How To Tape Off Drawers For Painting With A Paint Sprayer
Today, I want to share one of my favorite methods on how to use a paint sprayer on furniture. Here’s how to tape off drawers for painting with a paint sprayer! Now, I know it might seem like a lot of extra steps, but trust me, it makes the whole process way smoother and saves you from a lot of unnecessary hassle later on.
We have what I like to call the “lazy method” (you’ll see why!) and my more structured method for taping off drawers. Both work; it just depends on what you’re up for that day.
When I am spraying my furniture, I like to leave the drawers in and tape them off. There are a few reasons I do this. Number one is for space. If you pull all of them out, you still have to tape them off somehow with paper or plastic. Then you set them on the ground or somewhere else, and you need space to lay them all out. It takes up a lot of space if you have a nine drawer dresser.
The other thing is, unless you have a platform to put the drawers on, I typically end up just setting them upright on the floor. So the drawer fronts are up on top, and then I have to bend over to spray. That hurts my back if I have to keep doing that for nine drawers.
Now, there are some times that I still do have to go and touch some places up, either on my dresser or on the drawers, but typically, I don’t really have to do that. I have a nice system that makes it still go very fast and very effective. And no, the drawers do not stick.
When you are spraying, the spray is atomized, and it’s so small that it’s not gonna gum up the drawers. Now, if you’re going to use a brush- yes, your drawers can and will get stuck if you just leave them in. That’s a different story, but when spraying, I love to leave the drawers in.
Supplies Used to Tape Off Drawers For Painting With A Paint Sprayer
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The Lazy Method
Now, the lazy method is to leave the drawers in and not tape them off at all. Just leave them in and spray the outside of the piece. Then, when you’re done, you can use a brush or a roller. Especially when your drawers and your cabinets are inset inside the furniture, the only parts that don’t get painted are the sides and the top of the drawers.
Afterward, you can pull those out and use a brush or a roller for the tops and the sides of the drawer fronts. I call this the lazy method because it’s, you know, me being lazy, not wanting to tape off all the drawers.
And that’s fine. In the end, it might take about the same amount of time to do the lazy method as taping them off. So, it just depends on what you really want to do. Sometimes, I would rather paint the edges and the tops of the drawers by hand than do any taping.
How to Tape Off Drawers for Spray Painting
This is what I do. I pull out a drawer, and on the inside lip, I put some painter’s tape. Now, there’s either going to be a piece of wood that you can stick it to, or if it’s just the drawer front and no piece of wood behind it, you can stick a piece of tape to the back of it, then, about halfway down the tape, bend it backwards. That gives a nice little seal for you to then wrap it all the way around.
I stick the pre taped plastic to the sticky side of the tape, and it creates a nice seal so no paint can get inside that little flap and inside of the drawer. I start at the bottom, and I don’t wrap it all the way around.
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I cover a couple of inches of the bottom of the drawer, go up the side, cover the top, and go back down the side of the drawer. Then maybe a couple of inches on the bottom of the drawer on that side.
Then, I wrap the plastic around the back and hold it on with some painter’s tape. This way, I can spray a coat on the outside of the dresser, let it dry for a little bit, and then I can very carefully open the drawers a little bit.
Painting With the Drawers Taped
I open up the top drawer just a little bit, the middle one a little bit further, then the bottom one the furthest – only like three or four inches open. This way, they’re staggered, and I can get in everywhere and spray.
If it’s set, I can spray the top and sides of the drawer fronts. If the drawers cover up the face of the piece, then opening this up makes it so that I can get the face of the dresser. So, I leave them open while everything dries for a little bit.
Then I come back, close them again, spray everything again, and let everything dry for a little bit – long enough for me to be able to open them up a little bit and spray them again. For the most part, this should let you get everywhere. Sometimes, it doesn’t.
So, after I’m done with everything, I pull the drawers out to make sure that I’ve got paint everywhere that you can see when they are in, as well as everywhere that should be painted.
If it isn’t, then I use a tiny artist brush that is about half an inch big, and I hand brush those little details. It doesn’t bother me if it leaves a little bit of brush marks because these parts are not places that you really can see when they’re pushed in.
Taping Off Cabinets
With cabinets, sometimes, I tape them off and use pre-taped plastic to keep paint from getting inside. Other times, I just paint the insides as well. I also use the same method to tape off the tops of furniture and anything that I don’t want painted. Here’s what is the best painters tape to use for the best results!
I love the combination of painter’s tape and the pre-taped plastic that has some tape on it to stick everywhere. Get more tips on how to prevent overspray when painting furniture in this post.
And those are my tricks on how to tape off drawers for painting with a paint sprayer!
How To Tape Off Drawers For Painting With A Paint Sprayer
Here's how to tape off drawers for painting with a paint sprayer to save you from a lot of unnecessary hassle later on.
Materials
Instructions
- Pull out a drawer slightly and put some painter's tape on the inside lip. If there’s no wood behind it, stick tape onto the back of the drawer front halfway, then bend it backward to seal.
- Stick the pre taped plastic to the sticky part of the painter’s tape. This creates a seal so no paint can get inside the drawer.
- Wrap the pre taped plastic around the back of the drawer. Hold it down with more painter’s tape to keep paint from getting into hidden areas.
- Open the top drawer a little, the middle one further, and the bottom drawer the most. This lets you spray everywhere, including the face of the dresser, without missing spots.
- Spray one coat over the drawers and dresser while everything stays staggered. After letting it dry for a bit, open the drawers a little more and spray wherever needed.
- Once all is dry, pull out the drawers to check for missed areas. Use a tiny artist brush to touch up any spots, and let everything dry completely before putting the piece back together.
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