Paint samples help you to come close to the actual color of your walls.
Whether you're covering a repair patch, or touching up a peeling paint surface, matching new paint to old can at times be a hit-or-miss proposition. Even when you have cans of the paint you used for the original coat lying around, just applying it may not get you the precise match you need. Old paint can change color over time, and paint on the wall changes slowly as well by exposure to light, moisture or through normal wear and tear. Achieving a perfect match, then, is going to take some work on your part. You'll have to mix and match, bringing a near-perfect tint to the actual color your paint is now. After getting the correct mix, you can apply the paint, matching the old color for a seamless blending.
Instructions
1. Wash the walls with a mixture of mild liquid soap and warm water to remove any dirt or debris. Use a sponge or scrub brush, depending on the toughness of the dirt. Rinse the soap from the walls with clean water, and then pat the walls dry with cloth. Wait a couple of hours to make sure the walls dry completely.
2. Compare the clean wall to a set of color chip samples you can get from a paint store or home improvement store. Do the comparison on a sunny day. You'll want to compare the chips with a section of wall lit with indirect sunlight, not with a portion of the wall that the sun shines straight onto. Locate the color chip that most closely matches the color of the paint on the wall.
3. Purchase a quart of paint that matches the color chip. The paint or home improvement stores will custom-tint your paint to match precisely. Aim for a paint tint slightly darker than the chip to allow for color adjustment before final painting.
4. Apply a sample of the new paint to the wall in your test area. Allow the paint to dry completely. Examine the paint in sunlight for a match to your current paint. If it matches, then you're ready to work. If the paint is too light, return to the store for a darker color; if too dark, then mix it to a lighter shade with the white paint.
5. Take a teaspoon of the colored paint and pour it into a paper cup. Rinse the spoon off and then put a teaspoon of the white paint into the cup. Rinse the spoon off for later use. Mix the two paints with a stirrer, and then apply the paint mix to the wall. Wait 20 minutes for the mix to dry, and match it with the current paint. Continue testing mixtures of the tinted paint with the white paint, changing the ratios until you reach a precise color match. Use this matched ratio to mix your paint for application to the wall.
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