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Question: My daughter and I are building the Victoria's Farmhouse.  Things are going pretty well.  The outside is (or was) perfect, the inside is completely painted with white paint. Everything was great until I attempted to glue (assemble) the bay walls. They were painted and I have a few drops/splotches of Elmer's white glue that has messed up the paint.  My daughter thinks it is still OK, but I know it and can see it. Any suggestions on how to cover up the splotches?  Do I sand/repaint?
ps  - We just glued up the first floor walls and things are looking great!

Paint doesn't stick well to glue, so you may be able to pop off the drips. If so, be as delicate as possible to not gouge the paint.  This is the best process if you have droplets of glue, but if you have smear:

White glue is soluble with water and dry latex paint is not (two day old latex paint is "set" but not dry).  Dampen a terrycloth washcloth and rub the paint splotches.  After a minute, they will begin to turn milky and you will know they are softening and being cleaned away with the washcloth. Keep rubbing gently and turning the washcloth until the glue is gone.  If the paint is quite new, it will also be cleaned away or at least loose it's lustre, and you'll have to touch-up the paint.  This process gives feathered corners whereas scraping can leave abrupt edges that will still show under touch-up. Sanding will take off the paint faster than the glue, and is a frustrating way to deal with surface glue.  I usually use a combination of washing and picking.

Every dollhouse build has a significant touch-up time at the end.  Glue smear, nail holes, cleanup from tape-damage, lots of stuff.  The more experienced builders have less of it, but everyone has some.  Be ready with a damp artist's brush to clean-up the posts and rails as you glue them on... That's a given messy area.  A soda-straw is a useful scoop for glue in the joint between a floor and a wall, followed with a damp rag then a dry rag. The moment I take off the tape when a glue joint is set (it actually takes a day or more for it to fully dry), I do a thorough inspection and cleanup. That's the moment that glue comes off most easily.

But don't be skimpy with glue in order to avoid cleanup.

Happy building
doc

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