How to Adjust Paint If It’s Just a Tint
It happens all too often: you make small repairs or some unexpected repairs that only require replacing a section of drywall, or your wall gets dirty or scuffed in some way that requires multiple coats of paint . You have no paint left from the original work , but you may still have a record of the color and brand, or you may be taking a sample to a store to match the color. Problem solved! Unless the new paint is slightly different from the original shade.
Even tiny differences in hue and gloss will show up as clearly as daylight in good light, making your wall look mottled and sloppy. Even if you bought the exact same paint, this can happen if your wall has faded a bit over the years, and color matching, while incredibly helpful, isn’t always 100% accurate. Now you are faced with the need to repaint the entire wall, and maybe the entire room, so that it looks uniform and complete.
Or you? Maybe there is another way. If your paint can is slightly different from the one on the wall, you can adjust it. Here’s how.
Return it to the store to customize
The store you bought it from can lighten or darken the paint color for you. All paint starts with a white base and then pigments are added according to the formula to get the desired color. To make a lighter or darker version of this color, all you need to do is use a little more or less of these pigments. Someone who is experienced in mixing paints can increase or decrease the shade for you. You might want to start with a quart instead of a gallon to be sure before you commit. If you’re already buying a quart, ask if they’re willing to make a tester size for you.
How to adjust the shade yourself
If going back to the store isn’t an option (or if they’re just not interested in messing with paint formulas for you), you can tweak the paint yourself with a little determination.
If you don’t have a drill stirrer attachment, you should probably get one. This will make mixing the paint much easier and faster, and you will have to interfere a lot trying to achieve an exact paint match. If you’re dealing with a gallon (or more) of paint, it’s helpful to have a large 5-gallon pail – adding paint to an almost full gallon can will be messy. If you’re trying to tint with less paint, a 1-gallon pail is your best bet.
Here is your procedure. Note that this is not an exact science, so take your time:
- Depending on whether you are lightening or darkening the paint, buy white or black paint from the same paint family (i.e. interior gloss, eggshell, etc.). I only use it as a tint. As an alternative to black paint, one could look at the color chart or paint chips in your paint brand and choose a slightly darker shade in the color family, going down one or two options – this keeps the “hue” in the same color family, which can provide closer match, but also complicates the mixing process. Rule of thumb: if you only need to adjust the hue, use black. If you think you need to make it a few levels darker, try a darker version of the same color.
- Pour your not quite paint into the bucket – the whole can.
- Add your own shade (light or dark) in 5% increments. A US gallon contains 128 ounces, so 5% of a gallon is 6.4 ounces. Resist the urge to use more to speed up the process; you want to work slowly because you’re trying to adjust the color tone a bit.
- Mix well: fire up that drill and head into town.
- Apply a small amount to the wall and let dry. Wet paint will always look different than dry paint. Seal the paint and relax for a while.
If you are still not quite done with the task, repeat the process until you achieve the desired result.
Note that using white and black paint will only work to a limited extent – you can lighten or darken the paint one or two shades with great success. However, after a few cycles of dyeing, you will start to stray too far from the main color, and it will not look right. Ideally, stop at one round of mixing.
This process can also be used if you’re painting an entire room with a fresh color and just decide you picked the wrong shade and you don’t want to just waste a few gallons of good paint – it’s actually easier because you’re only re-tweaking to please. themselves and not match the existing painting.