masking off windows to paint..is there an easier way?

[Pudden]

I'm steeling myself to paint the dividing panelled doors in our living room but not looking forward to it! There are 60 panes to mask off and I am dreading the thought of battling with the tape. Is there an easier method (apart from hoying the doors out)

cheers

hoy= throw in NE England

Not taping them and any paint that goes on it just picking off with fingernails/razor

Well...you could paint first and then scrape off the glass with a stanley blade but that would still take ages, and potentially scratch the glass.

You can get special angled brushes to make it easier to keep a straight edge - practise makes perfect - it's quite fun once you know how to do it.

Or you can hold a piece of card while you paint the edge, that can be unreliable though and if you get paint on the back of it you're stuffed!

I find painting as straight as possible and scrapping off any mistakes with a blade to be quicker (and neater, actually) than masking. Still not my favorite job though!

My MIL used to put Vaseline round the edges of windows and claimed the paint would just wipe off. Though she was such a neat painter anyway that she never seemed to go over the edges anyway (unlike me!)

You can get a special tool for scraping paint off glass, cheap and easily found in Homebase etc. Much quicker than masking tape.

Paint scraper tool thingy is best - means your paint will go right up to the edge of the glass.

You can buy a small scraper with a non scratch razor blade, think they're sold as ceramic hob cleaners/scrapers

This is the kind of thing you need: scraper

Angled brush (fitch brush) and a couple of days later when the paint is try use a scraper to get off any mistakes.

I used to do masking tape but it's too much faff.

Definitely go through the pain barrier and mask off

We had exactly the same thing two years ago. I tried the cardboard thing but some of the glass panels were very tight to the frame and paint ended up going on the glass.

If you need several coats of paint there really is no alternative to masking off. To make it easier I measured out a length of masking for the long side and one for the short side and stuck it to the floor so when measuring I just pulled out enough tape to match the measured lengths.

I also left all the ends to do in one go (cutting off overlap with a stanley knife).

It was well worth it.

As for picking paint off glass, you will not likely get a nice finish and the paint-scratch tool is not very effective for lots of marks. (I know, I bought one); If you use anything harder, like a butterknife, you will permanently scratch the glass.

I have trodden in your exact same path. I got the angled brush too but it was fine for painting the sides but not for the underneath angles. It was more time consuming to try and do that neatly that just tape the lot off and then splash the paint around to my hearts content.

Oh blimey...I thought some bright spark was going to come on here suggesting some new paint that goes in straight lines . I am a slapdash painter so the thought of going round scraping off paint almost as bad as masking.

As I have to do primer as well as a couple of coats of paint (covering over horrid mahogany coloured varnish) looks like I am going to have to get the sodding tape out.

sigh... a job for after half term then , with copious amounts of tea and radio 4

If you can learn to paint roughly straight it's much quicker than masking tape. And, I always used to find that the masking tape would tear little bits of paint away here and there, so I'd have to touch up after it came off anyway.

I had 64 panels to do, all with 4 sides (obvs), so thats... um... 256??) lengths of masking tape individually cut to size, stuck on precisely, and flattened down the edge nearest the wood with a butterknife to ensure no paint-creep

I would say it took a Good Morning Or So to do it. I got faster and more accurate as I was going along.

Make sure your craft/stanley knife is up to the job too, a blunt one reeeeely annoys you when whipping the overlap bits off and can induce The Rage

End result is ah-mazing tho, I promise!

Never tried it but always wondered if cling film would work, if you decide to try let us know.

just had a bright idea...I think. If I cut some newspaper to size and then wet it and press it on the glass that might work...hmmm

The paint will dampen the newspaper though and seep through? It will disintegrate upon contact with fluids, unlike masking tape.

Bugger.... Off to stock up on masking tape then

I never use tape neither do any of the decorators I use on refurns A steady hand and then a blade much better finish