Paint Spraying: Low cost masking products for a faster finish.

Anyone who does paint spraying knows the time savings are in the masking and not the painting itself. Here at Pure Perfection Painters, we're always looking for fast and better ways to paint. Whether it's in a residential home or on site. This is why we regularly review the products we use for new or cheaper products to make our life easier. Here is our list of low cost masking products to help you finish spraying faster and with less hassle.

Door Hinge Covers

A relatively new product which we love are the Hinge Shields from PRNT3D. Anyone who has used masking tape to cover a door hinge will know as soon as you touch the door they move and fall off. It seems like you're forever scraping paint from hinges. The door hinge shields simply slot in place over the hinges and that's it. A simply yet effective solution which saves a lot of faffing. Sometimes the small things make a big difference and this is one of them!

Socket Covers

Socket covers aren't a new invention and there are a few companies doing these. Again we have been using the Socket Shields from PRNT3D. This is down to them being cheap and coming in a range of sizes. They also the socket type embossed on the inside which helps when you have 3 different sizes lay in a box. You can instantly see the type you need for the job you're working on. We mainly use a Type A but they also have other sizes for the less common sockets you come across. They simply press on the various plug or light socket. Once sprayed we leave them in place to fully dry before removing. You can remove them as soon as you finish spraying, it's just a bit messier as the're covered in paint.

Masking Products - Walls

We'll split the masking down into walls i.e. windows, doors, skirting and other items which need masking and cover floor masking later.

The products we use 90% of the time now are the Indassa Film or Deltec Papermasking. The masking film is the Indasa Cover Roll. This is low cost and works great. Prices from £3 to £8 a roll, depending on the length of cover required. This is a great product to work with.

For skirting boards and similar we use the Deltec Papermask. Available in a 18cm or 30cm length. We always use this for masking up skirting boards or smaller windows. If we have a delicate edge we're working up against we'll use yellow frog tape first and then mask on top with this.

Masking Products - Floors

Floor masking get get expensive quote quickly. If you're on a building site it's something you don't need to worry about, but in a residential home it's critical. This is why a lot of people don't paint spray in a residential environment.

For us there are two go to products. We use these as they are value for money. The first are the Q1 floorboards, which most people have now seen. If you're on a hard floor, this is great. It is more suited to large jobs I always feel but in the right circumstance it works well.

The other product is the Prodec Carpet Roll. This is relatively low cost, it doesn't rip and it's OK to work with. Ideal for stairs or smaller rooms. Especially if there's carpet.

Masking Tape

We've recently changed the way we mask windows and door frames. We used to use a good quality 50mm masking tape for most areas where there wasn't what we call a delicate edge. The problem was after spraying the first coat, we noticed we always had problems with the masking film which the tape was holding starting to slip. Sometimes only slightly. Sometimes we'd have to re-mask a door or window, or even worse re-spray a wall.

After some time we realised that basic 50mm masking tape just isn't up to the job.

Now we use 36mm yellow frog tape for nearly everything. Yes it's double the price of masking tape but, for the extra price, there is so much less faff and stress. There's nothing worse that masking coming loose while spraying. This stops the majority of that, therefore we're happy to pay the extra. It took a while for us to figure it out, and we see this all the time on other projects but trust me, ditch the cheap packing tape and try the Frogtape. You won't go back!