posted October 21, 2009 04:58 PM
Dawud recently showed a great window splash video and got me thinking.
First of all... why do house / interior painters always wear white overalls... seems silly when a "blank canvas" of white would only be beneficial if white was the only colour they paint. Otherwise... any other colour is going to show quite dominantly.
That aside - have your clothes "improved" (for those that actually sling paint) over time. These days I seem to be able to paint in clothes without marking them - apart from the habit of wiping my fingers on them.
I have clothes that are quite old (albeit tighter) and every colour tells a story.
-------------------- Gregg Sydney Signworks (02) 9837 1198 Schofields NSW Australia Posts: 368 | From: Schofields | Registered: May 2007
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posted October 21, 2009 06:19 PM
It's all part of the professional 'allure'.
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted October 21, 2009 06:29 PM
Haha. Gregg, I painted houses for a while and if I had a quarter for every time I heard, "did you get any on the wall?" I could retire.
-------------------- Darcy Baker Darcy's Signs Eureka Springs. AR. Posts: 1169 | From: Eureka Springs, AR | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted October 21, 2009 06:44 PM
I buy Tshirts and long sleeve Tshirts that get splattered all the time. I do an athletic wear company's windows that sells me the seconds for a buck each, so I usually have a healthy supply of new tshirts. In the cooler weather, I wear sweatshirts that do get splattered, but usually some teenager comes up to me at some point and wants to buy the one I have on to look cool. I carry a spare or two in the truck. I did have an extra heavy white one from the Gap that was splattered with all colors fluorescent, that I wore for years, but some 25 year old woman offered me $50 for it. Duh. Sold it.
My ladder gets covered with drips. My jeans too, but amazingly, I manage to keep most of the color off the concrete in front of windows. I have been known to mix up some gray from time to time to touch up a few spots on the concrete. The guys who clean my windows for me ahead of my efforts know to look for any drips and to drop some stripper on them, so the rain washs them away. In 21 years of doing this, I have never had a complaint about drips, however years ago when I was starting out, I did drop 6 ounces of black poster on some fresh epoxy pebble walkway in front of one window. That freaked me out! I poured about a half gallon of mineral spirits on the area and paper towelled up most of it, then used a garden hose. The owner was not there when it happened and his widow sold the place in a few months after he crashed and burned in a race car. It was a high end Saab store. Whew!
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted October 21, 2009 06:54 PM
I studdied in college to be an industrial arts teacher.....at that time, it was the norm for male teachers to wear jackets and ties (boy have times changed). We were expected to do the same (maintain a professional look)in all our classes: graphics, metals, wood, auto etc.
I don't think I ever spoiled a piece of clothing in the 9 years I spent teaching in the graphics, metals or wood shops.
Likewise, in the past 31+ years, my clothing has no stories to tell......I however, lol, have more than a few.....got a minute?????
Joe,
Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!
-------------------- Joe Cieslowski Connecticut Woodcarvers Gallery P.O.Box 368 East Canaan CT 06024 jcieslowski@snet.net 860-824-0883 Posts: 2345 | From: East Canaan CT 06024 | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted October 21, 2009 09:28 PM
I have lots of stories and lots of paint on the clothes. Since I started doing a lot more digital prints, my appearance has changed a lot. It used to be strictly tshirts with paint splattered all over them and shorts that came below the knee with sneakers or sandals. Casual stuff. Since I've been doing higher end wraps/digital stuff I still dress casual, but wear khakis/jeans with polos/ Only the occasional paint spot on the clothes now. Although, I keep a full set of paint clothes ready to go in the truck in case a splash job pops off spur of the moment!!
posted October 22, 2009 06:54 AM
I keep special clothes just for painting because I am a slob. Rachael and I were shopping last week and lo & behold they were selling "designer" jeans which were splattered with printed-on paint. She said "Look Mom I can dress like you!" I remember a man posting here that any time he needed to be dressed up for an occasion he just painted his shoes black to cover the sign paint on them. Love....Jill
Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted October 22, 2009 07:10 PM
I wear the "painters paints", until they get so bad I toss 'em. I do use dropcloths, customers seem to appreciate that and some have said so, and sometimes even those orange cones when foot traffis may be an issue, although some people are busy watching me up on a ladder that they trip right over a cone. Doing alot of window work and at a pretty brisk pace it's better than having to spend time cleaning something up, although I do work pretty clean most of the time,.....if you paint "enough" spills happen! T-shirts last awhile, and I do buy sweatshirts from thrift stores at a couple of bucks a piece, also cake pans (for roller pans), and those butter knifes that are made for a butter dish are just some of the little gems to be found and recycled. We all have our stories of spills etc. and would like to think that it may never happen again (knock on wood), but never say never!
-------------------- Rich Stebbing RichSigns Rohnert Park CA 707-795-5588 Posts: 755 | From: Rohnert Park, CA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted October 22, 2009 08:40 PM
I do window splashes and always use drop clothes and put a piece of masking tape on window sills. Just yesterday I was trying to carry too many things at once and dropped half gallon of flat latex in the paved parking lot. What a mess and very embarrassing. I only had half a roll of paper towels and two 5 gallon buckets of soapy water with me. I got most of it up, then had to guard the spot in case someone walked in it and tracked it into their cars. This really put a dent in my day. I hope a pressure washer will work to remove the remaining residue. Any ideas?
-------------------- John Browning JBG John Browning Graphics 439 East St Hebron CT Posts: 75 | From: Hebron Ct | Registered: May 2008
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posted October 22, 2009 10:05 PM
When my Tshirts get covered, I neatly stack a dozen of them in the back of my truck, inside a plastic snap container. Voila! Instant paint rags. That one only took me about ten years to get.
Removing latex on asphalt or concrete? On concrete, use stripper, first, then the pressure washer. On asphalt, just pressure wash and then try using some black poster on a rag with mineral spitits to fill the lower cavities.
The secret to having no drips or spills is definitely experience. You just have to out-think it. If it is too thin, it runs. If it is too thick, it is hard to run long straight lines. You just have to get to know the stuff. Verticle lines are usually best done from the bottom, up, but watch that first inch or so. Horizontal lines...try pulling six inches across and then restroke the whole line. I can usually do a 40" horizontal one inch line, if that tells you how thin the paint has to be. Another trick is to avoid the foamies which drip incessantly. I use the Nocturnas or #20 quills.
Another trick I learned is to coreplas the heck out of the back of my truck bed. Clear tape the edges and keep coating it out with white latex, everytime I am done with a white roller, to keep the back looking fresh. Just having it look neat does seem to encourage more neatness, I have found. You just have to learn form your booboos.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted October 23, 2009 08:38 AM
I just don't see how it's possible to do any serious painting without some drips or spills somewhere along the line. I quit buying white t-shirts a long time ago and went to the light grey (sweatshirt-type color). In contrast to the white, which a dirty hand print, or some smudge off a board or whatever can make you look sloppy; they don't show such stuff. Maybe you could say they just look dirty all the time.
Most all of my 'normal' everyday clothes have a spot of paint (or several) on them somewhere. My wife is always after me about " don't you have any pants without paint on them?"....that type of thing. I just tell her that's my advertising, and go on. Just part of the whole, I guess.
I even have a special outfit I wear on occasion. One nice pair of Wranglers and a not-too-old pair of New Balance sneakers. Just putting the finishing touches on a large MDO sign; got down off the ladder and bumped it. The pint can of bright red hit me in the beltline, down the left leg of my pants and covered my left shoe. Every now and then, I wear them, just for special occasion.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted October 23, 2009 03:28 PM
tried the white ... but for me what a laugh and waste ..if only I got paint on them I'd be fine I could be working on truck, scraping metals, playing with dog, and a bunch of other stuff that just plain gets me dirty to fast for white
thirft store jeans, shirts when to painted or dirt that's to tough to remove well next
posted October 24, 2009 11:31 PM
G'day White overalls were always part of a painters "uniform" because the old fashioned Kalsomine & Majora paints were removed by boiling in a "copper" ( a wood fired washing system )
Boiling other colours naturally buggered the colour
See Ya
-------------------- Kevin Smith Kevin Smith Signs "Belrose" 1441 Cassilis Road Mudgee NSW Australia kssigns@hwy.com.au Posts: 1 | From: Mudgee NSW Australia | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted October 26, 2009 07:30 AM
I've seen bright red let. enamel jump from out of nowhere and land on me. It must be some sort of phobia, but I don't even have to be working with that color and it will somehow get on me.
All love ones in my life have tried in vain to cure me of the habit of getting paint on me. But it ain't happenin'.
Eventually they have come to realize the futility of it all and just kind of let me be. But I have the ability to become "one" with paint.
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted October 26, 2009 08:57 AM
I have also found that I do not just attract paint like a magnet. Yesterday I somehow got carpet adhesive on the hiney of my best jeans. Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted October 26, 2009 11:07 AM
Try 84 Wendys in 11 days and add in 3000 miles of driving! I love banging out stuff fast, as long as I know what I got to do and have the spelling correct in my head. Cheeseburger does have three 'e's in there. "Factory Warranty Remaining".... remaining, not remaing times 30 windshields. "#1 Customer satisfaction Leader"....of yeah, there is an 's' in the middle of satisfaction, I noticed a year later when it was on television in their ad.
As I have said all along, I need spell check in my brush!
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted October 27, 2009 01:46 PM
Well over the past 20 years I have worn denim overalls/shortalls while painting and many times was told how cool they look. LOL Nearly everything I own has paint on it. My Dad was a platerer and always wore white pants and shirt. Well plaster was almost always white but I've used nearly every color of the rainbow. "The Designer Look" is what I call it. T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, doesn't matter they all get splashed sooner or later!
-------------------- Wanda B. Goode Artist P.O. Box 210636, Bedford, TX, USA Posts: 12 | From: Bedford, TX | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted October 27, 2009 04:00 PM
That Wendy's gig sounds sweet, Preston. When I did those ones in the video. I left out the $ sign on the first two. OOPS! Good thing I was still in the neighborhood when I realized it. As for spills and splashes. I've got to say the best one I ever had was when I didn't put the lid on my AURORA FLOURESCENT PINK tight enough and it spilled in the back of my truck while I was driving then proceeded to drip out of my tailgate all the way from the jobsite to where I was having lunch. When I got back to the Car dealership I had this huge line of Flouro Pink stretching about 100 feet or more until it went into the street. Did I have a fun day of clean up that day? Haha!
posted October 28, 2009 12:42 AM
Did a Hyundai store today, but it was 250 miles away. Gracie complained, voicirferously when I got back at 8:45 pm and left at 5 AM. My buddy Suzie came over and let her out, but I did manage to get 80 W/S done and a walk up winder done. I dripped red all over the side of a 740BMW cause I was moving too fast, so my 'experience' is a myth! Interesting how Fluoro red looks kinda hot and a green 740. Should have used a drop cloth? No way. We splaskers know how to wipe fast and never let them see us.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted October 30, 2009 02:09 PM
Back when I worked at a bench ( easel ) the upper parts of my pants caught hell. These days it's only the shoes. Since we converted to urethane's, the mess is less do to very little transference. Whenever I do work with enamels, I can't believe how it gets EVERYWHERE.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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