Today’s question is a bit about logistics. How long does it take for paint to dry enough that I can hang my pictures back up?
Good question. That depends on a couple of things. Where do you live? Is it interior painting or exterior painting? How humid is your air typically? Here in Denver, we have a very dry climate and are actually considered high desert. We hardly have any kind of moisture in the air so we like to say in about 30 minutes the paint is dry for the most part, unless you’re using an oil-based paint. Most of the paints we use are a water-based or latex paint so those typically dry to the touch within 30 minutes. By the time we’re out of your house, you can go ahead and hang pictures up. You can still get a little bit of sticking, which is the difference between dry to the touch vs. cure time.
Manufacturers will typically say that a paint will dry on average in about an hour but in reality it’s going to take 30 days to cure and reach its full optimum hardness. So if you really want to be scientific about it, 30 days, but in my experience, we can hang pictures as soon as its dry to the touch and it’s not a big deal. Hopefully that answers your question.
