At the time you want to use paint, it is of course important to have a good surface. It is useful that the surface is as smooth as possible. This ensures that the paint sticks well. When dealing with wood, this is often a matter of sanding. With a wall, you will have to make the wall even.
The one thing you should actually always make sure of is that the surface should be smooth. This makes the paint adhere better to the surface. However, levelling the surface can sometimes cause quite a few problems. This is why putty was invented. It is a way of keeping the surface nice and smooth.
There are several types of putty you can use. All of these have their qualities. Many people don't know how to use putty. This can be quite a job to do. This is why it is important to know in advance how to use putty.
What exactly is putty?
To be able to work with putty, it is first important to know exactly what putty is. This is sometimes quite difficult to know. It is also useful to know what properties filler has. This makes it easier to work with it.
Putty is actually a soft substance that you can smear on the wall to get rid of unevenness. You have to think of cracks and holes in the wall that you can fill with it. Putty offers a possibility to get all those unevennesses out of the wall. This gives you a smooth wall again which you can easily repaint.
The advantage of putty is that it consists of few binders with lots of pigment and filler. This makes it a kind of intermediate layer that is protected by the paint you put on top of it. However, this is not all you need to know about putty.
What is the difference between putty and filler?
The moment you are looking for putty, you will find out that you also have to deal a lot with the term filler. This can be quite confusing. This is because putty is actually just a type of filler. However, they are two different terms that are used. There is also a difference between the two.
The main difference between putty and filler is that putty is meant for small holes and cracks. These should not be much deeper than 1 millimeter with putty. It is of course possible to use filler for deeper holes, but this is a lot less practical.
Putty is a substance that shrinks quite a bit. If you use this on deep holes, you run the risk of having to apply several layers of filler. With filler, you have this problem a lot less. In general, it is a better choice to use filler instead of putty when it comes to deeper holes.
Types of filler
There are also different types of putty that you can make use of. The types of putty differ mainly for the material you can use it on. However, there are also a number of putties that can be used for multiple purposes.
Polyester putty
One of the types of putty you can use is polyester putty. This is a type of putty that is meant for substrates made of polyester and metal. Because of this, these are useful to use when there are bumps to be found in these fabrics. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to this.
The biggest advantage of polyester putty is that it has a very short drying time. The putty needs only 30 minutes to dry completely. This also makes it possible to sand and paint over the putty quickly. However, there are also a number of disadvantages to polyester putty.
For example, polyester putty absorbs a lot of moisture. Because of this it is not wise to use this putty outside. The absorption of moisture means that problems can arise once you have painted over it. This is because the polyester putty wants to get rid of the moisture again once it has been painted over.
Wood putty
Another form of putty is wood putty. As the name suggests, this putty is intended for wood. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to using wood putty over other forms of putty.
Wood putty is a putty that is good to use outdoors. This is because the putty absorbs relatively little water. This also prevents you from getting into trouble with the painting of the wood. The wood does not absorb so much water that you get problems with this when the paint dries.
The disadvantage of wood putty is that it needs a relatively long drying time. This causes you to sometimes have to wait up to 12 hours for the putty to dry. If you want to putty and paint quickly, this is not the best option to go for. In fact, there are a number of other alternatives that you can go for.
Fast drying putty
There is also putty that is specifically designed to dry quickly. This putty can be used for many different things. This is why it is one of the types of putty that many people choose. The advantage of this putty is that it dries quickly.
With fast drying putty you should think of a drying time of around 30 minutes. After these 30 minutes it is possible to sand the putty and paint over it. However, it is important to know exactly how to go about this. It is not useful to start sanding too soon. This can also bring a number of problems with it.
Paint Filler
The most commonly used form of putty is lacquer putty. This is because lacquer putty is the form of putty that is suitable for use around walls. At the time you need putty, it is usually because you are painting a wall. This is also what makes paint putty so popular to use.
Paint putty is a putty that is also suitable for spreading over paint. This makes it suitable for minor paint damages. Paint filler can be used on wood and stone. When you want to use putty on wood that is not painted yet, you better go for wood putty instead of paint putty. This is because lacquer putty does not work as well on this.
Using putty
Using polyester putty can still be quite a tricky task to do. It looks fairly simple, but it is important to have the right technique. Without the right technique it is not possible to use the polyester putty in the right way. Because of this, you have the danger that the polyester putty will not have the effect on the wall that you want it to have.
The moment you want to use polyester putty, the first thing that comes in handy is to have the right tools for this. This is because the tools make it possible to make use of the polyester putty. To use polyester putty, you generally use two putty knives as tools.
For example, you have a large putty knife and a small putty knife. The large putty knife you actually use as a kind of stock for the small putty knife. The small putty knife is then also used to putty the wall. Here it is also important to use the right technique for the puttying.
The technique behind puttying
The moment you want to start filling, it is important to approach this in the right way. Because of this, it is important to know exactly what technique is behind the puttying. The moment you know the technique, it is also a lot easier to start filling the holes yourself.
First, it is important to know that you are going to putty with the small putty knife. This is because you have the most control with this and because of this you can also put the best putty with this knife. Because of this, you don't have too much putty that you use.
Spraying the putty on the wall also has a certain technique that you must adhere to. For example, it is important to start with the putty knife at a 45 degree angle against the wall. After this, it is important to bring the putty knife closer to the wall and slowly but constantly drag the putty knife over the unevenness.
In this way, it is possible to fillet the wall tightly. This saves a lot of work if you don't feel like doing a lot of sanding. If you do not fill in the right way, in most cases it is necessary to sand a lot more. This can take a lot of effort and time that you can put into something else.
Puttying is often easier said than done. This is why it is important to get a feel for it. The moment you have a feeling for it, it is not too difficult to do. Often, however, this takes a lot of practice. This can sometimes be difficult to do.
Sanding after
The moment you have finished filling, it is of course first important to let the filler dry. This can take between 30 minutes and 12 hours. This mainly depends on which putty you use exactly. After drying it is possible to proceed to sanding the putty.
Putty is fairly tricky and some of it often sticks out after a while. Especially since putty shrinks, it is difficult to estimate this. This also ensures that it is necessary to sand a little after the time. The sanding of the putty ensures that it is again an even layer on the wall. This means that the crack or hole will no longer bother you.
At the time you want to start sanding the wall, it is important to start at a low fineness. This ensures that the putty can first be reduced to the size needed. After this it is possible to proceed with sandpaper with a slightly higher fineness. This ensures that the wall can be completely tight again. Especially with certain types of paint, it is important to make sure you sand well.
After sanding the wall, it is ready for the paint. You can now easily paint over the putty. However, it is important that the putty is dry and sanded. In this way you can be sure that you will not get into trouble with the putty. You don't want that when you've just finished filling the gap.