I've been painting my windows recently and a pal of mine that is a decorator came round yesterday and did the usual critique of my work. He was actually quite complimentary even though he reckons i'm exceptionally slow.

Anyway the point of this thread is that he said the reason he could tell i wasn't a pro was that he saw me using masking tape. I thought this was common practice but he reckons he never uses it and most decorators don't either.

Big Ad, Darren, any other decorators, is he having me on or is this true? I don't see how you could paint windows without masking tape and not get paint all over the glass.

Hi General - I have never used masking tape for windows and I'm no pro. I think its just a case of getting the knack - I am fairly slow but not as slow as faffing about with masking tape first. If I do ever get a poor edge onto the glass I wait until it is dry and scrape the excess away with a craft knife blade but with practice this does not happen often.

I'd give it a go if I was you !!

ive not used it for windows, once you get comforable with a decent brush theres no need, i only use masking tape if i doing stripes which the pub i just about to finish has got 28 stripes all over the place, i some times times use masking for around skirting defo on stairs but sometimes i wont bother in normal rooms. if you mate thinks your bad tell him about my sister in law who paints about 2 inchs onto the windows then use a window scraper to scrape it off when its dryed.
as for being slow, you aint making out that your a pro, so why would you be going the speed of one?

nope i dont use it either, i`ll caulk between glass and frame and then just clip the glass with the paint as it helps water run off, no reason why you cant tho if it helps you get a nice job

I'm really surprised about this, but i suppose it makes sense. I used to struggle with cutting in around coving but am pretty good at that now, so i suppose it's just practise.

Don't think i've quite got the steady hand like you pro's yet though, so will stick with the masking tape on the windows for now. Pretty pleased with the job i've done actually.

Never used it on windows but have used it to mask the carpet off on skirting boards. Especially when the carpet is long pile.

Scotty.....instaed of waiting for the paint to dry on the window (if you get paint on the glass) just wipe it off with a cloth and re cut in ! then you won't have to go back and scrape it off