I am not getting paid to endorse this product. I do my best to not name names. I use slogans and tag lines to identify places I go to buy DIY stuff. I do on occasion name the brand of a particular tool I used.
When it came time to use a new tool, I was excited to see if fifteen dollars was worth it. So here is the story…
Efiwym, my wife and I are painting. (Oh no! Not another painting blog post again, you are thinking. He promised no more painting stories. But wait, this will be interesting.) It all started when I installed a new thermostat in the living room. The thermostat was not the same size as the old one, so the prior paint color was showing. I did not have any touch-up paint, consequently I used the closest green I had. It looked dumb. Therefore, we needed to paint the living room.
After waiting for a paint sale where we could save 11 percent and deciding on a paint colors, we bought paint for the living room, dining room, family room, four bedrooms and a bath. We decided we would do the dining room first because it was next to the living room and we would be painting the room the same color as it.
I do not have a steady hand as before, so I cannot cut in trim like I used to. I was never great at it, but good enough to keep paint off the trim. Now I mask the trim and slop paint over the tape. I do not buy the best painter’s tape, but the one I buy does not have the paint bleeding under it. Taping trim takes time. A lot of time. It took an hour and a half to tape the trim for a 10-foot by 11-foot room. This room has a chair rail and crown molding, so they needed to be taped too.
There is a sense of satisfaction pulling the tape away and seeing clean paint lines around the trim. I could not do that, ever. Setting the tape up to make sure it covered the edge correctly takes time. There is got to be a better way. I searched the Internet for a painter’s tape applicator. Prices varied and some needed to be ordered online and shipped. I wanted something inexpensive, I can get locally and works well.
After watching some YouTube® videos, I found one I liked at the place that had great brands, great value: 3M ScotchBlue® Painter’s Tape Applicator. I placed the order online and went to pick it up.
The first thing I noticed was it used 1.4-inch-wide tape. I always used .7 inch. There was no way the applicator could use the smaller tape. Well, a good DIYer would find a way. So now this time saver was going to cost me more money to tape. Not a good start.
Since I was going to be taping a lot of rooms, it was a better deal to buy the 4 pack of rolls. So, I did. In fact, I used the starter roll and another complete roll to tape the family room. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Originally, Efiwym and I decided for me to tape on Sunday afternoon and we would paint the family room on the holiday Monday. But I was anxious to try out my new tool. I got up early on Sunday and started preparing the family room for painting.
I took the applicator out of the package and briefly reviewed the instructions. I tried it out first on the chair rail on the longest wall. After fumbling around trying to get the tape started, I guided the applicator along the top of the rail. In one motion the top of the rail was taped.
The skies cleared and I could hear the angels sing as they watched this miraculous tool work perfectly. It was more than a Zen moment. To finish the job, I grabbed a plastic scraper from the kitchen to run it along the rail to tightly secure the tape to prevent bleeding.
No time to waste, I did the underside. Again, one run along the rail and it was done. Because of the tool size I needed to stop at the end if the wall, cut the tape and go in the other direction about 6 inches to finish the job. The family room took me about as long to prepare as the dining room, but it was twice as large.
The applicator was a time saver plus it did a much better job than me manually applying the tape. The larger tape also allowed me to get closer to the trim with the roller and less paint getting past the tape and on the trim. The only negative is the felt pads that are on the bottom of the applicator to rest against the trim started coming off. I do not know if you need them, but they could be easily replaced.
Where was this tool before? Well, it was there and available, but again my DIYer mentality(?) and cheapness stopped me from getting one. So, for all you DIY painters out there, get a painter’s tape applicator. It is worth the money. You too will hear the angels sing. Awe….
