Painting garden fences improves their kerb appeal and protects the wood from the elements. Nevertheless, it can be quite challenging, when armed with just a paintbrush and a long fence to cover.
Helpfully, there’s a straightforward answer, according to @mrsclarehoops on TikTok, who boasts over 133,000 followers. Clare, who posts numerous DIY hints and techniques, recently revealed a rapid trick that requires neither brushes nor spray equipment. The TikTok creator explained: “Just a reminder, if you’re painting fences this weekend, you should try the sponge method.
“Take a big yellow sponge, I like to chop it in half, but you could use it full,” she continued. “So then you have two sponges. It’s a bit messy, so you are going to want some rubber gloves.”
“I’ve tried so many different methods of painting fences over the years, and this is by far the fastest. It might not be the neatest, but it’s the fastest.”
The TikTok creator then demonstrated the sponge technique to her audience.
She merely dunked the yellow sponge into her selected paint before applying it uniformly across the fence panels.
Clare continued: “It just glides on and gets into all the really bumpy bits. So it’s not the neatest, but it’s definitely the quickest, and sometimes speed is what you need.”
Large yellow sponges are available from numerous DIY retailers and supermarkets for as little as 46p each.
The technique has been dubbed the “quickest fence painting hack” and commenters expressed their agreement.
User @dryad wrote: “Thank you for this. I have to do mine this year, and I use a big brush, but it’s always so uncomfortable.”
Meanwhile, @dan.smith praised the technique, advising: “This is absolutely genius, paints fences in minutes, but I would recommend cleaning the fences of algae first.”