Guide to Painting Your Bed Liner at Home
Painting your bed liner at home will save you more money than hiring a professional painting service. The best bed liner paints are easy to apply, and they provide an excellent finish, so if you do it right, the outcome will satisfy you. If this is your first time trying to paint the bed liner yourself, here’s the complete guide on how to do it at home.
Table of Contents
Prepare all the things you will need
Nothing’s more frustrating than starting the paint job and realizing that you are missing some items that you need for the process. So make sure you get them before beginning the project. You will need the following:
- Bed liner paint
- Cleaning and scrubbing materials for prepping the truck’s bed liner like soap, scuffing pad or sandpaper, cloth, and paint thinner or acetone.
- Goggles and gloves for protection
- Painter’s tape, drop cloths, plastic, or newspapers to cover truck parts and area where you will work.
Remove the tailgate
It will be easier to clean and paint the bed liner without the tailgate. If you want to paint it too, clean and paint it before reattaching it to the bed liner. Follow the same steps of prepping and painting your bed liner when you work on the tailgate.
Clean the bed liner
Clean the bed liner thoroughly with soap and water. If there are rusty parts, use the sandpaper or scuffing pad to remove as much rust as possible. Finish the cleaning by applying acetone or paint thinner. It will remove oil or grime on your bed liner so that the paint will bond properly.
Cover the truck parts you don’t wish to paint
Use painter’s tape to cover the parts of the truck that you don’t want to paint. Bed liner paints adhere to most surfaces, so besides the bed liner, you can also use it on other parts of the truck, or even the entire truck, except for the glass parts.
Cover the work area
Use drop cloths, plastics, or newspapers to cover the area where you will be painting. The paint may splash on the floor, wall, or other things around the work area if you do not cover them.
Apply the paint
Apply the paint, and start from top to bottom. It will prevent going over the areas that you already painted, which may cause an uneven finish. You may use a spray, roller, or brush, whichever is more convenient for you.
Check for any spots you missed
It’s easy to miss spots when doing the painting, but you can always go through the bed liner and check every area to ensure that you don’t miss anything. Then, apply paint on areas you missed.
Let the paint dry
Once done, wait for the paint to dry completely. Put a sign to prevent others from touching the bed liner when the paint is still wet. It will avoid having to redo the job.
The time it will take for you to complete the project depends on how quickly you work and the weather. It’s best to do it on the weekend to ensure that you have ample time and do not rush the job. Then, if it rains, you still have the time to finish it once the rain stops.