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This is a question that I must be asked 20 times a day. How To Paint Stripes and Seal Tape to keep the paint from seeping under on a textured wall. 

I am trying to paint stripes on a wall that has knock down texture on it. Is there a way to actually get straight lines -not jagged ones??? Please help- very frustrated. Kelly

Yes… Kelley, their is a Santa Clause! :o)

Their are tricks to get that tape to seal down… even on texture wall, so your stripes come out clean.

My two best tricks to prevent bleed under the tape:

1. Paint the stripes the base coat color of the wall first… then paint over that with the new color. The reason for this is… the first color will bleed into any areas that are missed by the tape, but this color matches the already painted area.
2. Paint the stripe with clear sealer. Any sealer that bleeds under isn't going to show. 

These two tips accomplish the same thing. The gaps that the tape has on textured walls is sealed with something that won't show. 

The best tape is the blue tape that has an orange cardboard core. The core is what the tape is wound around. It is called low-tack tape and it is especially made for freshly painted walls.  

Also… burnishing the tape with a spoon or credit card does help to get the tape down into the grooves of the wall.

Here is a video about painting stripes that should help also:

Now you know how to paint stripes seal tape! 

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Painting Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.