Information
Paint Roller Advice
Paint Rollers - The Basics
As with paint brushes, quality paint rollers sleeves have higher quality fabrics and can hold more paint - this reduces the user time spent reloading the roller and increases the time spent rolling the paint.
To paint with a paint roller, three items are mandatory; a paint roller sleeve or refill, a roller frame and a container for the paint.
Paint rollers are available with different size widths, the correct width will depend upon the size of the surface to be decorated and the strength of the user.
Sizes available are 4 Inches for narrow or detailed painting to 15 Inches for large surfaces, and 24 Inches for large floor areas.
The most common paint roller width is 9 inch as this is a good average size.
Paint roller widths 7 and 9 Inch come with a hollow core which attaches to a cage frame and come in two core size diameters. These are 1.5 Inch which is normally associated with DIY retailers and 1.75 Inch which is popular for the trade market. It is important to select the correct roller cage frame diameter prior to purchasing paint roller sleeves.
1.75 Inch diameter is larger and is therefore reduces splatter and is able to hold more paint for this reason is best suited to trade decorating professionals.
Paint roller, 4, 12, 15 and 24 Inch, end caps are used with a common pin mechanism attachment to the frame.
Many of these paint roller frames will in turn attach to various extension poles. See Roller Frames and Poles for further information.
Paint Rollers - Why Choose a Paint Roller?
Paint Rollers are the application tool of choice when you have a large area to decorate.
Interior and exterior, walls, floors and ceilings can be painted with reduced time and effort, but as with a brush, the correct roller is essential.
Used with an extension pole, areas can be painted and decorated without the use of a ladder or step ladder.
One negative is that decorating with a roller uses about 10% more paint.
Paint Roller Sleeves - Selecting the Correct Paint Roller Sleeve
The key to selecting the correct rollers is to assess the smoothness and the size of the area that needs to be coated.
For rough surfaces select a longer pile sleeve and for smooth or semi smooth surfaces select a Short or Medium pile sleeve.
The most common fabrics used are polyester (knitted), polyamide (woven) and Microfibre.
Polyester is a hard wearing fabric and has a dense fibre structure, and is ideally suited for all dispersion and binding paints.
Polyamide is superior in quality, has more effective paint pick up and release, is easier to clean and has reduced fibre loss. Polyamide is best suited to thick high quality trade paints.
Microfibre is a high absorbent fabric with effective high release without splatter. This fabric is recommended for thin coatings, such as primers, stains, lacquers and latex paints.
Solvent resistant fabric this is specifically designed for the application of solvents, oil and lacquer paints, synthetic resins, anti rust paints and liquid plastics.
Sheepskin is a natural material and has excellent pick up and release with a fine finish.
Simulated Mohair is recommended for high quality finish, using viscous coatings and is ideally suited to gloss and under coat paints and/or water based or acrylic lacquer.
Foam and Flocked Foam is recommended for gloss and under coat paints and/or water based or acrylic lacquer.
Paint Rollers - Watch out for...
Less expensive paint rollers are manufactured using poor quality fabric, less paint can be loaded onto these fabrics. Budget paint roller sleeves are commonly glued to the roller core and this shortens the life of the sleeve, as the adhesive can break down with continuous use, causing the roller fabric to come apart from the plastic core. Also, if the core is not equally coated in glue it can lead to dead patches which will lead to the delamination of the fabric from the roller core.
Paint Rollers - Look for....
Thermofused or Thermobonded™, this means that the surface of the plastic sleeve core is melted and the fabric is wound on to the molten core. This allows greater longevity of the roller as there is no glue to break down.
High quality, paint roller sleeve fabric is generally associated with European and American manufacturers.