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What You Need in Your Painter’s Tool Kit

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced painter, you really need to have a “Painter’s Took Kit” full of products and tools you use on a regular basis.  This is especially handy for the beginner, so you know what products you will need to keep on hand at a moments notice.

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Item 1: A box or cart to hold all these items in one spot so they are ready and easily accessible.   This could be as simple as a small cardboard box or as fancy as a craft cart from your local craft store.

Item 2:  Good brushes.  Your paint finish will only be as good as the brush you use to apply it.  I use Dixie Belle’s synthetic brushes for my projects because they give a smooth finish and as long as you keep them clean….they last a long long time .   There are a lot of brushes to choose, so if I were to only buy 2…. I would buy the Dixie Belle Mini and the Dixie Belle Oval Medium.  I use the Mini for laying on my paint and I use the Oval Medium (dry with no paint on it ) to blend out colors to give an airbrushed blended look.

Item 3:  Dixie Belle Mud.  The Dixie Belle Mud has so many uses.  I use it to fill in missing veneer, deep scratches, hardware holes…. and so much more.    Its easy to apply and sands smooth with a 220 or higher grit sandpaper.  Brown is the what I use the most.   TIP:  After you open the container you have to store it in the refrigerator to keep it from spoiling.

Item 4:  Slick Stick.   Slick Stick is Dixie Belle’s bonding primer.  It is formulated to make any slippery surface or high gloss surface a paintable and your paint will stick without scratching off.   I use this a lot on my high gloss finishes, glass, plastic and formica….. oh and it works great if you are painting your counter tops.

Item 5:  BOSS in Clear.   BOSS is a stain blocker, bleed through blocker and odor blocker.  I use this on mahogany, cherry or high grain wood furniture to prevent bleed throughs, or if a piece has an oil ring/stain, or has that “funky” smell we sometimes come across when getting a great deal on that antique piece of furniture.   I recommend the clear because that way you can still distress your piece to show the wood, and also it works to correct a bleed through if it happens after you paint.  If you paint a piece and you see a bleed through happen, you apply the clear BOSS on the bleed through area to seal it in and then repaint that spot and you’re problem is solved.

Item 6:  Easy Peasy Spray Wax.   This is a clear wax that is easily applied just by spraying it on and wiping it back off.  I love it also as a wax eraser.  If you make a mistake with your colored wax, you can use this on a rag to remove your mistake.   Its also great for maintaining your wax finish.  You can spray this on your piece a year later to revive your wax finish look quick and easy.   Shake the bottle, spray it on , wipe it off …. good to go 🙂

Item 7:   Colored Wax.   I personally use the Best Dang Wax in Brown the most.  I feel its one of the easier ways to bring out the details in a furniture piece and also give it an aged look if that is what you’re going for.  The brown wax is so versatile…. LOVE IT 🙂   I have a blog / youtube video I will link here on how I use the Easy Peasy wax with the Brown wax applied with the chip brush here.

Item 8:  Clear Coat in Satin.   I love Dixie Belle’s Gator Hide for all my table tops, but if I could only have 1 sealer, I use the clear coat in Satin the most on the body of my pieces.  Its a nice finish, easy to apply and has great durability as well.

Item 9:   A misting bottle.    Water is the key to using less paint and getting a smooth finish (along with your great brushes).   Your Dixie Belle paint will go much further and you will be able to blend easily if you are using a misting bottle.  Regular water bottles spray large water droplets and you have less control of your spraying, but using a misting bottle you are only applying a soft mist to your piece and you have more control of the water placement.  I couldn’t get the finishes I do without out my misting bottle.   TIP:  Don’t use water from your sink, use bottled water to fill your mister.  I have well water that has deposits in it that can contaminate my paint or discolor lighter colors.

Item 10:  A multi tip screw driver.  I love these little things so much….. all the tips I need all interchangeable for removing what ever hardware I need to without having to keep a handful of different screw drivers around.  These can be found at pretty much every hardware store…. and some even come in pretty colors (yippie….my hubby doesn’t want to borrow my baby blue screw driver anymore so it stays in my tool box ready for me at all times.)

Well, these are my essentials…… if you want to know what colors of paint you should have on hand, that is a matter of personal preference.   I keep Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, Fluff and Sandbar on hand at all times because they colors blend beautiful with so many colors.

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