A: Painting is a learned skill that takes time to master, and not everyone has the luxury of time to perfect their craft. New painters need to learn how to make those clean, crisp lines because they are a testament to a good job, and they are the results your customers are happy to pay for. That professional look requires the right tape, good prep, proper application and removal techniques and more. Let’s dive in.

Clean lines start with tape selection

First, you want to make sure you have the right tape for the project. Choose based on the adhesion level required for the work. For a standard interior wall, our FrogTape® Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape is perfect. But if you’re working on, say, a two-tone wall that requires taping over a recently painted area, our FrogTape Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape is ideal, as it can be applied within 24 hours of painting your first coat. And for challenging outdoor surfaces like wood, concrete and stucco, our FrogTape Pro Grade Orange Painter’s Tape® offers maximum adhesion.

Prep it right

Before applying tape, it’s important to wipe down interior walls (pressure wash exterior walls) to ensure they are clean, dust-free and dry. If you have a surface that hasn’t been properly cleaned, it could have moisture or inconsistencies that might allow paint to seep under the tape.

Applying the tape

With tape application, a step that is sometimes missed is burnishing—or simply pushing the tape down against the surface. Use a credit card, putty knife or another flat tool you have on hand. This step ensures the tape is bonded properly to the surface. With many FrogTape products, you also get an extra insurance policy in our PaintBlock® Technology, a super-absorbent polymer that reacts when it comes into contact with water-based latex to seal the edge for those crisp lines.

Proper tape removal

For best results, you want the paint to still be damp when you pull it at a 45-degree angle, which is why we recommend you pull it immediately after the second coat. With a second coat, you’re actually rewetting the surface, which helps provide a clean release of that first coat as well. Note that there is no need to remove tape after the first coat and retape again before applying the second coat. But never let your paint dry fully dry before pulling the tape. This causes bridging, where the paint stretches when the tape is pulled and creates rough edges. That’s what you want to avoid.

Painting technique

When loading brushes and rollers, you don’t want to flood the applicator and drown the tape. An overloaded brush or roller is not going to make for easy application, in general. And paint might seep under the tape—or even past the tape and into the areas you’re trying to protect.

Using a sealant

In some situations, using a latex sealant in conjunction with our FrogTape PaintBlock Technology is a good idea for extra protection. For example, textured interior and exterior walls may have surface inconsistencies that allow for paint to seep under tape. When using fillers, however, make sure the sealant is applied firmly to the edge of the tape. You don’t want the sealant to seep under the tape and cause bridging.

As we all know, with today’s trade market labor shortage, you may need to hire new painters seeking more experience in the field in order to build your painting business. Share these tips with those new hires so they can learn to produce those clean, crisp lines your customers love.

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Mary Kate Hearns is a Senior Product Manager for the Masking and Painting Tape portfolio at Shurtape Technologies, LLC. She leads product management for FrogTape® brand Painter’s Tapes and works with the research and design team at Shurtape to develop the best products for pro and DIY customers.