No Bleed Painters Tape

Using Painters Tape with No Bleeding

I picked up this thrift store bed tray table recently from the thrift store. And since he was in need of a new paint job, I figured this was a great project for how to use painters tape with no bleeding. You know how you pull out a nice piece of masking tape, place it firmly in place, pull it up and all your paint has seeped under the tape that was supposed to give you a nice clean line. We’re going to remedy that problem.

First things first. We have to get this guy ready for painting.

Sand and smooth all those chippy paint edges. If you paint directly over the chippy paint, the ridges will show through the new paint. Also, if your old paint is glossy, rough up the surface to prepare for a new coat of paint. The roughness will allow the new coat to adhere better. Wipe off the dust with a lint free cloth.

Start painting your bed tray. Painting over black, I will definitely need to use 2 coats to cover completely.

Once I was finished painting I decided to customize my bed tray a little more for my own use. Since I always carry around a glass of water, tea or soda, I’m adding a cup holder to my tray.

Find a standard size cup and trace around the bottom of the cup onto your tray. Make sure you look on the bottom of the tray to see that you’re avoiding any support pieces of wood. You’ll want to cut only through the one layer of wood.

Use a jigsaw to cut out the hole you just marked. Cut on the outside of the line so that the cup can sink down into the hole. (not a lot, maybe a 1/8″ or so)

Sand around the edges of the hole you just cut and touchup the paint.

Now for the painters tape trick. Place your painters tape where you would like your clean line. Press the tape down firmly.

With the background color, or in my case the color I just painted the tray, paint over the edges of your tape. Any bleeding that occurs will be from this color. Wait for this background color to dry.

Once the edge color has dried, paint or stencil on your line color.

Pull off the painter’s tape and you should be free from any paint bleed. You will now have the cleanest line you’ve ever had from painter’s tape.

I have used a stencil brush for my line, that’s why I have the dabbing effect.

If you want another line, wait for the painted line to dry before proceeding, then repeat the process.

Once again, filling the line in with the background color.

Even the thinnest of lines had no bleeding with the painter’s tape.

I’m finishing my tray with 2 coats of a spray varnish.

All ready for breakfast in bed…or lunch…or dinner…or late night snack.

Off to eat my doughnut! Hope you enjoyed this little painters trick. Believe me, I’ve had my share of tape bleed and have almost given up on ever using tape again. The touch up would always take longer than if I had done the project without the tape in the first place.

As always, have a great week and stay inspired.