I’ve been holding out on buying a spray gun for painting because it always felt like an overwhelming purchase. Where would I keep all the required stuff – air compressors, tubes, funnels, including the gun and who knows what else? And why would I spend hundreds of dollars on the gun alone when I can just brush on paint or buy a can of aerosol spray paint? Then I was faced with painting a sea of doors in our new house and I thought I’d look into it a little more. Turns out I was way over-thinking it!
The highest rated spray gun on Amazon is this little guy called the Critter Spray Gun. It looked simple enough to operate and it cost less than $50. A total steal. So I bought it and now I love it.
The great thing about the Critter is you need an air compressor to spray at only 90 PSI, so you don’t have to invest in a crazy heavy-duty and huge compressor. I have this one and I like it a lot. It’s bigger than I need to operate the critter gun, but I needed it for nailing in the floors and trim too so I went with something more on the heavy-duty side. You could buy one of those tiny portable compressors though and it would work great!
But the BEST part about the Critter spray gun is that it uses 16 oz Mason jars to hold the paint. This makes clean up a breeze compared to most of the spray guns out there but also makes it really easy to prep a big spray job. Rather than filling the same jar over and over again, I filled six jars with paint (diluted a little with distilled water like the guy at Benjamin Moore suggested I do) and could just quickly change out the jars when needed.
I’m nominating the Critter for my best purchase of the year! Definitely a life-changing addition to my tool box.
In case you’re considering one for yourself, here’s the line up you’ll probably want:
Critter Spray Gun
(which comes with one Mason jar)
1/4″ air hose
1/4″ coupler set
(which attaches the hose to the gun and to the air compressor)
Air compressor that pushes at least 90 PSI (I have this big one
but you could get away with using a smaller, more portable one
)
Extra Mason jars
(these are SO worth having and using!)
Extra cork gaskets
(apparently they fall apart over multiple uses)
PS If you decide to use the Benjamin Moore Advance paint that I love for spraying furniture and doors, you’ll probably want to dilute the paint with about five ounces of distilled water for every gallon of paint. It’s not much more liquid, but it really helps.
Hi. Will you be doing a review of the advance paint from BM? I know you like oil paint and this is supposed to be the best of both worlds. Latex for ease of use but oil for levening purposes.
Thank you so much for sharing! I was dreading to pay $200 + for a spray gun tool…I am so glad I saw your post…ordered mine right away!
I think I might need this to paint the metal around my windows. Thanks for the post!
Hi there! I'm new to your blog and the DIY paint world! Would this gun work for painting walls or do you need something larger?
Thanks!
Hi – thanks for sharing, looks good for smaller projects but wondering how heavy it is with the glass jar and paint? We recently painted our whole house using a BIG spray gun – super fast but sooo much paint in the air that we had to dress in so much protective stuff…and still ended up with paint in hair and nose!
This thing looks amazing! I love that you're fearless when it comes to trying out new tools. Thanks for testing this out for us, Jenny!
http://www.fullbellywornsoles.com
Thanks a ton!
Your advice is not only super thoughtful, but you also do the shopping legwork for us- a significant chunk of time when tackling any DIY project!
I'm going to agree with Leigh above! You took something that might intimidating for many and broke it all down. I feel like this is something I could easily tackle on my own now. Always look forward to your posts Jenny!
thank you, Jenny! it's like you read my mind- I bought an air compressor second hand and needed help converting it to a paint sprayer. I am always so grateful for your ideas and inspiration. thanks for including links to your recommended products.
Thx for sharing this, looks like a neat tool. Years ago my mom had a similar gadget that attached to a canister style vacuum cleaner and worked great ! E
how much paint and water did you put in the mason jar? ratio of distilled water to paint?
Jenny, you are THE BEST! I love your recommendations for spray guns/compressors. I've been thinking about it for a while (Natty by Design??) but I assumed it was a big investment for a small time DIYer. But looking at your research, I might be wrong! I will say, though, that one (of the many) things I appreciate most about your blog is that your projects are so doable for average people with average supplies. :) I really look forward to your spray gun AND paintbrush projects!
Hi Josie –
I have mentioned the Advance line lots of times here. It is a really, really great product. Cleans up like a latex. When it's fully dry it looks a lot like a low sheen oil based paint. For full gloss almost lacquered look though, I still recommend dealing with the hassles of oil based painting.
Hope that helps!
Christy and ROK – I am going to spray my cabinets with the Critter, but I probably won't spray my walls. I could see maybe doing a room or two, but the paint goes relatively fast. I can usually get one full coat, front and back on a door with one Mason jar.
xo
dailyinkling.com – yeah, this is not a "paint your whole house" type gun. But it's perfect for painting furniture, doors and trim! It's not that heavy to hold either :)
dailyinkling.com – yeah, this is not a "paint your whole house" type gun. But it's perfect for painting furniture, doors and trim! It's not that heavy to hold either :)
Shani mesa – I just used a bit of distilled water. About five ounces for a gallon. But that's for the Advance paint, which is thinner than most latex paints. You should poke around online when you're trying to figure out a specific type paint. Many manufacturers suggest using a product like Penetrol or Flotrol. Hope that helps! :)
Hi Artluvr,
I just hung up plastic sheeting on the walls in our living room, which has great ventilation. We don't have floors down yet, and everything's going to get painted soon anyway, so it was fine to do the painting inside. Later I'll probably rig something up in my garage or on the back porch. It's a good idea to use a space that gets good ventilation but also won't get dusty wind.
Hope that helps!
Yet again, another supremely helpful post. How you're managing to share so much excellent content, while you're coping with so much real-time, is a mystery to me, but I'm grateful. One question though, can you tell us more about the spray paint booth you're using in the photos, and how we might rig one up at home?
My favorite tool in my house is my spray gun! I like yours with the mason jars, so glad you got one!
Great article! I have avoided using a spray gun because I have heard about it being difficult and unreliable, now I am re-inspired! Thanks for this post.. so glad I'm following your blog :) I recommend for any other DIYers using the Color911 app for help with choosing colors.. especially now that painting will be so much easier!
girl you are an amazing resource!!! thank you!
Do you think the critter could take on kitchen cabinets? Or do I have to go up a level?
So glad I found your post before painting my louver doors with a paint brush! Thanks!!!
I'm so glad you posted this because I recently bought the Wagner Flexio 570 paint sprayer to do our doors plus help with my furniture refurbishing career and had horrible, awful results. I will be giving this Critter a chance. Thanks!
my compressor is out of commission recently due to a part failure and i tried to paint a shelf by hand (ikea hack) — i wanted to shoot myself between the eyes….i used up so much paint and it looks crappy..need to sand everything down, get the compressor fixed and redo it with the spray gun. definitely worth every penny i've spent on it.
Hi Josie –
I have mentioned the Advance line lots of times here. It is a really, really great product. Cleans up like a latex. When it's fully dry it looks a lot like a low sheen oil based paint. For full gloss almost lacquered look though, I still recommend dealing with the hassles of oil based painting.
Hope that helps!
Christy and ROK – I am going to spray my cabinets with the Critter, but I probably won't spray my walls. I could see maybe doing a room or two, but the paint goes relatively fast. I can usually get one full coat, front and back on a door with one Mason jar.
xo
dailyinkling.com – yeah, this is not a "paint your whole house" type gun. But it's perfect for painting furniture, doors and trim! It's not that heavy to hold either :)
dailyinkling.com – yeah, this is not a "paint your whole house" type gun. But it's perfect for painting furniture, doors and trim! It's not that heavy to hold either :)
Shani mesa – I just used a bit of distilled water. About five ounces for a gallon. But that's for the Advance paint, which is thinner than most latex paints. You should poke around online when you're trying to figure out a specific type paint. Many manufacturers suggest using a product like Penetrol or Flotrol. Hope that helps! :)
Hi Artluvr,
I just hung up plastic sheeting on the walls in our living room, which has great ventilation. We don't have floors down yet, and everything's going to get painted soon anyway, so it was fine to do the painting inside. Later I'll probably rig something up in my garage or on the back porch. It's a good idea to use a space that gets good ventilation but also won't get dusty wind.
Hope that helps!
This looks and sounds great – I wish I had seen this a week ago!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
You are the BEST for posting this! I've been holding out on a spray gun for a while, I really don't have anything I need to spray just yet, but I've always wanted one! And it's such a steal! I'm definitely buying this, THANK YOU
Ummm… this is amazing. How have I not heard of the critter before? This is so simple. And it works! I'm impressed.
I've been wanting to paint all the doors in our house for a long time. It's always seemed really overwhelming but this makes me want to hit the "add to cart" button and take a Saturday to tackle it! (My husband will be thrilled :) ). Thanks for sharing the details, Jenny!
Dang! I wish I had seen this before I splurged on a paint gun! I might still have to get one just because the jar feature is so handy! What a great idea!
Thanks for the detailed list and links to the supplies! Big help, and we know how busy you are right now. Thanks for all the help and time you took to do it. Very appreciated!
Very cute and interesting to know about- I had no idea they can come so small
Does this leave a super smooth finish? Bought a spray gun once and had to return because it just wasn't very smooth looking, almost had a really small textured look to it.
Thanks!
Bethany
So glad to get these resources; looks like you had alot of interest yesterday. I bought it all! Just bought a vacation home and have lots of projects lined up. Am new to the DIY thing. Thanks. Enjoying your blog…good job!
Thanks for this. I've been looking for a little sprayer but was leery of them. I just ordered my own Critter!
Ok you convinced me. I just added it to my amazon cart. I have 16 doors to paint and this seems like it would help me keep my sanity. I don't know why, but I've always been so scared of paint sprayers. Thanks for the recommendation!
I love the wave switch with the bronze plate.
And I'm getting a new apartment, so I would use them in the living room!
Hi Jenny,
I love this little sprayer so much I shared it with my readers on my Shout Out Friday! http://www.carolynsmithdesigns.com/shout-out-friday-7/
Great post!
This is so fabulous, Jenny. I've been fantasizing about painting my kitchen cabinets, which are a clear stained maple. However the sides are a faux wood material and I'm nervous about tackling that project. I'm hoping you have a how-to for repainting kitchen cabinets on here.
Jenny, thanks so much for this post. I'm (hopefully) about to start spraying the built in cabinets we've been working on, once my husband gets home with a new air compressor. Wanted to leave a comment to let anyone looking at this know, that the actual specs of a compressor required are at least: 3/4 HP, that can produce 3 CFM @ 90 PSI (or higher). I looked at my little 1/3 HP pancake and saw that it was capable of 110 PSI and so thought I could use that. Set everything up and tried to spray – nothing came out. So now awaiting a new compressor so I can get spraying!
First thing I would spray?! So many choices! I would definitely be spraying some re-claimed wood that I intend to use to build a bench for my lovely front porch.
I’m new to painting furniture, etc. and was wondering if you need to use a top coat sealer of some sort when painting with BM advance line. I have this sprayer, btw, and LOVE it!!! I used it with milk paint and it worked beautifully!
You need to check on that price when I looked on Amazon this sprayer is $161.00 not $50 the one that is close to that only sprays a 1/2 in. Circle