Aug 30, 2013

when DIY goes bad...

...i also could have titled this post :

"how to get paint out of your hair",

OR

"how to get paint off slate floors"

cuz, yeah.
i had a little paint MISHAP yesterday evening:

as you know, i have been putting off painting gradys bathroom for weeeeeeeeks now. i finally got the motivation last night at about 8pm to start. i know. bad idea #1.


 things were actually going very well. i finished all the prep work in under an hour, started cutting in along the ceiling and around the toilet,vanity and door, and was rolling the walls by 10, happily and loudly listening to pandora on my iphone. (a little abba with some disney movie songs thrown in. don't ask. i was in a weird mood.)


 i had finished my second coat, and had some paint in a container that i was using to do touch-ups along the ceiling. i totally forgot that i left the container of paint on the ladder...until i went to move the ladder and felt the paint fall on my head!!
and drip down my neck!
and basically get alllll over me and the floor.



of course, i had a drop cloth down, but about half of the paint that hit the floor happened to land on the one spot where the drop cloth had pulled away! yeah. good times.
what a mess!


not to mention the fact that i was trapped---there was paint all over my feet, so i had my husband and kids race around the house to get me some rags and paint thinner.
oh, and a coke zero.
you know, just the necessities.


so, i first washed the slate with some warm soapy water, which might have been a bad idea, but i was in full panic mode, and would have rubbed just about anything on the floor if it was in the bathroom. it actually did a pretty good job of removing a lot of the paint.

when i finally got a hold of some  paint thinner, i put that on a rag and rubbed and scrubbed. i was a little disappointed. i had to rub REALLY hard (at first with the rag, and then a kitchen scrub brush) and even then, there were little particles of paint that were stuck in the "grain" of the slate.


i ultimately tried using steel wool with the paint thinner, which seemed to work really well, but what really helped to removed the last bit of paint that was stuck in the grain of the tile was a magic eraser!
who knew.


the base board is still a mess...
you can see the haze that is on the tile BEFORE the magic eraser:



and here it is after the magic eraser:


i was happy with how the paint came off the floors. 
(it was definitely more difficult to get the paint off of a natural stone floor that off of ceramic tile. because i have spilled paint on ceramic/porcelain tile before--although not to this degree!-- and it was much easier to get off!)

oh, and one painting tip:
wrap your toilet with a trash bag while painting to keep from getting paint on the back while painting!
(if only i had also wrapped my head!)


which brings me to another tip:
how to get paint out of your hair!!
(i never thought i would be writing a tip on removing paint from hair. or maybe i HOPED i would never be writing a tip on removing paint from hair.)

here is what worked for me:
round 1: 
conditioner + 3-row comb (also called a pocket brush)


i just put some conditioner on my hair, and combed through it for a few minutes with the 3 row comb. it was like MAGIC. i kid you not. doing this removed about 90% of the paint in my hair.
(there have been times when i have had paint in my hair for days after painting a room. not anymore! i am going to do this from now on.)

round 2:
shampoo + rinse + conditioner + comb.
i just shampooed and rinsed my hair like normal, applied conditioner and combed it again.
voila.
ALL of the paint was gone.

potential mental breakdown averted.
for now.

anyway....here is the room this morning:


it was a late night, and i have a busy day. i still need to finish cleaning up the non-paint-spill mess from the bathroom, and do about 35 other things around the house....


but, i am happy to report that the floor looks almost as good as new. 
i still need to mop it and do some touch up scrubbing with the magic eraser.
and, the baseboard where the spill happened will need to be sanded and repainted.

but that can wait for another day. my kids get out of school early today, and i think i deserve a pedicure.
don't you agree?



have a happy weekend!

27 comments:

  1. Oh no!!! glad you were able to get everything cleaned up relatively easily. Sorry for your troubles - especially after you finally got motivated to paint. Enjoy your pedicure.

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    1. ah! thank you! the pedicure was especially nice---NOT having paint on my toenails was pretty great!!

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  2. Oh my! What a mess. Glad it could be all cleaned up. And don't worry, my Pandora stations rotate from Classic Disney to Rap. Weird moods indeed!

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    1. ha! glad to hear i am not the only one. my husband thinks i am crazy because i will (literally) listen to a pandora station all day that only plays songs from les mis. (but then the next day, i will listen to 80's pop or imagine dragons....)

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  3. You deserve an entire spa day after what you've been through. I have no doubt that it will be a beautiful space in the end.

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  4. So now I understand the pedicure on Instagram...yes indeed you DO deserve it! What a perfect rescue of the entire situation!!! Have a nice (painless) weekend!

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    1. ha! yes. i am kinda all over the place, huh? :)

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  5. I hope you got the pedicure and dinner at restaurant of your choice. Here's hoping Grady appreciates his painted bathroom.

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    1. agreed! and yes---he does like it. but not NEARLY as much as he SHOULD like it.
      ha!

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  6. I have done things like that before, so you are not alone! I appreciate learning your tip on getting the paint out of your hair, I mean, who would of known you would become an expert at it? It looks wonderful, and you DO deserve a pedicure after that fiasco, poor thing. But it sounds like you realized there wasn't much you could do but to act fast and hope for the best, and luckily it worked out.

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    1. yeah, really! who knew i would become an expert on getting paint out of hair.
      and yes---i can totally lose my cool when bad things like that happen, but this time i was pretty calm---must have been all that disney radio!
      ;)

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  7. My painter says to use denatured alcohol on latex paint to remove it. Not sure what it would do to slate floors, though. Or hair for that matter.

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  8. The color looks good on you! Just kidding...i do like the color!

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    1. ha! why thank you! i guess i got a little preview of what my hair could look like when i am in my 80's right??

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  9. So glad to hear that I'm not the only one who's left something on top of a ladder! I left a hammer once on top of a ladder and then moved it, it fell on my had and I got a concussion! Ugh!
    And btw, your bathroom is going to be great! I love what you got going on in there!
    Cheers!

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    1. wow! that would NOT feel good! at least i didn't crack my head or a tile---i just had to stay up till 2am scrubbing. but a concussion? yeah....NOT fun!

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  10. Replies
    1. HA!!! HA! that made me laugh out loud! thanks for the chuckle. :)

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  11. Oh hun I felt sooo bad for you! Glad it wasn't a big ordeal to get it out of your hair, great tips!

    I was so happy to see your beautiful tile floor was saved (albeit with a LOT of hard work)

    Thanks for keeping it real!

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  12. Oh hun I felt so bad for you! Glad you got it all out of your hair, great tips!

    SO happy the beautiful floor was saved! Thanks for keeping it real!

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    1. thanks annie! alllll better. the pedicure sure helped me feel better.... :)

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  13. I second the recommendation for alcohol (I use rubbing alcohol) to remove latex paint--even dried. Really works, as I discovered when a messy painter recently repaired some nail pops but dribbled the wall paint everywhere--bannister, granite counter, wooden bar stools. For alkyd paint, I've had good luck using salad oil on washable surfaces (like my hands and yes, my hair--I once sprayed a can of spray paint at my face), and then soap and water to remove the oil. Beat turpentine on my skin. I wouldn't use oil on something porous like the floor unless you're going for instant patina, though.

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  14. I second the recommendation about alcohol for latex paint (I use rubbing alcohol). I just did that when a messy painter repaired nail pops and dribbled latex wall paint on the bannister, granite counter, wood barstools. Didn't hurt the finish on any of them, but ate right through the paint with little effort, amazing! Thirty years ago, I read this tip in a painting booklet, and I've had good luck with it: For alkyd and other "oil" paints, use salad oil to clean up drips on washable surfaces, doesn't matter whether it's peanut, olive, safflower, etc. I've used it on previously painted trim and glass or my hands and yes, even my hair (I once pointed a spray can the wrong direction and sprayed my face!). Once I've removed the paint, I wash the oil residue with soap and water. A lot better for me than the turpentine I used to use, too.

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    1. thank you so much! its crazy to think that after an initial google search, alcohol didnt show up. i actually have some splatters on the granite that i need to take care of, so thanks for the tip!

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  15. OMG.....and 10:00 at night! You poor girl! Yes....you definitely need a pedicure.

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