Painting Merit Badge
Eight requirements. The long ones are 3, preparing and painting two different surfaces with patching or caulking, primers and topcoats (your counselor must preapprove the projects), and 4, an item painted in harmonizing colors chosen with the pamphlet's color wheel. The rest explain safety, coatings and finishes, equipment care (shown), ladders and protective equipment, and environmental and health issues. Requirement 8 is a career or a hobby.
The plan behind this
The two painting jobs
| requirement | what you paint | conditions |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | two different surfaces, prepared using patching materials or caulking, with the proper primers and topcoats | your counselor must preapprove the projects; suggested projects include an interior or exterior wall, a door, a piece of furniture, a concrete wall or floor, a porch rail, or a fence |
| 4 | an item, prepared and painted | harmonizing colors you select using the color wheel in the Painting merit badge pamphlet |
Agree the two surfaces for requirement 3 with your counselor before you start on either.
Shown, not only explained
Requirement 5 is showing the right way to use, clean, maintain and store painting equipment.
The explanations
Safety procedures for preparing surfaces and applying coatings (1); three ways coatings improve a surface, the differences between oil-based, acrylic-based and water-based paints, where you would apply enamel paint, flat paint, wood stain and varnish, the importance of sheen, and why each is best for those uses (2); ladder safety, personal hygiene and personal protective equipment (6); and the environmental and health issues of removing paint, applying paint and discarding old paint (7).
Requirement 8: ONE of two
| route | what it asks |
|---|---|
| 8(a) career | research one career: training and education, costs, job prospects, salary, job duties and advancement; discuss your findings with your counselor |
| 8(b) hobby | how you could use what you learned to pursue a hobby or healthy lifestyle: training, expenses and organizations; discuss your short- and long-term goals with your counselor |
Research methods for the career may include, with your parent or guardian's permission, an internet or library search, an interview with a professional, or a visit to a place where people in the career work.
What this page is
The Painting merit badge, drawn so the two painting jobs and the preapproval the first one needs stand out, with requirement 8 drawn as a question. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs and which change from year to year. The free official pamphlet is the fuller guide.
Sources for this page
- Painting Merit Badge Requirements, Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31 · The requirements themselves, and the free official pamphlet linked from them.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.0.3 · The process every merit badge is earned through, which this page does not repeat.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.4.3 · Which version of a changed requirement applies to a Scout who has already started.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 4.0.0.1 · Why the requirements are not in the Guide to Advancement and are expected to change annually.
Last checked against its sources on .