Painting receptacles

[Sid 03]

I have a project were I painted everything in a corner to be the same color. We have a power-strip plugged in that corner and because it does not match the color, it sticks out like ....

I have been in many homes and apartments were the receptacles and wall-plates were painted to match the wall cover and/or covered w/wall-paper. Some done well, some not !

Is there a problem or any risk of painting a power-strip to match the walls and/or woodwork ? (I would be sure that all the contacts were taped and covered and that no paint would make it back into the inner voids of the strip)

Thanks Sid.

[Wade Garrett]

Use a brush- not a sprayer, protect the sockets too, then lock and load...

[Sid 03]

Why not spray as long and I mask off all the conductors ?

[Wade Garrett]

Greater chance of an "oops".

[Sid 03]

Describe the oops ? Worst case scenario: wipe all the paint off and start over or just buy a new one and start over ?

[Wade Garrett]

How ya' gonna' wipe the paint from inside the slots where the plug is inserted? If you're careful with a brush, you save the trip/gas back to the Home Depot to buy another receptacle ;-)

[Clare Snyder]

TECHNICALLY you should NEVER paint the outlet itself. If you must, DRY BRUSH them - never spray because if any spray gets in through the slots it will affect the contacts inside and it is virtually impossible to effectively mask the slots and still get a decent paint job. Much better (although more exoensive) to use outlrts that go with the colour of your wall.They are available in about 20 different colors from both Leviton and Lutron.

[Jim Joyce]

A couple of my friends, two bothers, are painters and they always pull off the receptacle covers and put them aside prior to painting. However, they said if they were asked to paint the covers they'd still pull them off and paint them separately, then reinstall. In that case, you could line them up on a piece of cardboard and spray away.

[Sid 03]

This is a power-strip, and if there really is that much of a scare of paint getting inside, I could take it apart and remove all the electrical parts and paint just the shell and Then reassemble. I was more worried about the paint on the shell being a fire-hazard ? Than a problem with paint getting on the contacts.

[Tekkie©]

On Sun, 28 Mar 2021 17:27:59 -0700 (PDT), Sid 03 posted for all of us to digest...

Tape off the receptacle as you noted and spray away. The cord will be another problem. The paint may attack the covering and will surely crack off as it bends.

Or get some wiremold and extend the outlet and paint or just extend the out to where it's needed.