How to Clean Paint Overspray

Learn how to clean paint overspray.

We just painted our basement ceiling and now we’re in the clean up phase. There’s overspray everywhere, but luckily it’s pretty easy to clean up, even the primer spots!

Paint overspray is one of the biggest reasons that it took me so long to buy a paint sprayer for painting walls, so I’m happy that it is so easy to clean up.

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***These tips are for removing latex and other water-based paints. Oil based paints will need special solvents to remove overspray.

Prevention is the best way to avoid cleaning overspray. Remove as much as possible from the room before painting. Tarp every thing else that’s left in the room.

We lazily tarped stuff off, but one of the tarps came off while hubby was painting and I had some spots to clean off the washing machine before I could do laundry. But first came the floor, so I could stop tracking dried paint all through the house.

How to Clean Overspray from the Floor

Besides paint drips, the overspray that hit the floor didn’t stick; it turned powdery. So I was able to sweep it up after removing the tarps.

A ShopVac can be used if needed. I plan on using mine to remove it from the tight spots where I can’t reach.

In the areas that were stepped on or that got wet, a paste formed. But luckily, it came up with a bit of mopping.

mopping cement floor to clean paint overspray

Mop the floor to remove the rest of the dust.

Paint drips can be removed with a paint scraper if necessary. Use a sharp blade and scrape at an angle to prevent scratches.

How to Clean Overspray from Plastic

Fill a bucket with hot water and a few teaspoons of rubbing alcohol.
Use a rag to clean the surface.
It takes some muscle and time, but it works.

paint overspray spots on washing machine — It’s hard to see, but there are tiny paint spots from the overspray.

How to Clean Overspray from Glass

In full disclosure, I have no intentions on cleaning this window because we plan on replacing it. However, I happen to be an expert on removing paint from glass.

Removing paint from glass (especially primer) is easier when the paint is pretty fresh. If you wait months, the paint has time to cure and is much harder to remove.

Wash the window with the hot water and rubbing alcohol mixture.
Use a paint scraper to remove the rest.
A paper towel and Windex will remove any stubborn spots.

I didn’t scrape this window completely, but you can see that just a little bit of effort cleaned most of the overspray.