Painting - Masking with Tape

So, I was painting an accent wall and I used painters tape to mask the other wall so I wouldn't get any paint anywhere else. I tried to not rely on the paint and just cut down the edge. But it didn't workout too well. I seem to get paint all over the tape.:wall:

I'm worried when I peel off the tape, I will peel off the paint and it will make things look jaggy edged.

How do you guys recommend I peel the tape off? I wish I had a steady hand.:confused:

Peeling the tape off at an acute angle towards you, while the paint is still drying, will usually yield the best results. If the paint has creeped behind the tape, simply wrap a rag around your putty knife, dip in water or thinner if oil base paint was used, and slide the knife down the corner to wipe the paint off. Sometimes you might have to move the rag and wipe two or three times to get it all off.

Bill

Might take a really sharp knife like a razor knife or exacto and run it down the tape edge seperating it from the paint on the surface.Use a light tough and try not to leave a mark.Sometimes by angling the knife you can run it up under the tape edge.

There are special kinds of tape these days that are way less adhesive than what you may be used to. You can probably ask your local Home Depot employee and they can point you in the right direction.

Thanks for your responses. But, it's already set and dry. I'm just worried about pulling the tape off and ruining the line.

One rule with tape, you want to take it off the day you put it on, next day at the latest.

Like spdavid said..if you wait too long...run a blade down the seam, so it doesn't pull.
Nothing to do now but try...only going to be worse as the adhesive hardens.

If you can get a straight edge in along the tape it might steady your blade for a neater scribe. Be gentle.

Bud

As the others have said, cut the edge of the tape down the corner to get rid of any paint bond on top of the tape and then remove the tape. If the tape does any damage to the side walls, it shouldn't be too hard to fix. Hopefully you have some of that paint if needed.

So, some of the paint came off when I pulled the tape off. What's the easiest way to fix this mess? Is it only using a steady hand w/o any tape?

I keep a few very small art baint brushes around for my repair work. I wouldn't want to paint a house with them, but they are easy to control for touch up.

Bud

Ya, a small brush will help. Sometimes using a broad knife as a shield/guide will help.
Where the paint was pulled off, is there a noticable depression? if so you may need to fill it in with spackling first.