Use soap and water to clean up latex paints, and paint thinner to clean up alkyd paints. Clean your brushes and gear right after painting. Do not ever pour paint thinner or excess paint down the drain or onto the ground—this is a very serious source of ground-water pollution. Keep old paint and solvents in an old sealed paint can, and dispose of it at a toxic-waste collection site. Don Vandervort has developed his expertise for more than 30 years, as Building Editor for Sunset Books, Senior Editor at Home Magazine, author of more than 30 home improvement books, and writer of countless magazine articles. He appeared for 3 seasons on HGTV’s “The Fix,” and served as MSN’s home expert for several years. Don founded HomeTips in 1996. Read more about Don Vandervort
Please note: there are tons of references online on the subject of painting (from pros who have been doing it for years). This post is going to be an overview of the steps, mistakes, and successes we used/had.

How your paint dries depends on weather conditions and temperature at the time of application. That’s why you have to do the work when the weather is warm so that your paint job turns out perfectly.
This post couldn’t come at a better time! We are about to reprint our lounge after our toddler decided to do little Picasso crayon drawings on the walls, and discovering that the painter and decorator used the cheapest paint, it comes off with even a baby wipe! My top tip would be to use the most expensive paint you can afford, the cheap stuff just doesn’t hold up to day to day life with mucky little toddlers, this time I’m getting the Scrub proof paint! Tammi February 25, 2015