TIL I was using painter's tape wrong for 5 years straight

I was masking windows for a trim paint job last Saturday and noticed the tape bled through on every line. My buddy Jeff from down the street came over to borrow my caulk gun and saw what I was doing. He asked why I was pressing the tape down with my fingernail instead of a putty knife. Turns out I never sealed the edges properly by burnishing them with a plastic tool. I have been painting rooms since 2019 and probably ruined 20 clean edges because of this one dumb habit. Has anyone else had a 'wait, you do it that way?' moment with a basic tool?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake63813d ago

At least you weren't using the sticky side up like my dad did.

grace_wright13d ago

Tbh, I had to read that twice because I thought you were joking. "Sticky side up"?? Like he was actually trying to use it that way on purpose? That's wild, I can't even imagine the mess or frustration that caused. My dad once tried to use duct tape to fix a leaky pipe and ended up flooding the laundry room, but this is a whole other level.

the_wyatt12d ago

Alright, you got me. I used to be the guy who'd swear up and down there's no wrong way to use duct tape (it's duct tape, right?). But your dad putting it sticky side up? That's a whole new level of wrong I never even considered. You might have just changed my mind about this whole thing.