How do I get rid of paint (stains)?
Imagine: you have just finished all your painting work and proudly behold the result of all your hard work. But... that result also involves a lot of cleaning: paint brushes, paint rollers, paint trays, to maybe even your hands and the floor. How do you get all that clean?
Better be safe than sorry
Before we tell you how to get everything clean, we'd rather tell you how to keep everything clean, because it will save you some work. When it comes to painting and cleaning up afterwards, good preparation is half the battle.
Especially in the area where you are painting, you can save yourself some cleaning work afterwards. To avoid spilling on the floor, you can, for example, use cover cardboard to cover the floor. Objects that (should) remain in the room can be covered with foil or a tarpaulin. Skirting boards, window frames, door frames, etc. can be kept clean with masking tape. Just make sure you tape wide enough, as accidents happen quickly.
Another, super handy tool are insert foils for paint trays or for paint buckets. You can simply throw them away after use and use your paint tray or paint bucket again next time, without cleaning!
Finally, you can also wear gloves if you don't want your hands to get dirty.
How to get everything clean again
Paint brushes and paint rollers are best cleaned immediately after painting. If you painted with water-based paint, you can simply use pure water. If you used synthetic paint, you will need white spirit to get the paint out.
The same principle applies to your hands: water-based paint can be removed with water (dried paint needs some soaking) and synthetic paint with some white spirit (don't use too much, though). There are also special hand cleaners.
Do you accidentally spill some water-based paint while painting? Do not wait until you have finished painting, but wipe the paint off immediately with a damp cloth. If you have spilt some synthetic paint, you can put some white spirit on a cloth to quickly wipe away the spilled drops of paint.
If you notice small splashes of paint after painting, for example on your window or tiles, you can safely scrape them off with a glass cleaner. On tiles, a cleaner for vitroceramic hobs may also work well. This is because they often contain a very fine grain, which helps to rub off the paint splatters without scratching the surface.
