With Aura you have to remember that once you put it on the wall, it dries fast. Any paint you put on the wall, you cannot really brush back into it 10 seconds later or you may have a mess. Just cut-in and move and don't play with it too much and keep moving and you should be fine.

Wait until it dries, then sand out the runs with fine sandpaper, then touch it up with a brush. For the touch up, just lightly dip your brush into the paint - don't get it too full of paint. It will look fine.

10 seconds! Is that any paint or just BM. Come one, 10 seconds and you can not hit it again...not my experience with non BM paints. I wonder if she got a bad mix or if the paint needs to be mixed.

Well maybe it's not 10 seconds exactly, but it's not much longer than that. This is just an issue with Aura. Aura is unique. Other BM paints will not have this problem.

It's more like 14.6 seconds.

Michael

ONE MINUTE is pretty much the "Outer Limits" for brushing-time with todays acrylics...often about HALF of that!!

Faron

Ok I calmed down a bit. I got the room painted, it could look better, butit is what is what it is. THe color is stunning, the applicaiton is so so.My ceiling looks pretty good, I kept paint off most of thebaseboards(eyes roll) I need to learn to do the thin culk line trim in thing. Can anyone direct me to a site with details on that or even better a you tube video?

Yes that aura paint is tricky, not for the novice I think. I used SW paint in a room the week prior (duration) and did not have all of these troubles. Kind of bruised my painting ego. Anyhow it;s for a 9 year olds room, she'll probably ask to put posters on it or something now to further my heart attack.

summiebee, glad it worked out. Here's what I do with baseboards and it works well for me. I put a line of painter's tape on the top of the baseboards, pressing down well. Then I paint a thin line of the paint (use a 1/2 artist brush for this) that the baseboards are painted with (in my case, it's SW extra white semi-gloss) along the edge of the tape that butts against the wall. All you want to do is seal the edge of the tape so when you edge with the wall paint, it doesn't seep under the edges of the tape. Let that paint dry. Go ahead and edge.

I leave the tape on the baseboards until after I've rolled the walls, because the tape picks up the little flicks of paint that fly off your roller.

I use the same technique for edging up at the ceiling. I tape the edge of the ceiling with wide painter's tape, then paint along the edge of that with the same paint I've used for the ceiling. Let dry, then edge. I also keep this on until after I've rolled the walls, because invariably I roll up a little too far and hit the ceiling. With tape there, it catches those overreaches.

When everything is mostly dry, pull the tape off. You'll have a crisp line. Just don't leave the tape on longer than a couple of days or else it gets harder and harder to pull off and you might pull some layers of paint off with it.

Some people like the clear caulk, but you have to put it on really thinly or else when you pull the tape off, you'll pull pieces of the painted wall off with the spread out caulk. I just have better luck with the painting method.

But if you're painting against stained woodwork, you'd have to go for the clear caulk.

Duration is nice, you just can't go back over it after about a minute or so. But if you wait until it's dry, you can go back and do corrections.

Try the SW Cashmere Low Lustre when you have a chance - luscious. Just did our bedroom and it has such an lovely glow to it and it feels as smooth as silk when you run your hand over it. It was pretty easy to work with - easier than the Duration, I think. It is supposed to be almost as durable as the Duration.

Hi randita, thanks for posting your description on how to do the taping.

I'm having trouble picturing how to do my baseboard treatment using your method with the tape. When you press the tape on the baseboards, do you mean that the 'far' edge of the tape is precisely in the seam where the wall meets the baseboard? And then you paint over that tape portion with the baseboard color paint?

How do I avoid getting the baseboard paint onto my wall when I'm painting the tape edge? Is that a function of using the small artist bruch and being extremely careful? :-)

You get baseboard paint on the wall but you don't care because you are painting over it with wall paint next.

Paintguy has it right. You tape the baseboards, then run that thin line of baseboard paint along the tape seam between the baseboard and the wall. Some of that paint will undoubtedly get onto your wall (which presumably you haven't painted to the new color next) If that paint seeps through the tape edges, you don't care because it is the paint that matches the baseboard. Once the seal on the tape edge has been created, then you edge along the baseboard with the wall paint.

If you've already painted your walls, then paint your baseboards afterward, that's another story. Then forget the tape. You just have to use a fine artist brush and carefully paint the baseboard with as straight a line as you can muster.

That's why - for a nice, straight line - it's best to paint the baseboards before the walls and use the taping method I described.

Cool--thanks for that level of detail! I can see now why it makes sense to paint the baseboards before the walls--the way paintguy put it, getting baseboard paint on the walls doesn't matter, because it'll just get covered over with the wall paint. :-)

Cool trick! I've never heard that before. Thanks!

Course in my current house, most baseboards are stained...But I look forward to trying it somewhere, someday.

Francy

Really, the trick will work with stained baseboards as well. Just use some Benjamin Moore StaysClear or any clear acrylic poly instead of paint. The clear will seep under the tape and it won't show on the baseboards because it is clear but your tape edge will now be sealed.

I actually use a flexible putty knife to blade down my tape before I paint and I hardly ever have seepage. I aim it at the back edge of the tape where it meets the wall, angle it slightly and usually go twice around the room. For corners where the putty knife won't fit I use a small screwdriver. A lot of people use their fingernails or their fingertips and since those are round they never hit the back edge of the tape and the paint easily seeps behind there. I don't recommend using a 5 in 1 tool either though many many painters love those things. It's too stiff and the blade is thick so you sometimes will miss that back edge of the tape and you will get seepage.