Poking Holes In Your Paint Can Is A Game Changer For Minimizing Mess

Giving a room in your home a coat or two of paint can be a wonderful way to freshen up the space or give it an entirely new look. At the same time, it can be a tedious task that can be more than just a little messy. Fortunately, there are DIY paint hacks you can put to good use to make the process both easier and tidier. Along with using a paper towel to cleanly pour paint, you can also poke holes in your paint can to minimize the mess resulting from excess paint in the paint can's rim.

In this game-changing hack shared by social media user and home project aficionado Paris Karnes (aka @parisashleyhome), poking holes in your can of paint will give any excess paint (and subsequent mess) somewhere to go. Instead of leaving the paint to eventually leak over the side of the can, dry up in the groove, or make the lid stick, the paint can instead drip back down inside of the can through the holes.

If you want to give Paris Karnes' paint can hack a try — which you definitely should if you're about to paint and don't want a mess — then grab a hammer and a nail. You'll also want to think about where exactly you should be making holes in your paint can instead of simply poking them in random spots. As Karnes demonstrates, you'll want to make them right in the bottom of the groove where the lid would sit and where excess paint inevitably would collect after it's poured.

The number of holes needed will depend on the size of the can; however, you should aim for at least four or five (more, if your can is larger). To make the holes, make sure your paint can is placed somewhere stable, and then place your nail where you want the hole to be in the rim. Now, gently hammer the nail until it pierces the metal. Continue this until you've made all the necessary holes.

Once done, you can now pour your paint, tackle your project, and then let the paint drain into the can through the holes before you put the lid back on — minimizing any paint mess in the process.

While poking holes in your paint can is a quick-and-easy hack for minimizing mess around your paint can's rim, if there's any paint that doesn't make it through the holes and you place the can's lid back on, you'll still be left with a potential mess as the remaining paint squeezes out. Further, if there's even only a bit of wet paint left in the rim, it might end up sealing the lid of the can — making it difficult to take the lid off the next time you want to get to work. That's why you should consider adding a second quick step to this particular hack.

Before placing the lid back onto the rim, let as much paint as possible drain through the paint can's holes and clean the rim up a bit if needed, then place a layer of cling wrap on top of the paint can. Now, you can pop the lid back on (and make sure the seal is airtight). Adding a layer of cling wrap will not only prevent the lid from sticking to the can, but it'll also help keep the holes you've poked into the paint to reduce inevitable mess open, ready to use the next time you need to pour out some paint.