You’ve followed all the steps for a great paint job but discover a dreaded paint drip that can potentially ruin the finish of your paint project.

A paint drip or run is a sure sign that you overloaded your brush or roller with paint. The easiest way to fix a paint drip is while the paint is still wet. If you have great lighting, you’ll be able to spot a drip forming while you are painting and go over it with your brush or roller to blend it in and smooth it out. If you have caught it in time you’ll have no trouble making the drip disappear.

If the paint has already started to dry and you can still see the drip after trying to smooth it out, you’ll have to let it dry completely before fixing. Once the wall and the drip are absolutely dry, scrape the raised area of the drip with a putty knife and remove as much excess paint as you can. Then sand the area smooth and paint that section of wall again.

The best way to prevent drips is to be careful with how much paint you load onto your brush or roller. Both the brush and roller shouldn’t be dripping with paint when you apply to a surface. To remove excess paint from a brush, drag it across the side of the paint can so that extra paint falls into the can. To remove excess paint from a roller, roll it on the top part of the paint tray a few times.

Being careful while you are painting combined with great lighting will prevent paint drips.