How to Make a Smooth Wall That Has Been Spackled

Spackling

• When you're spackling your wall, try to smooth the spackle medium out as much as you can while it is still wet. Take the edge of your spackle knife and scrape it against the area to remove excess material and smooth the rest of the spackle. If you leave an excess amount of spackle, smoothing the wall will be that much more difficult once it dries.

Inspecting

• Allow the spackled area to dry completely. Once it is dry, it likely will need some smoothing no matter how much you scraped away excess spackle medium. Sometimes you can tell that the spackled area is raised and uneven simply by looking at it. However, if you can't see a raised area, rub over the spackled area with your hand. You will likely feel some raised sections that will show up once you paint the wall. Fixing the uneven spackle at this point will be easier than once you paint the wall.

Sanding

• Choose a piece of fine-grained sandpaper to smooth the spackled area. Rub the area gently with the paper for a moment, then rub over it with your hand. Continue doing this until you no longer feel any raised spackle and the area feels flush with the rest of the wall. Don't rub the wall too vigorously with the sandpaper, or you could damage the drywall or remove too much of the spackle.

Finishing

• Dust the area with a clean, dry cloth once you finish smoothing away the excess spackle. Doing this will make sure that any dust created by the sanding process is gone. If the dust is still there when you paint the wall, it can result in an uneven-looking and bumpy paint job.