There’s a lot of different tasks that can be considered to be under the home improvement umbrella. Painting is the one that the average individual usually feels most comfortable taking on, and it’s true that with a steady hand and the willingness to take your time you can usually do a pretty good job painting on your own. A completed paint job includes paint that’s fully dried, and until that happens wet paint can still be something of a menace.

We do use that term lightly, as getting wet paint on your clothing or having your pet soiled by it is never a good thing, but it’s not nearly the kind of semi-disaster that might come from doing your own plumbing or electrical work. It should go without saying that these are the type of jobs you must trust to a qualified Victoria contractor. So even though it’s still true that painting can go wrong, it’s not something that can go so wrong that you shouldn’t do it on your own. If you’re willing to spend more than a few days to do the job right, go for it

Plus, there’s always a feel-good component in DIY (do-it-yourself) jobs and especially when you’re very proud of yourself and the how good the finished product looks. Sometimes more time goes into choosing the paint than the actual painting, and especially if it’s a couple making that decision.

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We’ll leave that discussion to you, but one thing we can do is tell you more about how long it takes for paint to dry.

Types of Paint

The 2 primary factors that go into how long for paint to dry are the type of paint being used, and the environment it’s drying in. For example, if you’re using an acrylic paint then it will dry more quickly. Sometimes a thin film of acrylic paint will dry in as little as 10-20 minutes. Oil-based paints will dry more slowly, even sometimes up to a few days to fully dry.

The most standard type of house paint is a latex paint, and the good news here is that latex paint is like acrylic in that it dries relatively quickly. Latex paint is also the most cost-efficient way to paint any section of your home, and that’s because it is more commonly packaged in larger quantities and as a result you’ll get a better price on it at the volume needed. Latex paints are also the most versatile – they can be used for painting indoors or for painting outdoors.

For how long for paint to dry, the answer for latex paint is that it should be dry to the touch within 1 hour to 1 hour, 30 minutes, and dry to the point that it would be ready for a second coat in 4 hours or so.

Environmental Factors

The even more important factor in how long for paint to dry, however, is the environment it’s drying in. For example, it’s logical to understand that if you were painting outside in either very hot or very cold temperatures that it would take longer for the paint to dry. We can see a few people choosing to paint on a scorching hot summer day, but it’s hard to imagine anyone choosing a frigid day of sub-zero temperatures as the ideal one to be painting the exterior of a home.

Temperature – Working in an environment of 50 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit is best for latex paints. For an oil-based paint, it’s more around 40 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Air conditioning can be used to maintain a consistent temperature. Unless you’re painting an exterior of course – Mother Nature is in complete control of the temperature outside your home at all times and there’s no getting around that.

So avoid painting on very hot or very cold days. With any inquiry into how long for paint to dry, the answer is that if it’s a very cold day out there your exterior latex house paint is going to dry much slower on days like that.

Humidity – The higher level of humidity in a room the longer it will take for paint to dry. That’s because a paint’s water content won’t evaporate as easily in high humidity, which keeps it wet longer. Around 50% percent humidity or lower is ideal for the fastest drying times. And of course this is a factor in whether you’re doing indoor painting or outdoor painting.

So there’s a quick but functional answer to how long for paint to dry. With a latex paint (the most common for home jobs) and in standard conditions it’s between an hour and 2 hours to dry completely.

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