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I tried it and sorry to say that it wasn't any better than the blue tape.

I just saw a This Old House episode where they were painting a historic house with a lot of unpainted woodwork, and they didn't use any tape at all. They claimed it made them too confident and was too unreliable. Instead they kept clean rags on hand and immediately cleaned off any mistakes by wrapping the rag around a scraper and going along the edge.

The trick with painter's tape when painting stripes - particularly on textured walls - is to apply the tape, then paint over it with the base color to seal the tape to the wall.

Allow the paint to dry, then paint again with the contrasting color. Allow to dry completely, then peel the tape off in such a way that you're peeling away from the contrasting paint color so that the paint on the wall won't peel off with the tape.

I freehand trim too, home body, but I've heard that if you're, say, painting stripes on a wall, you can use your finger to smear a thin layer of paintable caulk along the edge of the tape you're painting.

I've used Frog tape and while it's noticeably better than blue tape, it's not infallible. Care in application also matters - with any tape, if you slap it up you may not have the working edge sealed.

I know a lot of pros don't use any tape at all, but my hands aren't that steady and I find especially along the ceiling sometimes even immediate wipeoffs can't quite get everything (not to mention that in some corners I end up mucking up the wet paint when trying to get it off the non-painted area). So I'm a taper.

One other note: Frog tape is even pricier than the already expensive blue stuff.

A lot of how a line turns out has to do with how you peel the tape off. You don't pull the tape straight off towards you, you have to pull or roll the tape back against itself to get a cleaner line.

I used the frog tape, and it worked really well, MUCH better than the blue tape, but we did have a few areas that didn't go perfectly. Overall, I was VERY happy. We bought it at Home Depot in Emeryville, but when I went back to get some a few days ago I could not find it anywhere. Anyone know where I can find some?

I've had the best success with cheap masking tape. It's not too sticky and the edges are very thin so it gives a cleaner line than the blue tape.

I have also tried the blue tape and the frog tape and they both bled. I have even tried using the glaze medium as suggested on a few websites. I had painted 12 inch horizontal lines just this last weekend and took a full day to correct the bleeding. I was told to free hand using a Purdy brush and was terrified, it was amazing and worked wonders. If I could free hand using this amazing brush I bet anyone could.

I have had good success with the blue tape. To get a clean, sharp edge I just did almost a "dry or very light" brush on the edges, let it dry and then painted. After painting I remove the tape right away.

Frog tape is no better than blue tape on textured drywall even when lots of care is given to burnishing the edges to ensure it adheres evenly - a big waste of time and money (as the tape is more expensive than the blue stuff I already had). If I ever try to do a stripe again, I think I'll try bepsf's idea.

Always use a Purdy paintbrush. Life is too short to mess around with crappy brushes.

I do edges freehand, but a paint professional once told me that if you use tape to tilt the brush so that the side you are holding comes over the tape. That way you don't push paint under the edges with your brush bristles.

I'm not even that phenomenal of a handpainter, but I've given up on taping and just freehand my trim. I'd rather see any mistakes as soon as I've made them than have my heart sink when I peel back the tape. (plus it's a lot faster!)

BEPSF is right!
The best way to paint a clean line is to lightly paint the edge of the tape with the base color, dry, then paint the contrasting color. the base color seals the tapes edge and you get a perfectly clean line, no bleeding.

I'm a production designer and watch my scenics do this all the time when painting film sets.

If you don't have the original wall color to prevent bleeding under tape, then you can use a clear satin water-based polyurethane. After laying down your tape, run your finger nail or a putty knife along the edge to press it it down helps with the bleeding as well. Also, there's different grades of blue tape out there, plenty to choose from and made for different applications to choose from. The frog tape is overpriced, save your hard earned money.

we've used the frog tape. another trick to using this is to lightly wipe it down with water (on a rag) once you apply it. the water "activates" the "paint block technology" -- hokey terms for some hydrophilic goo... but it works -- basically swells to fill the voids. likely no better that bepsf's old-school solution, but it works.

Nthing bepsf.

Also, if you're taping off the ceiling, it looks better to have a little wall color on the ceiling looks way way way better than a little ceiling color on the walls. Tape accordingly!

(We used Frog Tape to paint our bedroom; it was better than blue tape, but not perfect. Scrap expensive tape and just paint like this!)

I did find it to be better than blue tape, but even better for our clumsy paint jobs was a edging paint brush we got from home depot. dint need any tape and perfect edges! just ask the person in the painting section.

It doesn't matter what type of 'mask' you use, except that painter's tape pulls off a wall better than plain old masking tape, but the trick is to pre-paint the area where you want the crisp line with either wall paint or polyurethane or artist's glazing medium in order to provide a barrier for paint running under any mask (i.e., tape). Artist's use glazing medium, and in my experience it works the absolute BEST (about $8 for a small can), glazing medium also doesn't distort the paint color or alter the top finish the way regular wall paint or poly do (depending on paint pigment, your wall's textural finish, etc).

To summarize:
* apply your tape
* apply glazing medium (available at regular-old-paint stores) over both the tape and the wall onto which you'll be painting - don't skip, fairly liberally to the area where the tape & wall meet
* allow that to dry until it's no longer tacky
* paint your wall color, allow that to dry, paint your second coat if needed (Benjamin Moore's Aura line doesn't need a second coat for most colors)
* remove the tape (and using this method it doesn't matter which direction you remove it in) and with blue painter's tape I've waited to remove the tape up to 72 hours after the last coat was put on and still get a perfect edge

I learned this technique from an artist, who works on canvas, who was applying the same principle to painting his home and wanted crisp geometrics on his wall... works like a charm.

The trick is not to leave the tape on the wall to long. I have painted my whole house useing the blue tape. People ask if I hired a prefessional painter. I tell them "attention to detail baby, attention to detail!".

I solved the problem by painting everything white.

I do what chicity1126 does. If I'm doing something decorative and have to keep the tape up long after it dries, THEN I do the basecolor or clearcoat sealing thing.

Painter's tape is already pricey, I get annoyed just paying for the blue tape, why pay even more if you don't have to? Just paint more carefully ;)

i am painting my living room right now and I just spent the whole day taping off the ceiling and the trim. my question is, if I paint the first coat, but then wait overnight to paint the second coat, will I have problems when I remove the tape?

I love it so much more than the blue tape. Randomly i was just in home depot looking for it this weekend (the only store in town that carries it) and they've STOPPED SELLING IT. PPl weren't buying it b/c it was more expensive. I was annoyed.

I got a free roll from Sherwin Williams mgr. I'd bought a ton of paint etc. for a job, so they gave me a few freebees. I thought the tape worked well when I wanted to keep the wall paint off the trim. I try to paint as if the tape isn't there, not slop paint on the tape liberally. It's a safety net for the paint that goes astray. I do use a good quality Purdy brush, with is more than worth the cost. Take care of them and they last a good long time. Gives a nice clean edge. This month's Handyman mag has an article on painting the perfect trim.