Best method to paint next to wood molding

Going to paint bedroom ceiling and was wondering best way to paint next to wood corner cove molding? With all new things coming out, thought I'd ask the experts, since I haven't painted ceilings in a long time.

Hire a professional.

Steady hand.

Like the others said....steady hand. If you don't have one, hire one.

steady hand.. ORRRRRRRRRRRRR tape.. my hand isnt as steady as use to be.. I use blue masking tape.. make sure it is stuck to wood really well.. I run a 4 inch puddy knife along there you want it to stick to help stick it down..

Get the widest scraper you can buy, then just shove it in the corner and paint against it. Do a foot and move down. Just did my entire house this way and it worked great.

Like MS2020 said, 3m blue tape. unroll it 3-4ft at a time, touch it to the molding every 6-12in, then press it in with a putty knife.just using your finger almost guarantees bleed thru on the edges.

Palleting the brush just right and hand control. Sweeping brush strokes.

Sorry, MSS3020! CRS......

Rkh; If you haven't got a steady hand, and you still want to do it yourself, you can trade inconvenience for expertise to some extent. First, watch YouTube videos about painting interior rooms. Some are excellent. Even after forty years of painting as part of remodeling work, I learned things that saved me time and made the job better. Regardless of what you learn, here are some things that will make the job better:

1. Spend however much time it takes doing careful prep. A good outcome often depends more on the prep than on the painting.
2. Use the best quality blue painting tape. It's more expensive that the cheap stuff, but it's enough better to be worth the extra cost.
3. Mask off the molding as precisely as possible. There's no other point at which it will be as easy to keep paint off of it, or get paint off of it.
4. As you trim next to the molding, stop and pull the blue tape off every few feet before the paint can dry. Clean the molding of any paint that's gotten on it where you've removed the tape.

It isn't easy to set your mind to the slow, tedious pace that extra care requires. What usually happens is that impatience and frustration make us decide to do the best fast job that we can and live with the results. But the job will be over in a few hours, even if it's the slowest you've ever painted a room. Whether you're proud of the results or embarrassed by them, you'll have them to look at for years.

Stan

Good tips Stan!

One I learned from Youtube, if it's a popcorn ceiling, run a 1/4" screwdriver around the perimeter, knocking the popcorn off in the corner or against the crown mold. makes a clean edge to paint to.

I always find that once it is masked off , use a very light coat to cover the area. A heavy brushful may bleed around the masking tape. Two light coats is better than a heavy coat. I always use "frog tape" which is advertised as not to bleed through. The 3M products mentioned work well.

I use a 12 inch drywall knife and paint brush to edge with. Move the knife and paint brush. Don't use painters tape.

I do like George does and free hand any dips and dives. Tape takes forever to apply, had enough taping in the body shop to last me a life time and half!

Lots of great comments. I would add whether free hand, tapped, or guarded, a really good quality brush is a must. Paul

If you are using latex paint just mask with a paint block tape such as frog tape. If that is too much trouble if you have a steady hand and a descent brush you can paint up to the molding without getting paint on the molding. Keep the brush dripping wet with paint so you are guiding the paint rather than brushing it.

I've found that I can usually find something emergent enough to concentrate on until the wife's urge to paint has faded, and avoid doing the job at all.

Back in 1990 I helped a friend paint all of the Million Dollar homes in the Las Vegas (NV) Country Club, and on long straight runs we only used a wide steel mask such as shown by Jon f mn . We only used tape on rounded or odd-ball shaped items that we had to paint around.

Thanks for everybody's advice took Jon F mn idea with a shorter flat tool. Mine was only 10", so took me a little longer.