THAT PainterLady.com

Hi!  I used a Woolie pad several years ago with great success.  I have misplaced the video but, it seems to me that I remember that you were supposed to thin the paint with water before sloshing it on the wall.

However, in one of your responses you mention diluting the paint with glaze.  Is there a specific glaze material that works better than water, or would water do just as well?

Thanks for your time, Lynne

Hi Lynne,

So happy to have found a fellow Woolie pad lover!

First… the one thing you must do before paint ever hits the woolie pad… is it must be damp. Not wet, just damp. I usually run the pad under water and then shake the dickens out of it. Then… as extra measure… I squeeze it with a rag. This makes the pad damp but not wet.

I have thinned my paint with water and/or glaze… it just depends. Depends on what? Well… it depends on the humidity, the faux painting treatment I am trying to accomplish… and my mood.  

Why I use glaze? Because gives me more time to manipulate the finish on the wall. Glaze is better than water for this purpose.

Hope this is helpful…. Debra 

Several years ago I made the huge mistake of allowing my teenage daughter to pick the paint color for her room. She picked a bright shade of apple green paint. Now she's gone, and my husband wants something blue.

This is an old house with lath and plaster walls, so the wall surface is not quite as smooth as you might see in a drywall installation. I was thinking something textured would work to diminish minor imperfections. Can you suggest some overpainting technique/color that would tone down the apple green paint and turn it toward blue? Maybe a little of the green could still show through.

Your in luck! Green is actually a mixture of yellow and blue… so something blue should be easy to achieve.  

I also have another article here about How To Tone Down Apple Green Paint. 

Apple green is more yellow than blue… so to go over the top of this color we need to choose something with the same intensity just more blue.

First thing to do… hit a big paint store and pick up every paint chip that you think might be a match for your apple green color.  Then head on home… and choose one that looks very… very close. Just hold the paint chips up to the wall until one looks like a match.

Now you know what the color intensity is. The chips usually have 4 or 5 color variations on a chip card. Lightest to darkest. If your color is the middle color then you know that when you go back to the store your going to choose a color on a chip that is the middle color.

For a soft, natural look on your wall… keeping the color intensity the same is best.

Okay… so what color blue?  Choose something in a turquoise color.  I mean really turquoise. When you thin this color down with glaze and it is layered over the apple green color… the turquoise color will become more yellowish. This is because the yellow that is in the apple green is bleeding through.

The more blue… like sky blue… your new color is, the less the green will be noticeable.  Which should please your husband. :) 

A color wash technique should be easy to apply over your apple green paint.  But… make sure the apple green isn't a flat finish paint or this won't work. And… by using a color wash, you are creating a slight textured effect which will minimize the imperfections in your walls.  

I had my kitchen fauxed about 3 years ago and never been happy with it. They used gold under tone and light green and dark green it almost looks like an army jeep. How can I tone this down to a more yellowish gold color?

Judy

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Hi Judy…

Wow… an army jeep green kitchen?  Yikes.

So… let's remember one thing… the final layer of a faux finish will usually be the most predominate color.

That being said… adding a gold glaze over the top of you already faux painted walls will turn it more of a golden color.

You may have to go over it a few times to get the deep gold color you are looking for… but it should look fine after you have don this.

Good Luck!

Debra