be utilized although the parfleche is nevertheless tacked out or stretched.

When the entire parfleche has been painted, the subsequent step also demands a moist floor. For a little parfleche, the surface area may well nevertheless be damp. But if the whole piece or any component of it has dried, it ought to be lightly rehydrated. Take a moist (not wet) rag or outdated towel and lay it over the cover. Do NOT rub the rag into the hide but, rather, lay it down gently more than the painted region. Allow the cover to absorb some of the moisture for just a few minutes. The thought is to make the conceal damp but not so wet that the paint will smear.

When moist, the floor should be gently coated with a light layer of thinned conceal glue, aloe vera gel, or prickly pear juice. The sizing resolution ought to be a small thicker than the paint and hide blend described above, but it really should even now be skinny ample so that if flows on extremely very easily. Practice on a piece of scrap rawhide right up until you get a satisfactory answer combination. (Note: The conceal glue, when dried, might create a yellowish cast on the completed cover.) Use prolonged, gentle strokes, and do not go again over your work (to steer clear of smearing the paint).

Enable to dry. If you deem it needed, a 2nd coat of fixative can be applied over the 1st. The disguise does not have to be re-dampened for this second coat. But, once more, use long strokes and do not go again around the operate.

Rather of making use of cover glue fixative, painted parfleche may possibly be coated with a boring finish spray varnish or artist’s fixative. This functions fairly effectively in humid parts of the country where traditional sizings can remain tacky for some time following utility. Even though the use of business items is not traditional, it does give satisfactory outcomes.

Be aware: Some parfleche makers really coat the total parfleche floor with fixative Prior to they apply the painted designs, then apply yet another coat of fixative above the style. You may possibly wish to experiment with this variation in method to see if you prefer the final “look” of the layout work.

Completing the Parfleche- Following the rawhide thoroughly dries, get rid of the tacks holding it to the board and reduce out the completed form. Rawhide can be reduce with tin snips, heavy leather shears, or even a hand-held electric jigsaw.

Holes will be necessary for lacing up sides or tying a flap cover in location. Ideally, holes really should be burned. Tiny, commercial soldering irons with pointed ideas work effectively for this and are offered in hobby shops or hardware stores. Or you might favor to use a large, heated nail held with a pair of pliers or vise grips. Burning the gap seals the hole edges and helps prevent lacing from tearing the gap. Small holes produced with an unheated awl can be used for sinew-sewing the sides of an envelope.

Make all the holes, then attach the laces. Your parfleche is now finished and ready for use.

Additional Sources – Just as there are quite a few tanning tactics amongst Native Americans, there is an practically endless number of “tricks of the trade” for creating and painting parfleches. The data above will assist get you started, but we also advise that you experiment on your personal, speak to other people who do parfleche operate, and seek out written sources such as the following:

The American Indian Parfleche: A Tradition of Abstract Painting by Gaylord Torrence, Univeristy of Washington Press in association with the Des Moines Art Center. 1994. ISBN -205-07333-one.

Indian Rawhide: An American Folk Artwork by Mable Morrow, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. 1982. ISBN -8061-1637-4.
2005 Crazy Crow Trading Post Revised 3/8/06

Pay a visit to Crazy Crow Trading Post’s internet site for more details on Native American Arts and Crafts and browse our choice of above 8000 Native American and Mountain Man Supply items.

I enjoy writing articles for everything from freight factoring to travel destinations and everything in between.

Author: Clint Rory X Gilbert
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canadian crossborder shopping

When you need to paint there are so many choices! Which type of paint to choose can be just as overwhelming as trying to decide on the color, as there are so many different types of paint to choose from. Here we will address the main types of paints: Flat, Matte, Satin, Semi-gloss, Gloss, High-gloss, and Latex.

Flat paint lacks shine and is harder to scrub dirt and dust off without rubbing the dirt in further, but if you are patching up defects, then it will be less likely noticeable where the patch up work was done once it dries because it does not reflect light like the glossier paints. It therefore does a good job of covering defects on the wall as well. It won’t show lines, cracks, or crevices near as easily. For this reason, flat paint is used highly on ceilings, not so much in high traffic areas where the wall will get dirty.

Matte paint has a little more shine than flat but not much. It can therefore be cleaned if needs be, but it won’t be as durable when scrubbing things off as the higher-gloss paints. Matte is a good choice if you need a somewhat scrubbable paint but you also have lots of blemishes on the wall that need to be hidden. It is not a good choice however if the walls are located in a high traffic area.

Satin paint has a little more shine than matte. It will not do quite as well hiding defects on the wall, but it is more scrubbable than matte paint, and therefore can be scrubbed, but only if it is a light scrubbing. Satin paint is a good choice if the walls aren’t in too bad of shape, and not located in a high traffic area, but may be touched.

Semi-gloss has more gloss (shine) in it than Satin. Semi-gloss lots of times is used on walls located in high traffic areas due to the ability of being highly scrubbable, meaning you can scrub dirt off without ruining the paint, or making the paint look dirty by the dirt actually rubbing into the paint as you try to scrub it off. However, semi-gloss paint will not hide blemishes near as well as the paints with less gloss.

Gloss paint is just how it sounds, glossy. It is indeed enough gloss in the paint to make it, well, glossy. You will notice the nice shine but with that shine will also reveal the defects on your wall. It will be highly scrubbable, but since it will reflect lots of light, the light will hit every crack, crevice, line, bump, and defect on the wall.

High-gloss paint is a gloss paint that is glossed to the max. High gloss paint, although highly durable and scrubbable, will reflect so much light that it will be busy for the eyes as every light reflection will be noticeable from every angle, and will therefore be nearly impossible to hide defects on the wall. In fact, not only will it not hide them, but it will make all defects very much more noticeable.

Latex paint is a glossy paint that also has a rubber-like consistency to it due to the acrylic nature in it. Because of its rubber-like properties, it will not stick well to already glossy finishes. You can get latex paint in semi-gloss, gloss, or high gloss. Therefore, you can choose a latex with, say, a semi-gloss finish, and therefore have the best of both worlds for a high traffic area; a paint that is highly scrubbable and yet, won’t reflect light near as much as the highly scrubbable gloss or high-gloss paints.

In summary, when choosing a paint that is right for your wall, you first need to determine if your wall is in a high traffic area. If so, you need one that is highly scrubbable and therefore, at least somewhat glossy. If you have lots of defects on the wall that you want hidden, you need one with the least amount of gloss as possible, just know it won’t be highly scrubbable (you won’t be able to clean it as well if needs be). If you have defects you want to cover up on the wall and it’s in a high traffic area, then a semi-gloss latex paint will be the best. The semi-gloss combined with the rubber base in the latex paint makes it highly scrubbable and yet, that same rubber base makes it not as light reflective either (not as likely to show blemishes), although it will still show more than the flat paint.

For more details and information, go to tuesdee.wordpress.com/different-kinds-of-paints-how-to-choose/

Author: Tuesdee Hasson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Many homeowners don’t realize that exterior paint is not just about making the house look great; paint also protects the wood from the weather and provides a layer of protection for your whole house. It’s important to have your home repainted not just to keep it looking beautiful but also to keep the structure sound!

Paint Removal

The first step to repainting your house is removing the old paint to prepare the surface for a new coat. It’s important to completely remove old paint so that the new paint can fully adhere to the wood; otherwise, the new paint can bubble, chip, and peel off. Professional paint removal is recommended when it comes to stripping off old exterior paint. These experts use a system of propane heaters and scrapers to systematically remove the paint without damaging the underlying wood. Without these professional tools and training, it’s almost impossible for the DIYer to achieve this level of thoroughness. And, in their attempts to remove the paint without specialized equipment, homeowners do tend to mar the woodwork. For the best paint removal results, it’s always best to leave it to the pros!

Exterior Pre-painting Preparation

While removing the old paint is certainly the first step, there is more prep work that needs to be done before fresh paint can be applied. The bare wood needs to be sanded to create a smooth surface so the paint can go on evenly; sanding also ensures that any lingering specks of old paint are eliminated. Then the siding, trim, and window and door frames are evaluated for cracking, rotting, and other damage. These blemishes are caulked, repaired, or mended so that the exterior of your home is in top shape before the paint cans are ever even opened. With this thorough preparation work, often a collaboration between paint removal professionals and house painting experts, the new paint sticks completely, with no flaking or peeling.

House Painting

Once the paint is totally removed and the surface has been prepped, your house is ready for a new coat of paint. While many homeowners feel up to the challenge of painting their home, you may want to consider hiring professional house painters. These specialists can competently address any problems that develop during the painting process, as well as take into consideration the particular requirements of external paint jobs. Exterior house paint needs to be tough-resistant to wind and rain, UV rays, mold, and fungus-and it needs to be applied in a thick, consistent coat to optimize these characteristics. If you are at all uncomfortable with the idea of painting your home yourself, you should contract painting pros. They’ll be able to give you the smooth, gorgeous paint job you’ve been dreaming of, and you won’t have to worry about incorrect application or other issues that might arise from a DIY job.

If your paint is chipped and peeling; if you’re dreaming of fresh, attractive house paint; if you’re ready to protect your home from the elements, it’s time for new exterior paint. Not only will your house look great, it will also being protected. Call professional paint removers and house painting specialists for optimal results. They have the knowledge and skill to make sure you get an attractive coat of paint that lasts for years!

Matt Gallo is a home improvement hobbyist and the Internet Marketing Manager for Prospect Genius, a leading provider of online, local advertising

Author: Matt Gallo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Painting is probably the quickest and cheapest fixes for your home. Your house is going to look better right away, and if you are selling, you will get back more money than you put into the project.

You are vulnerable to particles and fumes when you are sanding, painting, or working with solvents. Protect your skin by wearing cotton gloves when using sharp or abrasive tools. Wear latex gloves when working with paint. Wear neoprene gloves when handling solvents, strippers, and harsh chemicals. Protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses when working with tools. Wear goggles to protect against dust and aerosol droplets when sanding, spraying, or painting over your head. To protect your lungs sand, paint, and strip outside, or cross ventilate with a least 2 open windows or doors. If there is a danger of breathing dust, aerosol, or solvent fumes, filter the air with a respirator.

Priming is essential and helps ensure a professional looking paint job. primer is fundamental to good looking walls, not a way to sell you one more paint product. It is a specially formulated product designed to:

Increase adhesion.

Help the finish coat develop maximum sheen.

Give the finish coat a uniform appearance.

Increase the finish coat coverage.

prevent blemishes on an old surface form bleeding through the new coat of paint.

Add to metal corrosion resistance.

In preparation for painting:

1. Move furniture away from walls and protect floor and baseboards with 12-inch base board masking and a paper/poly drop cloth

2. Set Popped nails or screws, repair cracks and holes, and fill dents with light weight crack filler.

3. Let the crack filler dry based on instruction.

4. Treat any areas of mildew with 3-to-1 water/bleach solution and protect your hands with rubber gloves.

5. Rinse the entire wall surface with clean, fresh water and let the wall dry overnight.Clean with a TSP solution before you prime and paint.

6. Spot prime all of the repaired areas with a latex stain-blocking primer.

7. Prime the entire wall with the same stain -blocking primer for uniformity.

Glossy paints dry to a hard, nonporous surface; therefore, it is almost impossible for new paint to adhere effectively. Glossy surface lack what painters call “tooth,” or roughness, which gives the paint something to stick to. A light sanding or use of a chemical deglosser will do the trick to for a “tooth.”

Although priming is vital to lasting finish and a great looking room, there are also sound economic reasons for a good priming job. Primer is not just a watery paint. It is formulated to adhere well to a variety of surfaces and seals them to prevent stains and discoloration from bleeding through the final coat.

Mask the room and determine the order for painting the room. Paint last the areas that are likely to get dripped on. Prime and paint ceiling first, and walls second, and trim last. If you plan to prime the trim with a different tint than you will use on the walls, mask the trim first. Mask the top of the walls if you are painting the ceiling. Mask the ceiling and trim if you are starting with the walls.

If using latex, dip the brush in water to help absorb the primer. If using alkyd, dip the brush in mineral spirits. Brush out the liquid on a piece of cardboard to remove loose bristles. Brush primer on areas of walls and trim that need special attention: patches in drywall and plaster, areas of bare wood exposed by scraping and sanding, and any spots treated with stain blocker.

It if hard for a dry roller to absorb primer or paint. So prime the roller before you put it in the primer or paint. If the prime is latex, spritz the roller with a garden mister and squeeze off the excess water. Use mineral spirits for alkyd primer. Run the roller over the paint grid or roller pan several times to get an even amount of primer on the roller cover.

Prime the ceiling. Start on the short side of the room and “cut in” the edges about 2 inches wide and about 5 feet long along the edge of the ceiling. Then, wearing safety goggles and an old cap , roll paint onto the ceiling, working the roller into the cut-in areas to remove as many brush marks as possible. Roll with diagonal strokes and move from the edge toward the middle of the room. Continue cutting in and rolling until your are finished.

Cut in a section of the wall. Wait until the ceiling dries and mask it off with blue painter’s masking tape. Mask off the trim if you haven’t already done so. Starting in a corner, prime along about 5 feet of trim, 5 feet of ceiling, and from top to bottom of the corner.

To minimize the wall area that will have a brush-stroke texture, run the roller over the strips you have primed during the cutting stage, getting as close as possible to the masked trim, ceiling, or adjacent wall.

Begin rolling at the top section of the wall along the cut-in strip. Sand the walls if necessary. Roll the ceiling with the finish color. When the primer is dry, mask around the ceiling. After cutting in a section, start rolling, Protect your eyes with safety goggles and wear an old cap. A 5-gallon bucket with a roller grid requires a filling less often and is less likely to tip than a paint tray. Use a relatively dry roller to reduce spattering. Roll diagonally, as you did to prime, to avoid creating visible rows across the ceiling. Extension poles you to reach more areas without leaning dangerously from a ladder. Then after apply the finish putting on the paint. You can apply more than one coat if you feel that is necessary.

Prime and paint the trims, remove the masking for the walls, allow the pain to dry thoroughly, and mask off for the trim. Control dripping by pouring the trim paint into a small bucket and dip the trim paint into a small bucket and dip the trim paint into a small bucket and dip the brush about halfway into the paint. Tap the brush against the sides instead of scraping it around the rim to remove excess paint in the tip of the brush; This will leave paint in the body of the brush.

Continue painting the delicate areas like the windows and edges with caution until you are completed with your paint job. Your paint job will end up looking professional, because it was done using the right steps.

[http://hstrial-oswingrant.homestead.com]

Author: Oswin Grant
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Panasonic Lumix G2

Homeowners, especially those with small children, often ask me how to get rid of paint odors. It’s such a big concern for some folks that they’ll ask me about potential odor control before they even book the painting estimate.

The good news is that the evolution of house paint has come a long way with low-odor and even odorless lines for some applications. The bad news is there are still so many reasons to use the smelly stuff, especially if you’re repainting an older home. Alkyd (oil-based) and shellac or alcohol primers are especially effective in sealing water damage and old oil painted surfaces to upgrade them to Latex top coats. But they’re also very smelly with potentially long-lasting vapors. Even the most common low-odor alkyd paints often used today to repaint wood work can have a lingering odor for days under the most ventilated conditions.

So how do you get rid of the smell?

I’ve just received an email from a mother asking me that very question. Her young child’s room was painted almost two weeks ago and she’s left the windows open and the fan on ever since. Still, the paint smell is strong enough that she’s concerned about letting the child sleep in the room. The painting of this room involved a lot of priming to cover the dark brown oil paint used by the previous home owner. Since the color needed to be lightened up and the surfaces converted to a far more Eco-friendly Acrylic Latex, a common top brand Alkyd primer was used to give the whole room a fresh start. And although it had “Low Odor” printed on the can, it obviously was NOT odorless. To compound matters, all the woodwork had to be finished in a leading “Low Odor” brand of Alkyd semi gloss which produced a smooth lustrous finish as well as a migraine inducing vapor.

So what can you do? Well, there a few ways you can overcome these situations beyond obvious ventilation to control, eliminate and even prevent odors from lingering.

“An ounce of prevention”…. Before there was such a thing as “low odor paint” we used to add a splash of vanilla extract to every gallon of oil paint to make it “low-odor”. It was cheap, easy to do and had no effect on the color. Now that low-odor alkyd paints are commonplace on the market, adding about a tablespoon of vanilla extract makes them virtually odorless.

Or, as in the case above, the painting is already done. It’s too late for vanilla and the smell won’t go away as quickly they’d like. What’s happening here is that the odors are being trapped in the walls while the paint cures and probably in all the fabrics and rugs in the room as well. They need something else to absorb them for good. So, here’s what I advised her to do. Cut up a few onions and place them in a couple of bowls of cold water. Put one of the bowls in the room and the other in the closet. As simple and crazy as it sounds, the onions absorb and actually eliminate the paint fumes and odors… sometimes as quickly as overnight!

I first learned this trick while creating a baby’s room about 17 years ago. I had spent about 5 weeks converting a badly crumbling and dusty old attic room into a nursery pending the baby’s birth. And as it turned out, the baby was born about two weeks early and was ready to come home just as I was finishing the project. The job required a lot of smelly primers and sealers to bury decades of neglect and water damage. As was customary in those days, I added vanilla extract to minimize the paints’ odor (and damage to my brain cells) but the smell wasn’t clearing up fast enough to bring the newborn in. The homeowner’s Nanny, who was moving into the bedroom next door (and who was also troubled by the smell) used a couple of bowls of cut onions in cold water over night and the smell was gone the next day. I couldn’t believe it!

I’ve recommended this technique ever since with great results. But it should be noted here that this example was in an empty room. In the case of a fully furnished room, as in our case above, you should consider airing out clothing, drapery, rugs or anything else which might be trapping the odors and give them a shot or two of Febreeze to do the trick nowadays.

Now sometimes, there are extreme cases where odors are simply not an option. Some people are highly allergic to the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) contained in paints and the tints used to color them. Some can become quite ill with even short term inhalation of the fumes. In these cases, you have to resort to the whole gamut of tricks:

1. Before you paint, empty the room completely to make sure there is nothing that will trap the odors.
2. Open all the windows before you open the paint cans and keep them open throughout the entire painting process.
3. Add vanilla extract to your Alkyd, Alcohol or Shellac based paints. (Latex paints don’t usually need this step as they’re relatively low-odor to begin with).
4. Place several bowls of onions around the room (as above) while you paint to absorb the fumes as they escape.
5. When the painting is finished, seal and remove all paint cans, bag your drop sheets in plastic before taking them out through the rest of the house (or throw them out of the window if possible) to keep from spreading the fumes they’ve trapped indoors.
6. Refresh your supply of onions in water as the old ones will have had their fill of vapors by the time your finished the painting.
7. Keep the windows open and wait until the paint has fully dried and the odors have gone before you replace the furniture and other belongings.

Of course, these tips are offered in connection with interior painting but you should also try adding some vanilla to your paint when painting the exterior in Alkyd coatings as well. It saves the painter a lot headaches… literally. But whether inside or out, these simple ideas combined with some good old fashioned common sense should produce a fresh new look with clean, breathable air you can live with.

Happy painting!

DEE POTTER is a Toronto, Ontario area painting contractor who’s helped hundreds of homeowners get the most out of their properties with creative and money saving solutions to their repair and decorative challenges with his company, ColourWorks Painting. To learn more about ColourWorks painting solutions and services visit http://www.PaintByColourWorks.com

Author: Dee L. Potter
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone/iPad accessory

With the current economy, most people are careful with their spending at home. So what are you to do when you are a bit afraid to spend money but want to live in comfort and style at home? Answer – think creatively:

o Use what you have at home in a “different way” (new furniture placement)

o Filter your spending (do you really Want? Love? Need? an item)

o Hire an interior decorator to help you save money, time, and avoid mistakes

o Think Cheap to Chic with PAINT!

I have said it before and I will say it again, “paint” is the most economical way to transform your home to “feel” and “look” different. The above picture is of one of my designs. My client wanted her small studio apartment to feel large, airy, and with a design style that represented her – in an economical way of course. So, my secret weapon to the r-e-s-c-u-e: “paint”!

Ladies – remember how you feel when you put on makeup that makes you look more gorgeous than you already are? That’s how a new fresh coat of paint feels (gorgeous home)!

Fellas – remember how you feel when your favorite team won a game even though you are not even a player in the game? That’s how a new fresh coat of paint feels (winner at home)!

Did you know that you could paint almost anything in your home? Yes, anything! Here’s a list of a variety of things that you can use as a guide to go from cheap to chic using the secret wand – paint:

PAINT WALLS:
Duh! Okay, that was a no brainer! However, be creative when painting your walls – mask the walls with painters tape to make geometric (chic!) designs, or you can even use plates of different sizes to outline circles with a pencil to paint on your walls. There are also sassy wall paints that provide the unexpected; such as, magnetic paint, chalkboard paint, suede look, linen fabric look.

Extra tip: when using painter’s tape seal the tape lines with clear glaze to get an added protection against jagged lines.

PAINT FABRICS:
Most of the time we try our best NOT to get stains or paint on our fabrics, but with a “cheap to chic” mission in mind turn drab to fab by painting your fabrics.

How: Paint toss pillows, shower curtains, window curtains, cabinet skirts by using textile paint (found at most craft stores). Make sure you follow the curing time for the paint to dry; and wala – you have your very own customized chic design!

PAINTING CERAMIC TILES:
Yes, you read correctly – you can paint ceramic tiles in your bathroom. So if you currently have scary looking tiles that scream “puke color” every time you see it, then economically transform your tile color from blah to wow!

What you will need: 150 grit sandpaper, paintbrush, trisodium phosphat cleanser, boning/ceramic primer and your favorite color of paint in latex.

PAINT LAMINATED FURNITURE:
Do you have a laminated bookcase that is older than books published in 1960s? Then bring it back to life with paint.

How: Sand to scuff away the gloss, use a paint roller (using a brush will leave streak marks), prime, paint using your fabulously looking new paint color, and seal the color using polyurethane.

So, take a close look at your furniture, which are laminated (aka: easily paintable)? Most drawers are usually laminated. Hmmm, perhaps you can paint each drawer a different color to match the color scheme within your room. Simple! Impactful!

Designer tip: instead of using a rag to clean the dust after sanding, use a tack (a sticky) cloth.

PAINT GLASS:
Do you have glass vases hidden away because they do not match your décor? Well, bring them out to play! Then, as a hungry person carries a fork and spoon in hands, get your paint and brush in hands. Customizes clear vases, bowls, and even plates creatively.

How: you can easily get glass paint at your local craft store. Make sure you seal the paint with varnish.

Tip: if you have a clear glass table, create a design under the glass and let your personality shine through. Perhaps you can even stencil words under the table – “Live! Love! Laugh!” is one of my favorite quotes.

PAINT WOOD FLOORS:
That’s right, you can even paint your wood floors. If you have a staircase made of wood, try stenciling a design on every step or painting a carpet design onto it. Can’t afford an area rug to separate your space within a room? Then, paint an area rug with a design that you love.

How: A little prep work goes a long way – make sure that no nails are loose, sand floors, remove dust and /or wax buildup, clean, coat with stain blocking primer, then paint away in the direction of the grain. For durability, consider applying clear polyurethane.

Remember, turn cheap can be chic and live in luxurious comfort within your home and within your “self”.

© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com

Ada Gonzalez is an interior decorator who designs solutions that provide comfort & function with a BIG SPLASH of style without having to spend hi-end prices on furniture & furnishings. Her designs have been featured in the Life & Style section of The Journal News, Sound Shore Express newspaper, and the Lohub Blog of Westchester County. In April 2007 she won a design competition called “Interior Motives”. She was honored as an Interior Decorating Subject Specialist March and April of 2007 for DETC (Distant Education Training Council) helping perfect learning materials for interior decorating students. Her ezine called Smart Decorating!, which offers FREE DECORATING TIPS, is her way of helping people across the United States learn to comfortably live in and love their homes – to get more information on her ezine go to http://www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com

Email: info@adasdesigninc.com

Author: Ada Gonzalez
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Beading Necklace

There are not many projects that you can do to your home that offer so much improvement at such an inexpensive price as interior painting. You can change the entire look and feel of a room in very little time. Painting is a great way to update any room with just a little time and effort.

Once you have decided on your color choice, go your local paint or hardware store with that particular color and have enough paint mixed to cover your entire room. Latex paint should be your first choice for painting your walls. The most common paint sheen for walls is flat, eggshell and satin. Flat finishes will hide flaws in your wall much better than eggshell or satin finishes, but will not resist dirt as well and is harder to clean. Eggshell or satin would be a better choice for high traffic areas. If you will need to paint the trim in your room you will also need to purchase your trim paint. The most common color for painting trim is white, but you can paint it any color that you choose, just be sure that it complements your wall color. Trim paint is usually semigloss or gloss, both of which form a hard shell when dry and holds up very well to wear and tear.

There are some tools and materials that you must have in order to complete this project. You will need drop cloths or tarps, paint roller, paint tray, a paint brush, screwdriver, putty knife, wall spackling and a household cleaner.

1. To begin, move all furniture away from the walls and place the items in the center of the room. Next you will need to cover all of your flooring and furniture with drop cloths. You can also use disposable plastic covers to place over your furniture instead of drop cloths if you choose. Remove all electrical switch plates and outlet covers. After removing the switch plates, replace the screws so they will not get lost. Remove all pictures and any other items hanging from the walls.

2. Using a cleaning solution, clean the walls thoroughly. Rinse off with water and allow to completely dry. If you have any stains such as smoke or water stains you will need to prime these areas using an oil based primer. If you do not prime these areas first, the stains will penetrate through your new paint.

3. Using the wall spackling and a putty knife, repair all nail holes in the drywall. Once the wall spackling dries, lightly sand the area using fine grit sand paper.

4. Begin painting by trimming around all doors, windows, baseboards and the edge where your walls and ceilings meet. If you are not planning to paint your trim, you may wish to tape the edges of the trim using painters tape before you paint.

5. Using your paint roller and paint tray, begin painting the wall from the top corner and working your way down the wall with the paint. Apply the paint in small sections, usually an area approximately 4′ x 4′ can be covered with each roller refill. Begin each new section beside the previous and then blend the paint edges together while still wet.

6. Work quickly and don’t stop until you have completed one wall or have reached a break such as a door or the corner of the room so that you can maintain a wet edge.

7. Allow the first coat of paint to fully dry and then determine if you will need an additional coat of paint.

8. When painting your trim, paint the tops of the doors and windows first and work your way down so that you can remove any runs as you go. Paint your baseboards last.

Allow the paint to fully dry at least a full day before hanging your pictures back on the walls.

Take your time and good luck. The benefits that you receive from interior painting is definitely worth the time and effort that you invest.

Copyright (c) 2008 Smoky Mountain Painting

The author has over thirty years experience in the home improvement industry and is the owner of Smoky Mountain Painting in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

Author: Tony Evans
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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