WATCHING PAINT DRY
I painted my fence 4 different ways – the tanning mitt trick is genius but don’t bother with the £1 viral hack
Watch the video to see which method is worth a go this weekend
WHEN it comes to jobs, there are few more tedious - or time-consuming - than painting a garden fence.
And while there are a whole host of products on the market which claim to make the process quicker and easier, there's also some bizarre hacks doing the rounds online.
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But do they really work?
As our garden fence was in desperate need of a spruce up, I tackled the panels with four different techniques.
I timed how long it took to paint a single strip using each method, the mess involved and how good the coverage was once the paint was on - giving each one a star rating out of five.
£1 car washing sponge
One of the most popular hacks circulating on social media during the run up to our so-called summer was to use a sponge to paint the fence.
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Fans say it's much easier, and quicker, to apply the paint using a sponge - similar to the one you'd use to wash a car - rather than using a standard brush.
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I grabbed a £1 sponge from my local Tesco, and got to work.
Because our fence is fairly new and this is the first lick of paint it has seen, the wood soaked it up in seconds.
The paint was fairly easy to apply, despite the spillage when I used the sponge to take it carefully out of the tin.
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I felt like it was going on quickly, and fairly evenly, but it was the most time consuming of all the methods taking just over a minute to do two panels.
My messy garden had a dirty patio & see-through fence - I gave it a budget glow-up & transformed the slabs for 55p
Extra time was spent going back over what looked like patches on the boards because the coverage wasn't that great during the first application.
It isn't worth spending the extra time it takes to apply the paint because a standard paint brush would do the job better in just one coat.
Fake tan mitt
Another fence painting method raved about online is the fake tanning mitt.
I'm notoriously bad at applying fake tan but could I do a better job with the fence?
I wore woolly gloves beneath the mitt but as soon as I dipped it into the paint, my hands were cold and wet - very uncomfortable.
But once I got to work the paint went on like a dream.
Although having to constantly dip the mitt back into the paint pot was fiddly, it was quicker than the sponge method
And there was minimal mess on the concrete fence base and the grass.
However, once the paint had dried, it looked patchy and it would definitely need another coat.
Standard brushstrokes
Going back to basics, I used the four inch Ronseal Fence Life brush.
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Using a paint brush felt familiar and probably explains why I found it so easy but I did manage make a fair bit of mess.
However, I did get through two panels in just 39 seconds with even coverage.
My fence painting verdict
SPONGE
- Cost: £1
- Time taken to do two strips: 1 minute 4 seconds
- Splatter factor: Minimal
- Verdict: Don't think it's worth the extra time
- Score: 3/5
FAKE TAN MITT
- Cost: £2.99
- Time taken to do two strips: 53 seconds
- Splatter factor: Minimal
- Score: 3/5
BRUSH
- Cost: £5.31
- Time taken to do two strips: 39 seconds
- Splatter factor: Medium
- Score: 4/5
SPRAYER
- Cost: £26.93
- Time taken to do two strips: 19 seconds
- Splatter factor: High
- Score: 4/5
Fence sprayer
The most expensive of all the options was to use Ronseal's Precision Pump Fence Sprayer, which retails for around £26.93.
It took some getting used to, as I've never used a fence sprayer before.
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And the first time I tried it out, I accidentally got too close, meaning that the coverage was way too thick and gloopy.
However, after experimenting slightly, I found that standing a bit further away resulted in a much better finish.
It was also VERY fast, and I finished the two strips in just 19 seconds.
But I think the key with a sprayer is to prepare well before hand, making sure nearby areas are covered to cut the clearing up time.
The splatter factor was immense, and the paint went everywhere.
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It also isn't a very considerate method if you've got neighbours - the paint can easily splash in between the fence panels and into an adjoining garden.
But the biggest plus point was being able to apply the paint fast to the centre of the fence panel before using a bog standard pant brush to finish off the tops and bottoms.