Toolbox: Painting Windows

I have a couple of tips that can cut your taping time in half. First, I always use blue painter's tape. It's a specialty tape that you can pick up at most area hardware stores and home centers. The blue color allows you to follow your line real quick and easy, and it sticks on the surface real well--but when you're finished and you are ready to take the tape off, it comes off very smooth and doesn't leave any residue. Just line it up and smooth it out. Get it into the corner, not being neat at all, and then I can press it in each corner and smooth the tape out. Then grab my utility knife and trim out the access. That's all there is to it.

Here's a trick for protecting window glass when you paint the frames:

• Cut newspaper into strips.
• Dip them in some water and wring out the excess.
• Put the wet strips on the windowpanes flush against the wood, just like you would with tape.

The paper will stick just long enough for you to paint. Then all you do is carefully pull the newspaper off. No sticky residue!