Tuesday, May 5, 2015

25 Quick Tip Tuesday: A Painting "Pane"

During a recent visit to a friend's home, I noticed she was working on the fun project of painting some old built-ins.  I was so excited about what she was up to, and I loved her quick solution to avoid painting pane after pane in the cabinet doors.


The thing with these types of projects, whether old doors, windows or cabinets, is that they can be a literal pane in the glass.  Using painters tape is not fool-proof.  Paint still tends to seep and can tear away all of your hard work when being peeled away.  Not to mention, the hours upon hours it would take to tape each pane both front and back.

So she just painted.  And painted some more... both inside and out.  In fact, she started with primer, then followed up with a couple of coats of paint. 


And just like many of us, she is busy and let it sit for a few weeks before finishing up her project.  But that was still OK.  When it came time to finally fix those panes, it was easy as pie.

She started by laying down some plastic on the floor below the built-ins to catch the falling paint.  That's right, the paint is about to fall off those glass panes!

Next, she mixed vinegar and water into a spray bottle (heavy on the vinegar) and generously sprayed down the glass.


Using a small blade from the local hardware store (similar), she scored along the edge of the pane and then just scraped the paint right off.


It really seemed to just fall off, even after sitting for weeks and curing.  I was really impressed at the lack of effort needed.  Definitely easier than taping everything off and then messing with that aftermath.


Just put on your favorite Netflix show or some Pandora music and moments later you will have paint-free panes.


This may be the oldest painting trick in the books, but I felt it was my duty to share my excitement with y'all.  This just changed my painting future!


Looking for more quick tips?  Check out the entire series here!

25 comments:

  1. great tip! Does it work on both oil-based and water-based paint?

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    1. I was wondering the same thing!

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    2. I haven't personally tried it, but hopefully a reader can chime in. :)

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    3. Maybe you could ask your friend what type of paint she used?

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    4. Hi Marianne, She used a water based latex for her project. xo!

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  2. Great painting tip...thanks for sharing! I have a window to test that on just waiting for me.

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  3. Yes! I did my French doors this way and it worked like a charm. Except I didn't use the vinegar spray and it still scraped off perfectly (and maybe smelled a little nicer while I was working.)

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  4. So beautiful! What a great tip!

    Her Heartland Soul
    http://herheartlandsoul.com

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  5. It looks awesome! I've always used tape to keep the paint from getting on the glass. I'll give this a try next time.

    The Office Stylist
    www.theofficestylist.com

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  6. Amazing tip! I'll be trying it definitely when time comes to paint doors and windows

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  7. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. We had triangular built-ins like this in my parents' first non-rental house. I thought they were beautiful as a child and would love to have some like that again! Do you know the age of the house (if it's an older home)?

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  8. OMG, thanks so much for sharing! We have painted so many glass paned doors in our time and every time we used tape and were disappointed with the results! I can't wait to try this out. I might have to paint a door or two just to test it!!

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  9. That is one awesome tip Jen. Mskes it so much easier to work with windows and glass doors .

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  10. I used this trick recently when I painted a few picture frames... I just left the glass in the frame and painted the frame. After the paint dried I just used a razor to quickly clean off the glass. Great for painting an older frame without taking it apart.

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  11. I spent this entire post saying 'WHAAAAAT????' and picking my jaw off the floor only to drop it again a paragraph later. I will definitely try this the next time I'm painting around glass.Thanks!

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  12. Nicole Curtis on Rehab Addict used something that she brushed on the windows before painting the frames, and then when she was done she just peeled it off. I wish I had saved the name of the stuff.

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  13. Just do NOT do this on any type of textured or older glass as the paint will NOT come off. i ruined my parents bathroom windows trying this trick!

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  14. What a great tip! This will be a huge time saver next time I go to paint around glass!

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  15. I can't wait to try this! Someday I want to paint all of the trim on the windows in our house and this will be a huge time saver!

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  16. Do you think this would work with spray paint?

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    1. I am not sure - I think many spray paints are oil based. Maybe test it on a piece of glass from an old picture frame or something first before doing it on anything bigger or more important.

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  17. It's actually important to leave the paint to cure for ages. If it's fully hard and cured the fragments wipe easily off the wood. If it's not fully cured the fragments and the paint on the wood will stick to each other.

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  18. Sheer genius, wish I had seen this a couple of weeks ago x
    Lyn
    www.thelavenderbarn.blogspot.com

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  19. I painted windows recently. I bought a scraper to remove the paint but it was worthless! I decided to use baby wipes instead. The baby wipes worked great!!! Will definitely be using them again when I paint.

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