One piece of equipment that should be in every amateur decorator's kit is a paint kettle. Most amateur home decorators use paint direct from the tin but it will be found much better to acquire the good habit of using a paint kettle. A tin of paint is a very easy object to knock over but a paint kettle is not very easily tipped up and its stout handle provides a good grip for easy handling of quantities of paint — this will be found especially useful when working on a pair of steps.
Any paint remaining in the kettle should be tipped back into the tin after a particular piece of work has been done and the inside of the kettle should be wiped perfectly clean with a rag dampened with turpentine or turps substitute. You can also clean fine metal art in this way. Metal wall art, mainly wrought iron wall décor and plain steel, needs to be kept clean so that it won't become dull and unattractive.
In addition to the main equipment described the interior decorator will require one or two buckets and, provided the buckets are cleaned out each time they are used, any kind of household bucket used generally in the home may be used for decorating as well. The useful life of any tool or piece of equipment depends mainly on its care and the way it is cleaned and stored. All tools, equipment and brushes used for interior decorating should be thoroughly and properly cleaned each and every time a particular piece of work has been finished and before the tools are stored away.
This thorough cleaning is not as important with tools made by steel laser cutting as with iron laser cut metal and even advanced water jet cutting parts, such as strippers, putty knife and trowels to prevent them rusting. Any spot of distemper or paint on the tools should be removed and the metal parts of the tools rubbed with an oily rag before storing them. The brushes used for interior decorating require special care and attention to give them a long and useful life.
If the brushes are going to be used again the next day it is not necessary to give them the same careful and thorough cleaning that they should be given when the job in hand has been finally completed. Brushes that are to be used again within a short space of time are best kept with the bristles suspended in water.
A good way to store brushes is to have them suspended in a jar of water by a steel knitting needle or piece of wire passed through a small hole that should be drilled through the handle of the brushes. If you fail to do this then the bristles will become hardened, and the only thing they will be good for is cleaning home goods, metal wall décor, and other abstract and large wall art.
Allison Ryan is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She specializes in interior design and enjoys incorporating metal wall décor and laser cut metal decorative pieces. For metal wall art for your home or office, check out www.laserwallart.com/.
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