Today’s Quick-Tip-Tuesday is brought to you by my friend Jacqui at Porta Verde Studio’s. Here’s a great tip she uses for distressing and sanding in tight places.
For those tight corners and details on furniture that are near impossible to get at… or any fine edge where you don’t want to sand the surrounding area.
Use a nail emery board!
They are stiff and narrow and can be held at different angles for hard to reach places. They come in fine to course grade and usually have 2 different grits on either side. They work great!
Next Tuesday I’ll share a simple tip on stopping your screws and hardware from playing hide and seek with you! And if you missed last weeks Quick-Tip-Tuesday, you can find it here.
Enjoy you day!
~Denise
You can also wrap or glue small pieces of sandpaper around small similarly shaped objects to get into tight or non-square, unflat areas ( Think pencils, dowels, putty knives, craft sticks, triangular wood pieces ). Another option that is really nice for spindles, curves, or asymmetric parts such as curved French legs is an open weave sand paper sold with plumbing supplies. It looks like a combination of loose weave net and sand. It’s often sold in strips rather than sheets so you can grab an end with each hand and sand spindles with a see-saw motion that is really fast.
Love this…thanks Candice! x
Denise, I love your blog! Of all the painted furniture blogs I’ve followed yours is by far the most helpful. I’m about to begin painting furniture and have a concern I haven’t seen addressed here. Should I remove old wax before I begin painting? Or use a BIN primer as the first step every time? Or what? I gave an old table to a new bride yesterday. She plans to paint it but I know I’ve waxed it for many years. How should she begin? Thank you for all your good advice. Happy holidays!
Libbie
P.S. I absolutely love the curb-side china cabinet!
Hi Libbie!… you’re making me blush! 🙂 You can paint over wax if you are using a chalk brand paint but if you want to use any other type of paint, you can remove the wax by applying a small amount of mineral spirits onto a rag and wiping your piece down. Just be sure to ensure the mineral spirits have 100% dried and evaporated before applying your primer. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
This is a great tip. I’ve had good luck with a little tool called a sanding stick too. What’s nice about it is that it has a flat but pointed tip, and uses sanding belts. You can get refill bands in assorted grits. I got mine here: hobbytown.com/Shop/Excel-Hobby-Blades-Sanding-Stick-w/Belt/
Now I’ll have a handy substitute when I can’t find it though.
Interesting little tool Chris… I’ve never seen one of these before. Thanks for sharing!
I never thought of this…what a clever tip…thanks Denise!
What a Brilliant idea! Now, why didn’t I think of that?