Increase the Lifespan of Your Interior Paint with These Tips

Repainting a room in your home can be quite the challenge. Even if you have the work done by a professional painting company, it still typically involves moving or covering furniture, taping off outlets, and making the room essentially unusable until the fresh paint is dry. Because of this investment of time, effort, and money, it is wise to learn about the best ways to maintain your interior paint, so that you won’t have to repeat the process any time soon.

Fortunately, just a little bit of knowledge and some basic steps can keep your interior paint at its best. After you’ve had a room in your home painted, keep the following tips in mind to make sure it looks great for years to come!

Quality First

The first step of paint maintenance is to begin with high quality paint. Using trusted brands like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore will ensure proper coverage, low VOC, high percentage of solids, and strong pigments.

A professional painting company with a good reputation will choose high quality paint and apply it with precision. The right coverage and coats, combined with resistant, washable paint means you’ll be able to use the rest of the tips on this list with ease.

It all starts with great paint!

Save Your Leftovers

In most painting jobs, especially interior, you typically end up with some excess paint. Saving this paint can provide you some insurance on your newly painted walls.

Hang on to some of this interior paint to use for touch ups and minor repairs. If your wall gets scratched or otherwise damaged, neglecting it will lead to more trouble in the future. Moisture could seep in, cracks can spread, and the good looks (not to mention the protective power) of your paint will be compromised.

Most professional painting companies will offer to leave leftover paint with you, but be sure to ask just in case!

Keep It Clean

Paint can take minor cosmetic damage over time from dust, the oils in our hands, and so many other factors. To help minimize this damage, wash your walls!

This tip is especially important if you have children.

Once or twice a year, take the time to deep clean your walls with gentle soap, water, and a soft cloth. Avoid using harsh cleaning products or abrasive scrubbers – they’ll likely cause permanent damage to the paint, even if they are effective for cleaning. You’ll also want to avoid using “Magic Eraser” products that may contain chemicals that break down your paint.

Moisture Control

Depending on where you live, your home, and even what you keep in your house, you may have to deal with humidity and moisture. High humidity can lead to surfactant leaching, which causes brown or white spots to appear on your walls. Frequent exposure to moisture or extreme humidity can even cause paint to peel.

To avoid these issues, take steps to reduce humidity and avoid moisture exposure. There are many potential factors at play here, like keeping gutters clean, properly sealing windows and doors, taking care of leaky pipes, even the number of houseplants you may have… All of these (and more) can affect the humidity in your house.

If you notice high humidity, condensation on your walls, and so on, try addressing the factors listed above. You can also look to ventilation fans and dehumidifiers to help reduce the problem and protect your paint!

Quick Action

Perhaps the most important part of maintaining your interior paint is acting quickly when you notice any issues. Like the minor repairs mentioned above, this quick action includes cleaning up after an unexpected mess and addressing stains as well.

Leaving gunk, stains, or any other debris for too long will likely exacerbate the problem – either causing permanent damage or requiring harsher cleaning products.

Painting the interior of your home is an investment of time, effort, and even some inconvenience. To make sure you don’t have to repeat this process because of damaged, faded, peeling, or cracking paint, take steps to maintain it! With a little bit of energy and the information here, you can keep your interior paint looking its best – and protect the walls underneath in the process.

If you have any questions about maintaining your interior paint, need a quote for repainting rooms in your home, or anything else, contact CertaPro today!