"How do you protect your painting surface." Topic

I'm a really messy painter. Splatter, spills, and drips cover the painting table. My current solution is to cover the table top with used 8x10 paper and discard weekly on more.

I've been thinking about buying a sheet of glass to replace the paper and cleaning it off as needed.

What do you do to protect your painting table?

Double post….

I protect my painting surface by petting the cat and lifting it off gently.

I have a sheet of plexiglass that covers my work desk, but I also use cheap thin cutting boards to actually paint over. I believe I got them from Ikea. They are really thin 1/8" maybe, flexible plastic, I'm guessing you could find them at other store too.

At present cardboard cut from an box sent to me originally containing terrain. I used to have it covered with an linoleum offcut. The linoleum lasted over 20 years and was much better than the cardboard but wore out.

x42

I have a painting table/work area with a plywood surface. I never needed to worry about paint on it, cuts etc. It sure is nice to have a dedicated area.

An old newspaper, replaced as necessary.

I have one of these on my hobby workbench. It's mostly for the modelling/cutting aspect, but I suppose it does protect the surface from paint (although I don' tget much on it).

link

Newspaper over cutting mat.

I usually use one (or two) of those big plastic bags from the dry cleaner. If none are available, I'll use an old newspaper.

I use a cutting mat and one of those plastic desk (20'' x 36'') protectors they sell at Staples.

I don't when I paint it's on my painting desk which bears its battle scars well and proud

Newspaper.

I don't. My hobby table is a cheap plastic table from Walmart or some such. I don't care if it gets paint stained, knife scarred, etc.

I use desktop calendars. The BIG ones. Pull it out from the usual cardboard backing. Lay the whole thing upside down. Then you have a big white painting surface. When it gets to messed up; you just tear it off and throw it away.

I'm with Selzer on this one.

1) I bought an old steel office desk (ca. 1960s HEAVY construction) so that I wouldn't have to worry about damage. It looked rough when I got it, and it will go straight to the dump when I'm dead, so I don't care how it looks, as long as it still functions.
2) I tape down an old 20"x30" paper desktop calendar in the working area of the desk surface so I have something to catch spills, splatters, and drybrushing/wash wastage.

Every once in a while I rip off the top calendar page to start a new one, which also forces me to clear out the projects periodically. I get more when they are out of date and on sale for $1 USD or being thrown away at the office or something.
3) I put a green cutting mat underneath the top sheet of the calendar so I only slice one page to ribbons when I have to do any cutting.
4) I put printer covers over my electronics in the area when I'm drybrushing.

- Ix

Card. Replaced from time to time.

Piece of hardboard (aka masonite in the US).

My outbuilding countertop is a cast off from a chemical company, not sure what it is actually made of but its impervious to practically everything.Had to take masonry blades to get through it and that was difficult.
My basement countertop is a school or office white board.

I don't. I have a dedicated table. Used to put newspaper on it & change it every few years. LOL

Plastic, self-healing, cutting mat, with 1"-grid. You might be surprised how useful that 1"-grid really is, when you are basing your mini's…

They usually last 5-10 years, before I need to replace it. Works extremely well, for around $15 USD/mat? Find them cheap, and buy two. Then wait 10+ years, rinse, repeat. Cheers!

Salutations, gentlefolk !

Convinced a friend to help put together a workbench table and get it to my place – 3/4" plywood, frame of 1"x2"s around the edges. Will survive tornados, hurricanes, and small nuclear detonations – that's the way my friend builds everything.

Have one of the Ikea 'Dralla' (or something like that) cutting mats on it. Will need to replace that someday, but Iky seem not to selleth them any more…

Newspaper or butcher paper or … to cover area when 'deflashing' figures.

I protect my painting desk by not painting. Seems like the simplest solution.

With old spilled paint

Sheet of scrap plexiglass about 16"x14". About twice a year I will clean off any paint spatters and debris with a wipe down of rubbing alcohol. Takes of all and any water based paints.

I cut matte board like that used to outline pictures. You can get it in sheets at Hobby Lobby, Michael's etc. Just cut it to fit your desk. I use darker colors like dark green because it doesn't reflect back as much light and seems to help with definition on what I am actually painting and also reduces eye strain. About every two or three months I replace it with a fresh one. Has worked well for me for many years!

rct75001 for the win.

I wipe up the spills and once in awhile us a paint scrapper on the counter top.

Terry

Micman-
"I protect my painting desk by not painting. Seems like the simplest solution."

You are my leader. I would follow you into Painting Hell and back again. "Not Painting" is also how I protect my miniatures from utter humiliation.

For the meager painting that I do tackle, I use a tempered glass kitchen cutting board. Washes up easily.

A piece of cardboard.

Haven't needed to change it yet.

Any cutting is usually on a piece of scrap wood.

Plastic "messy mat" probably designed for finger painting toddlers. Then a small cutting mat on top.

Cardboard on top of the kitchen table.

Just a layer of paper towels, although paint still gets through here and there.

I have a sheet of plastic cloth that I have been using since the 1970s. I think my dad had a roll of it from work it's light weight but tough. I think it was intended for covering aerospace components when being shipped from the factory. After all these years it has a couple of small tears in it but I use it doubled over so nothing gets through. It's paint splattered and glue stained but still very serviceable. I'm on my third or fourth folding painting table but still using the same cloth I started with.

My dedicated painting surfaces have a stack of newspaper. I peel off the top sheet occasionally.

Lately my projects require a bigger work surface. So I lay out a painters drop cloth on whatever table I'm using.

For cutting I have several cutting mats of various sizes.

Cutting matt.