Smoothing a freshly painted wall?

Is there anyway to smooth a newly painted wall?
We recently painted our bedroom and I guess
we over painted and the roller left behind little nubs of paint
on parts of the wall. Is there anyway to get rid of these or
will they go away or be less noticeable when the paint
fully cures which I hear can take a full month?
Thanks so much for your feedback.

 

You can sand between coats. Latex paints are gummy and sticky when fresh, so use care not to tear the pant. Sand lightly, but thoroughly and you will get rid of the fuzz. Painters use a "pole sander" for this chore, but you can hand sand if you prefer. Wipe the walls down with a micro fiber tack rag or vacuum the dust before proceeding with the next coat.

 

I'm not sure if I totally understand the "little nubs of paint"
Sometimes it's easier to use a sharp putty knife and cut off the offending spots, fill with spackling or joint compound, prime and either touch up or repaint.

 

Thanks for the advice. The paint has settled for about a week now. If I sand or use the putty knife now, will the paint still blend ok?

I've also heard sanding will change the texture of the wall and you'll see where you sanded, even after repainting.

 

You'd want to use very fine grit sandpaper and use a light touch to avoid it showing through.Using heavy grits or a heavy hand might show and the putty knife is only if you are filling behind it and then sand smooth to a feathered edge those spots.You are using the knife to pop off a high spot not scrape with the knife.

A week isn't near enough time for touch ups to show.Make sure you re-stir leftover paint if that's what you use to touch up and don't use a throw away paint brush to do the job.

 

Are you wanting to spot touch up the paint?

It will probably touch up invisibly with a flat paint, but maybe/probably not with a sheen paint - depends on where the touch up is.

If you have nubs of paint - which sounds like roller shedding, you will have them all over the wall for a wall or two until the shedding is finally done. The cleanest way to fix this, is to pole sand the wall and repaint the walls in total. Use a "broken in" roller cover (either previously used and washed out or prepared by vacuuming and taping the nap to remove loose fibers) on the next coat. Note: cheap rollers will shed forever - don't even use them.

 

Repainting the whole room isn't an option and the shedding isn't everywhere so I'm thinking touching up the bothersome spots will have to suffice. I bought the lightest grain sandpaper I could find.

I'm just wondering if the "nubs" of paint and imperfections in general become less noticeable over time.. as the paint cures and hardens.

Thanks again. This board is great! Beer 4U2

 

I don't know that the defects in the paint job [or wall] become less noticable but you will get used to them and likely not be as bothered by them as time passes.

Latex paints don't always sand well as compared to their harder oil base counterpart. Often when sanding you need to start with an agressive grit in order to remove what's needed and then follow up with a finer grit to remove the sanding scratches.

There are a lot of things that factor in on how a touch up blends or shows. #1 is the paint that is used, some brands touch up better than others and usually flat touches up better than enamel. Experience has taught me when I can expect a touch up to blend and when I'm better off either repainting or painting a larger area than the offending spot calls for.