The Property Brothers Shared Their Favorite Hack For Cleaning A Paint Tray

The finished product of a beautifully-painted room may be worth it, but the actual painting process can take a while to clean up, which is not ideal if you hate mess. Still, there are some things you can do to make cleaning after painting feel a little bit easier. Speaking to Today, the Property Brothers shared the painting tips they swear by, one of which will save you from having to buy a new paint tray each time you redo a room. 

Rather than adding the paint into the tray by itself, grab a sheet of aluminum foil and make sure it covers your tray corner to corner. Then, pour your paint as usual. Once you have finished painting, simply gather up the foil and dispose of it, leaving a squeaky clean tray (or at least one with far fewer paint marks). "When paint starts to dry on your actual tray, it's hard to get it off," Jonathan Scott shared. However, when following this easy hack, you'll find yourself left with far less mess and stress when it's time to start cleaning up.

Though it's a straightforward aluminum foil trick, there are a few things you should know before attempting it. Make sure to buy aluminum foil that's wide and thick enough to fit the size of your paint tray. Otherwise, you could end up with even more of a mess than you would have if you hadn't followed this hack. Moreover, when you're pressing the foil into place (to ensure no paint leaks down loose edges), use the pads of your fingers and palms of your hands so your fingernails don't tear the material. Even just a small tear could cause this hack to go wrong.

Additionally, when you're gathering up the foil at the end of your painting session, you might want to place another piece of foil underneath it to prevent tearing. Foil will naturally sag due to the weight of paint, which means the paint could splatter on the way to the trash bin — or, even worse, cause the foil to tear. By keeping these things in mind, the Property Brothers' paint tray tip should save you a lot of clean-up time when renovating.