A Good Paint Match Doesn't Have to Be Perfect

Q A few years ago I repainted the interior of our home using Hechinger's Base White. So now Hechinger's is gone and I need to touch up. I've gotten paint cards from other companies but have no confidence that I can get a perfect match with any of the whites, including several versions of "base white." Any ideas?

A

Your question implies that you don't have any leftover paint. If you did and simply needed more, you could take it to a paint store and have it scanned into a computer that would generate a mixing formula for a reasonably close match. It might not be a perfect match, though, because the base paints and array of pigment colors available at each paint store differ slightly.A

ssuming the color you're trying to match exists only on the walls, the easiest approach is to gather a collection of paint cards showing different variations on white, as you've done. Put each card against the wall around eye level, with a normal level. When the edges of a card appear to blur into the surrounding wall, you have a good match. Take the card to the store where you got it and order touch-up paint tinted to that color, in the same sheen you purchased originally. To save repeated trips to the store, you may want to buy enough paint to cover the entire wall.F

or the touch-up work, use a sponge paint pad, rather than a brush, because a brush is likely to leave a shiny streak, says Deborah Zimmer of the Paint Quality Institute, an organization run by the Rohm and Haas Co., which makes acrylics for paint. Dab on the paint, taking care not to use too much. Feather out the edges of the new paint so it goes from standard thickness over scuffs or other marks to virtually nothing farther away.W

ait to judge the success of your efforts. Water-based paint dries to the touch fairly quickly, but the finish changes chemically for a long time after that. Wait a full 24 hours before you evaluate whether the touch-ups are so noticeable that you want to invest more time in achieving a better finish. If you opt to do more, paint the whole wall, but just that wall. Don't fret about whether the new paint will match what's on adjacent walls. Light bounces off each wall differently, so even with identical paint, they'd look slightly different anyway.W

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like to use compact fluorescent bulbs as much as possible. But we've held off using them in lamps with clip-on shades because I'm worried that they might not work and wouldn't be safe. Can you shed any light on this?Lo

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k for compact fluorescents that have a bulb-shape cover over the thin, twisted tubes that you see in most energy-saving bulbs. In the lighting industry, covered compact fluorescents are known as "capsules.""A-

type" capsules are shaped like standard incandescent bulbs. Unfortunately, these are specialty bulbs, so you probably won't find them at retailers where low price is paramount.

One online source is the consumer division at Energy Federation Inc. ( http://www.efi.org), which was started by nonprofit organizations interested in promoting energy efficiency. EFI also sells small compact fluorescents that you can use with clip-on shades made for candelabra-size bulbs.

If you have a lamp plugged into a circuit with a dimmer, you'll need a capsule bulb that's safe for this use. (Standard compact fluorescents can overheat on dimmer circuits.) EFI sells dimmable capsules, but in just one wattage for the standard size and one for the candelabra-size bulbs.These bulbs use a new technology, known as "cold cathode," so they don't dim over time or lose efficiency if they're switched on and off frequently, two problems with most compact fluorescent bulbs.

Is there something in your house or apartment that's clogged, cracked, broken or bedeviling? We'd like to help. Send your questions to Jeanne Huber at home@washpost.com.