This tool will help you learn how to paint the edges of walls seamlessly

Wall painted in abstract colour blocks around white fireplace

(Image credit: Carolyn Barber)

published 9 May 2023

If you’re anything like us, you might have started to use TikTok as a stand-in search engine recently, especially when it comes to queries around the house.

Chances are, if you’re wondering it, someone on TikTok has answered it, and if you’ve been searching for how to paint a wall, or more specifically how to paint the edges of walls, then we’ve found just the hack, and product, for you.

Usually, when it comes to learning how to cut in paint, decorator's tape is the way to go, with the removal of the tape at the end of the process meaning you should achieve a nice clean finish.

But if you find that using tape gets you in a bit of a tizz, or you just want to speed up your DIY day, then there’s a genius buy for £15 that might help you out.

The hack to help paint edges of walls

In the first video, Sarah from Bourn to Create shares her secret weapon for painting corners and edges, which you can pick up from Amazon for just £15.05.

@bourntocreate
♬ original sound - Sarah | Bourn to Create

As Sarah shares, a paint edger can be a great tool for DIY, once you get to grips with how to properly use it. In essence, it’s a small plastic tool with two guide wheels and a pad that you can apply paint to - you then run down the edge of your wall to create clean lines next to your door, window, or in corners easily.

Problems can arise if you're not completely comfortable with using the paint edger, which is why this TikTok from The Daily DIY is excellent for helping you to get the most from this inexpensive tool.

The video is packed full of tips to help you get the most from your paint edger, including using a lint roller to keep the pad free from specks of dirt that could spell trouble on your walls and blotting the pad to make sure that you’re not applying too much paint at once.

It’s important that you keep the tiny wheels on the edger moving too by making sure that paint doesn’t get into the grooves, as otherwise, you won’t get the same fluid movement that creates the clean effect. The TikToker from the video recommends using a wet cloth to do any cleaning up as necessary.

Living room detail with a black console table against a half painted blue wall and artwork

Once you’ve used the edger, it’s essential to take care of the outer edge fairly quickly so that you get a good blend with the rest of your wall too. That’s where your larger roller will come in and then you can get on with painting the rest of your wall.

If you’re in the midst of renovations, this £15 buy might be just the thing to help your DIY look ultra-professional and save you from hours of painstaking tape application and removal. Sounds like a win-win to us!

Molly is Ideal Home’s Kitchen Appliances Editor and an all-around baking and cooking enthusiast. She joined the team in September 2022 as an Ecommerce Editor after working across Real Homes, Homes & Gardens and Livingetc. She's been reviewing products for 4 years and now specialises in weighing up kitchen essentials' pros and cons, from air fryers to bean-to-cup coffee machines.

She's always been a keen reader, so after graduating from the University of Exeter in 2020 she was thrilled to find a way to write as a full-time job. Nowadays, she spends her days at home or the Ideal Home test facility trying out new kitchen innovations to see if they’re worth a space on your worktop. Her most beloved and hard-working appliance is her Sage coffee machine though she also takes the title of Ideal Home’s in-house air fryer expert after writing about them religiously over the past few years.

When she's not thinking or writing about kitchen appliances, she loves getting around London exploring new places, going for a dip at the Ladies’ Pond and consuming every bit of pop culture she can get her hands on.