How to Touch Up Interior Paint

Touching up interior paint can eliminate blemishes, scrapes and holes in walls. You do not have to pay for an expensive painter when you only need to fix a few small spots. Even large holes can be patched, spackled and touched up quickly and easily by following these simple steps.

Things You'll Need

• Paint
• Spackle
• Putty knife
• Sandpaper

Instructions

1. Patch all holes in the wall before painting. Fill in the hole with spackle and scrape off the excess with a putty knife. Large holes may require a patching kit from the home improvement or paint store. These kits have a mesh piece that is glued over the hole. The spackle is then applied on top of the mesh to seal up the hole.

2. Sand down the areas you patched with spackle so they are flush against the wall. If you have textured interior walls, splatter a small amount of spackle on the wall to emulate the texture on the rest of the wall.

3. Paint over the repaired or discolored areas with paint that matches the rest of the wall and let it dry overnight. It may take longer than 1 day to dry if you live in a very humid area.

4. Use fine-grain sandpaper to sand down the area you just touched up. This dulls the new paint and gets it ready for a second coat. Apply another coat of paint to the same area and allow it to dry overnight again. This step helps blend the repair in with the rest of the wall.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep some touch-up paint on hand for quick interior wall repairs.

• Be sure you have adequate ventilation when painting. Open windows and doors to let the air flow through your home and always wear a face mask.