How do I use a paint sprayer?

Before you use your paint sprayer, thoroughly prepare yourself, the room, and the paint. Put on a respirator and goggles, and cover everything in the room you don’t plan to paint. Because paint sprayers often create excessive overspray, tape down plastic or put paper drop cloths on furniture, decorations, and anything else you want to protect. Finally, you may need to thin the paint before you use it in order to produce a smooth finish; use latex paint thinner to thin out water-based paint and naphtha for oil-based paint.

 

Make sure your fittings are tight and that your paint bucket is full, and then insert the dip tube from the pump into the bucket. Next, turn the pump/recirculate button to recirculate and turn on the power to the sprayer. Wait two minutes as the sprayer pumps out any trapped air, and then point the nozzle towards a piece of cardboard or other testing spot and lightly pull the trigger. The spray area, or “fan,” likely has small tails on it; if it does, slightly increase the pressure using the pressure knob and continue testing until the tail disappears, being careful not to add too much pressure. You want enough pressure to eliminate overspray, but you also want to cover as much area as possible.

 

After testing, point the sprayer directly at the painting surface, holding the nozzle approximately twelve inches away from the surface. You should always have your arm (and thus the sprayer) in motion as you paint, so begin just to the left of where you want to paint, slowly move your arm (not just your wrist) to the right, and pull the trigger. If you are painting a door or other item with defined edges, don’t release until you pass the right edge, but if you are spraying a wall, release the trigger just before you reach the edge to ensure that your arm is still moving. 

 

To maximize the effectiveness of your sprayer, start by working on the tough spots, such as edges and corners, and then move towards large, central areas. Paint in horizontal strips with one-inch overlaps. Some experts recommend following your horizontal strips with vertical columns, and in any case, you can smooth out and touch up with a paintbrush any rough spots that need extra work. You may also want to remember that sprayed paint dries more quickly than brushed or rolled paint.

 

Paint sprayers have more parts than brushes and rollers, but they are still relatively simple to clean. Remove the sprayer tip and soak it in the appropriate solvent (paint thinner for oil-based paints; water for water-based paints). Rinse out the cup with the same solvent, and then run solvent through the hose until it runs clean. It will likely take at least three or four cycles of placing the hose in water or solvent and spraying it out before the solvent comes out clean. As always, be careful to dispose of pint and solvent in appropriate manners.