Plaster of Paris Vs Spackle: Which One Is Better?

So, you’ve got a hole in your wall, and you need to repair it? Don’t worry. We won’t ask how it happened. You need to know what the best repair compound will be for this little project. There’s plenty to choose from, but you’ve landed between Plaster of Paris or Spackle.

The answer when choosing between Plaster of Paris and Spackle lies in how extensive the repair will be. By identifying the aspects of damage, you’ll be able to choose. For lighter repairs like scratches, you’ll be better off using spackle. On the other hand, for more extensive repairs like holes in your wall, you’ll want to use Plaster of Paris.

It’s no secret that there are a ton of products to choose from when it comes to repairing walls. There’s probably a whole section dedicated to it in your local home improvement store.

As a beginner, it’ll be hard to understand the differences between most of them. The key differences in them usually have to deal with their drying time, and what type of walls they should be used on.

Of course, if you’re looking at this article, you already have a good idea of what you want, but it doesn’t hurt to know if you grabbed the wrong product for your wall. Get out your note pad as we go over the general wall repairing compounds.

Hot mud is bought as a powder. When you mix it with water, it begins hardening right away. The setting time will depend on who you buy the product from (brand wise). The time for hot mud to set can be between 10 minutes and an hour.

That range should show you that if you want the repair over quickly, don’t cheap out; however, If you’re patient, then it won’t matter. Experts in drywall use hot mud because it makes strong joints, making your wall stronger than it was before.

All-purpose joint compound is the least beginner-friendly as far as time goes, but as far as everything else goes, it’s easy. This compound comes mixed in a tub, and they can be bought in various sizes. Do you need to repair a drywall dent that only you can see? Buy a 1-gallon tub and save the rest for when you run into a more significant issue.

You can use the product for anything like the name says. As previously stated, it’s beginner-friendly everywhere but the drying process. It’s not something you have to watch dry, but if you have children or dogs in your home, then you may have a new job of keeping them away from it because it takes 6 to 12 hours to dry. The drying depends on the humidity and the brand of the product.

There’s nothing like living with animals or children that have to constantly be watched when a dangerous material is out in the open. Creatures are curious, and they don’t know how dangerous it can be to mess with chemicals.

Plaster of Paris, Patching Compound, and spackle are great for people that just want the hole in their wall to be patched as soon as possible. You can’t just pick one without knowing what they are for; otherwise, you may end up picking the wrong compound for the job.

While you may use Plaster of Paris on big repairs, you’ll want to use spackle on smaller repairs. Plaster can be used on the top layer of a wall. Spackle, on the other hand, is used to repair holes and cracks. Spackle takes about two hours to dry, but this all depends on the quality and type of spackle you buy.

Organic spackle is what the name says: organic. It’s made of raw materials. It’s spackle that isn’t mixed with chemicals to bind it together. Mixed spackle is made of different materials. The mixture makes it easier for the spackle to adhere to the wall for a longer time.

Now that you know which to use in terms of Plaster of Paris or spackle, it’s time to understand the limitations of them. If you’re into stretching the use of your Plaster of Paris, then you’ll be happy to know that you can use it in the place of spackle.

Let’s say you have a hole in your wall and you go and buy Plaster of Paris to repair it. Next thing you know, the repairs are done, and a week later, you need to fix a tiny hole from something like a nail. It would be much easier to use spackle, but you could use your Plaster of Paris instead and save money by using what you have.

Using Plaster of Paris instead of spackle does have tradeoffs. There’s a risk that the plaster will shrink, requiring you to coat it multiple times. That could make the whole repair take much longer than it usually would.