Tips for Applying Painter’s Tape | Laundry Room Refresh

The Laundry Room Refresh is moving along nicely. Over the weekend, I was able to get the entire cabinet are prepped, primed, and painted!

While I cleaned the shelves and cabinetry, I thought you might like to see some tips for applying painter’s tape that I have used time and again.

We’ve done so much painting in our home over the years and painter’s tape can really make the task easier!

prep, prime, paint

The cabinetry will have to be primed since some of the knots were showing through from the previous painting I did about 5-6 years ago. Zinsser Bin Shellac Based White Primer is my go-to for preventing bleedthrough on many of the furniture projects we do around here. This is a staple in my workshop! Speaking of my workshop, Zibra Paint Brushes, especially their Palm Pro, are my favorite paintbrushes! The Palm Pro fits my arthritic hands perfectly!

let’s talk taping first

Let’s talk about taping for a minute. There are certain areas of a project that I always tape like flooring and baseboards. Cabinetry doesn’t always need to be taped off but in this case, it does. The last thing I want is to paint on the metal hardware cloth on this cabinet door!

tip 1

Start off by using long pieces of tape. Avoid short pieces if at all possible. Here, I am lining up the top edge of the tape with the edge of the door frame. I am also holding the roll directly next to the wood frame of the door.

tip 2

After I have torn the tape just past the bottom edge, I use a putty knife to make a slight crease. You can use the edge of the putty knife to tear a clean edge of the tape or…..

…you can use an X-acto knife and cut along the putty knife for a clean edge. Both methods work great!

The putty knife comes in handy to slide the Frog Tape just under the wood framing of the cabinet door.

I used long pieces of tape on the three sides but the top had a soft curve design. It is best to use short pieces of tape to work around the curves. I carefully used the putty knife to tuck the tape underneath the wood framing.

tip 3

Eventually, I removed the four doors on this cabinet section of our laundry room. Taping the screws to the hinges is a good way to keep track of the screws.

The hinges on cabinets can be hard to line up correctly on this particular cabinet. Remember, we’ve had this china cabinet for over 30 years so I know its flaws well!

tip 4

Anyway, I didn’t take the hinges off but instead taped them (with the screws underneath the tape!) The Exacto knife made perfect cuts around the shape of the hinge.

The countertop on this cabinet is Corian (remember that stuff?? it was a popular countertop way back when!)

tip 5

Anyway, I didn’t want paint all over the countertop so it was taped off too. Again, I used long pieces when I could and short pieces where I had to. The putty knife and the Exacto knife were used on the inside corners to make perfect lines!

tip 6

Taping along the floor edge makes painting close to the floor a breeze! Even if you have carpeting, doing this step will save you so much aggravation!

tip 7

The side of the cabinet had a wrought-iron towel hook. When I removed it, I taped the screws directly to the hook. See the piece of tape directly on the countertop? Those were screws to another piece of hardware that I can’t remember right now! Haha! At least I know where the screws are!

easy to remove

When all the painting is finished, remove the Frog Tape at an angle AWAY from the edge. This prevents the tape from peeling the paint up from the surface.

Technically, the tape should be removed before the paint has completely dried. But I had primer and two coats of paint on the surfaces so that wasn’t an option for me.

If you are concerned about peeling your freshly painted surfaces, use an Exacto Knife and cut through the area where the painted surface meets the taped area. That will break the seal the dried paint creates.

Just look at that clean hardware cloth under the Frog Tape! No paint!!

BTW, I used Fusion Mineral Paint in Casement on the cabinetry. This is after one coat:

The last coat of paint is on and all the tape has been removed! I’ll share that in the next post about our laundry room refresh! The pantry area is the next spot to tackle!

Be sure to check out the first post in this series:

• Laundry Room Makeover Plans

Thanks for stopping by today to learn my tips for applying painter’s tape!

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The image above is the finished china cabinet refreshed!