I’m a DIY whizz – five tips to make painting much easier and the £1 hack to stop paint smelling so strong

A DIY whizz has taken to social media to reveal her five hacks that make painting much easier. 

Aboli, a self-taught DIY fan who posts on TikTok under the username @spruce_n_spice, recently took to the video sharing platform to reveal the top tips and tricks that she swears by. 

A DIY whizz has revealed her five tricks that make painting much easiertiktok/@spruce_n_spiceAboli, a self-taught DIY fan explained that she swears by a simple £1 secret ingredient to stop your paint from smelling too strongtiktok/@spruce_n_spiceShe encouraged DIY fans to wrap their brushes in gloves to prevent them from drying out inbetween jobstiktok/@spruce_n_spice

Not only this but she also recommended people use a £1 ingredient that they may even have in their kitchen cupboards, to stop their paint from smelling so strong. 

She explained: “Painting hacks that I swear by..”

The first hack that Aboli encouraged involves adding vanilla extract to paint, to neutralise its strong smell.

She said: “If you are like me and don’t like the smell of paint, add one tablespoon of vanilla extract (a natural deodorizer) per gallon to neutralise the strong smell of any type of paint. 

It won’t affect the colour of paint.”

If you fancy giving this hack a try, you can pick up a bottle of vanilla extract from many supermarkets and high-street shops, including pound shops, for as little as £1. 

Next, Aboli swears by her simple hack to avoid paint drying on your brush.

She added: “Need a break from painting? Seal those brushes in your painting gloves to prevent them from drying. 

“Toss them in the refrigerator and they will remain for weeks. 

“My longest storage duration was a month and even after that it hadn’t dried.”

As well as this, if you want to keep your paint brushes clean, Aboli encourages using painter’s tape.

She noted: “Save your paint brushes from all the nasty paint spillovers that get all over your hands and clothes. Seal them with painters tape instead.

“Peel-off once the job is done and handles look just as new.”

Not only this, but Aboli explained that if you don’t have the energy to tape around your edges but want a clean finish, you can use an envelope or folder. 

She advised: “Sometimes sealing all edges with painters tape can get very time consuming.

“Use an envelope or folder to get those clean edges.”

Finally, according to Aboli, there’s an easy way to clean edges when painting.

She concluded: “Secret to clean edges? Seal your painters tape with base colour caulk. 

“Now, paint over with the new colour. Works every time.  

“You can even caulk the edges and paint over it, caulking works great when you don’t have old paint.”

Aboli’s painting trick video has clearly impressed many, as it has quickly amassed 90.4k views. 

It has 2,452 likes, 16 comments and 189 shares.

Social media users were grateful for Aboli’s simple tricks and were quick to express this in the comments. 

One person said: “Great tips!” 

Another added: “Love these tips!” 

A third commented: “Thanks for sharing.”