Pro tip: using a proper paint shield instead of tape for trim

I was painting my kitchen baseboards last month and tried both blue painter's tape and a metal paint shield. The tape took forever to put on, and paint still bled under it in spots. The shield, which cost about eight dollars, let me cut in clean lines in half the time with zero bleed. Has anyone found a better tool for this job, or is the shield the way to go?

3 comments

3 Comments

sagejackson9d ago

Disagree honestly, I had the opposite experience. I mean the shield sounds good in theory but it kept slipping on me and left a wavy edge. Maybe it's just me but I need that physical barrier of tape to feel in control, especially on older trim that isn't perfectly flat. I've found if you burnish the tape edge down really well first, the bleed isn't an issue. The shield just feels like one more thing to hold and clean.

thomasb419d ago

It's just paint on wood at the end of the day lol. People act like we're doing surgery.

paulnguyen9d ago

Honestly sagejackson has a point about the shield slipping, that sounds annoying. Tbh we're just painting some trim, it's not that serious either way. Ngl I've used an old gift card as a shield before and it worked fine, people overthink this stuff. The paint's gonna get scuffed up in a year anyway, who cares about a perfect line.