If you’ve got a lot of trim to paint and you’re using a paintbrush, you could hold onto that can the way the pros do and wait for the cramps to set in, but there’s a better way.
Walter Alvarez of Berkeley, Calif., has figured out how to make an ergonomic paint container out of a milk jug. here’s what he does:
It’s just your basic polyethylene milk container, but it has a handle on it, which makes it much easier to hang onto. And the shape of the jug also allows us to make a window in the side of it. It’s easy to cut; I’m just going to use a utility knife. And I’ve drawn a line for the window that we’re going to cut out.
So it’s that simple. There’s a portal where I can pour in my paint; there’s a lip where I can scrape the side of my brush to make sure the bristles are loaded up just right; and when I’m ready for a break I can store the brush in the hole that was already in the top of the jug.
Walter, that is a great tip. Thank you for sending it.
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When I use a milk jug like this, I make a little upside down U shape in the last inch off toward the side of the big opening, to act as a holster for the paint brush, so it doesn't slide sideways and drop into the paint.
Learned from a painter... Don't "scrape the side of the brush" against the side of the container. Often it just puts more paint down at the edge where it will drip. Instead, slap the brush back and forth against the side of the container. Excess paint will come off, yet there will still be enough on the brush.