I began as a painter in San Francisco in the early 80’s. At that time I had the good fortune to work for a painting contractor who was the worst slob I had ever met. I called him “Top Off” because whenever he opened a can of paint it was as if he was running a blender with the top off. It got everywhere. I was fortunate to work for him though because I picked up a little trick for cleaning spilled paint; specifically latex paint spilled on a carpet. Here’s how it went.
The first time Top Off kicked a roller tray and slopped paint onto a throw rug I nearly had a panic attack. He, however, was unfazed. He calmly wet a clean rag and laid it over the wet paint and walked off the job site. When he returned he had a carpet cleaning vacuum that he had rented. In ten minutes the paint was gone. The secret was the wet rag. Latex paint dries very quickly. Once it does, water will no longer easily clean it up. The rag kept the stain wet for the hour or so it took to secure a carpet cleaning machine, but it didn’t saturate the carpet to the point that the water became as big a problem as the paint. If you over wet the carpet the water will soak down into the padding and nothing good has ever come of that.
Another thing to keep in mind is that latex paint softens when it gets wet. Often times you can clean it off of a hardwood floor or other surface by wetting it and then scraping it with a finger nail or a piece of plastic. Cleaning spilled paint is fun, like a root canal, but it beats buying new rugs.
Have fun painting!
Email any questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 914-980-7216
