retouching with same paint

[masamune]

What is the best way to retouch small areas on the wall?

I decorated my place a few months ago with a matte/soft off gray (Little Greene), so the paintwork is still "fresh". The decorator did a good job and mentioned that, for light scuffs or marks I could use a damp cloth to wipe lightly.

Well, I found this not to work for me. In fact because the paint is matte any fingers or marks on the wall become worse with wiping.

I kept a small bucket of paint for this purpose. When I retouched some areas with a small brush or roller I got mixed results. Some areas were seamless and others looked like patched up from an angle. I even tried to do some blending with a half dried roller at the ends, like a fade out.

Is it possible to make small touch ups completely seamless?

 

[footprints]

The key is to use the same application as the original either brush roller or pad as it is the texture that reflects light and colour is based on the way a surface reflects light.

Some paints are notorious for "flashing" (showing up patches that have repairs) I don't know about the Little Greene paints but other Designer paints like Farrow and Ball have a bad name with many professional painters for being difficult to work with or touch up.

Even the angle the brush / roller is used at can have an effect, often seen in car body repairs where the colour is a match but in certain lights looks different from the original.

The texture of the roller will affect it too if your decorator used say a medium pile roller and you touch up with a fluffy one or a foam type the paint will not match, Often it is better to leave small marks alone as a full repaint of the wall may be the only way to get an even finish.

Sometimes putting a blob of paint on and blotting with a crumpled bit of kitchen towel can work to simulate some roller finishes.