How to Pick the Right Paint Sprayer Tip for Your Next Project to Save Time and Prevent Overspray

3 min readYou just got an awesome new paint sprayer—maybe our Best Overall, the Titan ControlMax 18V Backpack Paint Sprayer, or our Best Value pick, the Graco TrueCoat 360. You also have a fresh bucket of latex paint and a surface—a wall, cabinet, or fence—that’s waiting to be covered.Now to choose the right paint sprayer tip for the job. Every tip has a three-digit number, like 313, 515, or 621, that contains useful information for your particular job.The last two refer to the size of the sprayer tip’s opening. So, a 515 tip has a 0.015-inch opening, and a 313 tip has a 0.013-inch opening, for example. Your paint can should indicate a range of opening sizes to use so you don’t clog up your sprayer tip.But the first number is both the most complicated and the most essential to get right. Here’s why.What Is Paint Spray Fan Width?It’s basically how wide a coating you’ll give your workpiece on a single pass, assuming you hold your sprayer about 12 inches (any closer causes splashing, and farther away might fall short of the target).Doubling the first of the three-digit number gives you the fan width. Do not ask me why; that’s just how it is. So, if you have a 515 tip, it’ll give you an approximate 10-inch fan width. A 313 spray tip, meanwhile, gives you a 6-inch fan.Armed with that knowledge, now you need to know what fan width is ideal for various DIY painting projects. Go too small and you could be adding considerable time to your project, but too wide a spray fan might lead to unwanted overspray.The Best Spray Fan Size for Your Project 4-Inch: Trim, Furniture, and Narrow SurfacesA narrow fan, around 4 inches wide, gives you more control if you’re working on smaller surfaces—things like trim, furniture, railings, or balusters, where a 10-inch spray pattern would throw too much paint at the target.This feeling of control is also valuable indoors, where overspray is the single biggest drawback to using a paint sprayer. That smaller fan won’t really eliminate your need for masking or drop cloths, but it will help you focus the paint exactly where you want it.6-Inch: The Ideal All-Purpose SizeFor general-purpose work, I like a fan in the 6-inch neighborhood, like you get with this Graco sprayer tip. It’s wide enough to cover a decent amount of surface with each pass, but still manageable around corners, edges, and mid-sized projects.This fan is an excellent choice for cabinets, doors, fences, shelving, and smaller exterior projects. If you’re buying one tip to handle a variety of DIY paint projects, this one gives you a lot of flexibility.8-to 10-Inch: To Save Time on Siding and Other Large Surfaces Sometimes, you just want a wider fan, like you get with this sprayer tip from Wagner, because of the time savings associated with making fewer passes on a really big and flat surface. An 8- to 10-inch pattern lets you cover things like walls, ceilings, siding, and fences faster, and because these surfaces are so large, overspray is less of a concern.Final ThoughtsThe basic rule is simple: Go narrow when precision matters, move toward the middle for general-purpose work, and lean toward the wider side when you have a lot of open space to cover.Also, make sure you check your paint sprayer’s instruction manual or specs before purchasing a new tip. Some brands, like Titan and Wagner, require you to buy branded tips, while other sprayer brands accept any tip.Essentials for Your Next Paint Spraying ProjectBest Tip for Mid-Size ProjectsBest Tip for Painting Walls and SidingPaul Russell Smith is a former NYC ironworker turned screenwriter (Grace Point) and home renovation specialist. He lives in a crooked old farmhouse in Stockton, NJ, where he’s just as likely to be clearing a clogged pipe as rewriting a third act. When he’s not working, he enjoys hiking, pedestrian beer, and cooking over a live fire. His self-proclaimed spirit animal is the English Bulldog.