Get ready to be intrigued, horrified, and then a little curious — in that order.
The hack that some TikTokkers claim contractors don’t want you to know is this: You need to be using socks to paint some parts of your house.
So, how would you paint spindles?
The spindles on a staircase’s banister can be pretty tricky and time-consuming to paint. Thankfully, TikTok user @diywithemma came up with a hilarious way to get it done in half the time.
Here’s how Emma does it.
Step one: Put a glove on. You can use disposable if you want, or rubber if you want to be a bit more sustainable.
Step two (and I am not joking about this): Put a sock on your hand.
Step three looks like the most fun to me.
Step three: Dunk your hand in paint and scoop some up. Don’t grab too much, or you’ll have drips everywhere. But yeah, your hand is going in paint, and that just feels like forbidden fun.
Step four: Paint.
All you’re going to do is slap some paint on that banister and rub your hand up and down it to evenly disperse the paint. You’ll be done painting that spindle in under a minute.
TikTok had some OPINIONS about this hack.
The comment section was full of pro painters laughing and making fun of the hack. Emma replied to all of them, pointing out that professionalism is always a good thing.
Johnny strongly disagreed with this method.
Apparently, pro painters would absolutely love for you to try this hack out, because then you’ll have to call them in to fix it. Emma was not impressed with his answer.
Finally, she rolled in with some facts.
She pointed out that they do indeed sell painter’s mitts meant for jobs exactly like this. All she did was save herself some money by using an old sock to do it.
However, Emma did leave out a crucial step.
She didn’t mention in her original TikTok that she finished off each spindle with a paintbrush, which helped remove any uneven drips. I would have loved for her to include that, tbh.
She also included some more details on the sock she used.
You have to use a 100% synthetic fiber cloth so that you don’t leave any fuzzies behind on the spindle.
So, would you try this hack out? I would, it seems like a time saver!
