Use A Pool Noodle To Keep Your Paintbrushes From Falling Into The Paint Tray

Finding a safe spot to stash your paintbrushes while you're painting can be messy. If left to sit on the side of the paint tray, the brushes could fall in or out of the tray, splashing paint everywhere. If you lay them on a paper towel, the paint could soak through it and get on your table or floor. Luckily, this pool noodle hack from TikTok provides the perfect no-mess solution for a paintbrush holder.

The hack was posted by @hellowonderful_co and demonstrates how to cut a pool noodle so you can squeeze your paintbrushes into the side, avoiding a messy situation. With only a knife or box cutter and a pool noodle, your paintbrushes will be able to nestle together with the tips hanging over the paint tray to prevent them from falling into the tray or dripping paint onto anything important. This pool noodle hack can be customized to fit over the side of a paint tray, no matter the size.

In the video, the pool noodle is first cut to the size of the edge of the paint tray. Once you have a section that's the right size, you can cut it lengthwise and the hole of the noodle will be able to slip over the side of your tray.

Once your noodle fits your tray, cut slits along the width of the noodle in the opposite direction of your initial cut. For smaller paintbrushes, you can make thinner slits about 1/8th of an inch deep, but for larger brushes, you'll need them to be deeper to make sure your brushes don't fall out and into the paint tray. Now, you'll be able to slip the brushes into the side of the pool noodle and the messy ends will be over the tray — but not in the tray.

This method can also be used to hold the handle of paint rollers and your paint key, so all of your important supplies will be neatly organized together.

If your paint job is smaller and only requires thin paintbrushes, you can attach the pool noodle to the side of a plastic food storage container, rather than a traditional paint tray. You can also slip a length of pool noodle over the long handle of a paint roller to create a softer grip.

If you want to paint a unique pattern onto furniture that you're repurposing or as a trim for the wall in your child's bedroom, you can cut your pattern into a pool noodle and attach it to a paint roller handle. The pool noodle will not have as even coverage as a regular paint roller, but you'll be able to customize the print it leaves behind and you could always touch it up with a brush.

Keeping your space and brushes clean and organized will be made easier with this clever pool noodle trick.