I have tried painting many things and no matter what you see the paint strokes and it drives me CRAZY, so I decided I had to get a paint sprayer.

I only planned to use it indoors and I also didn’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Since I had never used one before, I did a bit of research. From all of the “best paint sprayer” articles I came across, one brand that kept coming up as one of the best was GRACO. Since this made me feel like it was a reliable brand to start with, I got the Graco TrueCoat 360 DS Paint Sprayer and I LOVE IT.

Here are some of the supplies I recommend for when you are using a paint sprayer, but you can also check out the “Paint” tab on my product page.

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DISCLAIMER:
This is based off my experience and is not meant to replace the product manual. I learned the steps you are about to read from the product manual and recommend that you review the product manual before using your paint sprayer.

STEPS

If you are more of a video person, then please check out my YouTube video on how to use a paint sprayer! And be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel! 

Prep the area.

One of the most important things with painting is the prep work. It truly is the trick to making a paint job look professionally done!

Cover the surrounding areas.

I apply frog tape around the edges first. I use frog tape because it sticks better than regular painters tape. This is especially important when using a paint sprayer or spray paint because you don’t want the sheets that you have protecting the rest of your space to be lifted or moved.

Then I apply plastic paint drop film over the frog tape. I do this because the tape on the plastic paint drop film is not as sticky as the frog tape. Then I place the canvas drop cloth over the plastic drop film.

I also like to apply caulk on top of the frog tape. This is a fairly common DIY hack that helps get a smooth paint line. Check out this quick video below to see what I mean.

Then I use frog tape to apply plastic sheets surrounding the entire area. You probably don’t have to do it as extensively as I did, but I had such a bad experience with spray paint going everywhere that I was EXTRA cautious.

Sand and clean the paint surface(s).

Besides making sure that everything is covered, it is best practice to sand and clean what you are painting so the paint will stick and it won’t be bumpy.

Cassie Tip: If you also have very smooth surfaces (e.g., the vent covers and things I also was painting), it might be helpful to use a deglosser to help the paint stick.

It’s finally time to start using the paint sprayer.

Load the paint sprayer.

One of the great things about the Graco TrueCoat 360 DS Paint Sprayer is that you do not have to worry about thinning the paint! So after you stir your paint, it’s time to put it into the paint sprayer and tighten the lid.

Before I got ready to paint, I threw on my hazmat suit, respiratory mask, goggles, and gloves. Then I attached the part holding the paint to the paint sprayer.

Remove air from the paint sprayer.

Then you are supposed to tilt the paint sprayer to the side, so the VacuValve is the highest point of the thing holding the paint. Open the VacuValve cap and squeeze the flex cup in order to get out all of the air in the thing holding the paint. You will know you have gotten the air out when you start to see the paint coming into the VacuValve.

Prime the paint sprayer.

Then you want to prime the spray painter. In order to do this, you are going to turn the nozzle so that it’s vertical and in the prime position and press the trigger for 5-10 seconds.

Then switch it back to the horizontal position, so it is ready to spray.

Test out the paint sprayer.

I tested how well it was spraying on a flattened cardboard box before I sprayed my wall to see if I liked the spray pattern.

There are 2 tips you can use for mine, a 12″ and a 4″ spray pattern tip. I was using the 12″ spray tip because I was painting a larger area.

My paint sprayer has two speed settings, low and high. I started at low to see how it turned out. It’s better to start at the lower speed and increase the speed if you need to. If you end up getting a pulsating spray pattern, then you can turn it to the higher speed, slow down your speed of movement, and hold sprayer farther away from surface.

Use the paint sprayer to paint your area.

Some quick spray techniques:

• Spray from about 10 inches away
• If it is pulsating, you are moving too fast. If it drips, you are moving too slow.
• Do about a 50% overlap in the paint strokes to make sure it comes out evenly.

Refill paint sprayer.

If you need to refill the paint sprayer, then twist off the cup holding the paint and turn the paint sprayer upside down to keep the wet paint in the paint sprayer.

Then fill up the cup with more paint and make sure to remove the air from the cup using the VacuValve (as described above).

Then prime it again for 5-10 seconds and get back to painting!

Clean up is very important, so do not forget to clean it to make sure it keeps working properly!

Reference: Graco. TrueCoat 360 Electric Airless Paint Sprayer Owners Manual. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.graco.com/content/dam/graco/tech_documents/manuals/334/334179/historic/334179EN-A.pdf