Not Painter's Tape: The Quicker, Easier Way To Paint French Doors

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Painting a pair of French doors — whether they divide two rooms in your home or lead to the outside — can add a pop of color and brighten up your space. The only problem? Successfully painting the muntin bars, which divide the door's windows into panes, without getting paint all over the glass. Sure, you could try to carefully finesse and cut-in the brush right up to each pain, but spills and slips can (and probably will) still happen. While putting painter's tape along the edges is a popular workaround, applying it takes a lot of time, and paint may still seep underneath. A quicker and more effective option that doesn't require a super-steady hand while you paint is to use a razor blade to scrape the paint from the windows once it's dried.

Most types of house paints and primers don't adhere well to smooth glass, which is why it's relatively easy to scrape off with a razor blade. For best results, and the least amount of headache, you'll want to let the paint dry, but not too long — usually no more than 24 hours. The drier it gets, the harder the paint will be to remove.

You'll need the right tool to easily scrape the paint from the glass, like the Titan 17002 2-Piece Multi-Purpose and Mini Razor Scraper Set, which includes two scrapers and a pack of extra blades. Those extra blades could come in handy, as you'll want to use a razor that's as sharp as possible. Working with a dull blade will make the task more difficult and put you at risk of injuring yourself or damaging the glass.

To remove any unwanted paint from the French door's window panes, hold the razor scraper at a 45-degree or shallower angle and press it against the paint. Don't push down into the glass itself, as doing so could crack or scratch it. Gently push the blade into the paint — it should lift away from the glass easily. 

Once you get a little bit of the paint off the glass, you can try pulling it by hand to remove it or continue to push the blade against it. Push the blade right to where the glass meets the mullion, and carefully slice away the lifted paint to get a clean finish. Continue to slice away unwanted paint until you have a completely clear window. For a finishing touch, clean the glass afterward to remove any leftover haze — just don't make the mistake of cleaning your windows on a sunny day.

The razor method of cleaning paint off of windows is a faster, more effective, and potentially cheaper alternative to many masking options, including liquid masking tape, a painting hack that can potentially damage the window's wood frame. Besides, since you need a blade to remove the liquid masking product anyway, you might as well save yourself the step and just use it to slice away the paint. For large glass panes, you could even try an extra-long blade, like the 4-inch blade in the Goldblatt 2-Piece Razor Scraper Tool, to cover more area with each swipe and make cleanup a lot quicker.