How to Choose and Use a Paint Roller

If you're going to go to the trouble of painting in your home—you want the job to end up looking good—and let's face it—you'd like it to be as little work as possible. Since paint rollers play an important part in making sure your painting job ends up looking good, and using the right one will make your job easier, you want to be sure you choose the right roller and sleeve for the job. Here's some ideas on how to choose and use the proper paint roller.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paint roller and sleeve
• Paint and paint tray
• Cutting brush (angled sash brush)

How to Choose a Paint Roller

1. Select a sleeve with a plastic core rather than a cardboard core. Plastic holds up longer, particularly when working with latex paint, and you can clean and reuse it a number of times.

2. Look to be sure there are no visible seams in the nap (this will help minimize streaking on the painted surface).

3. Squeeze the nap and see what happens. A good nap bounces back quickly.

4. Select the proper nap material for the type of paint you're using. A synthetic nap works best for latex paint, while natural or lamb's wool naps are better for alkyd (oil based) paints and stains.

5. Determine the length of the roller nap based on the type of surface you'll be painting. On smooth flat surfaces use a short nap roller (1/8 to 1/4 inch), on semi smooth or somewhat textured surfaces use a medium nap (3/8 to 1/2 inch), for textured or rougher surfaces use a longer nap (3/4 inch) and for stucco or concrete blocks use a long nap roller (1 to 1 1/2 inches).

6. Choose the size of your paint roller and sleeve based on the job, your strength and ability. The most common size roller is 9 inches, but 6- to 7-inch rollers and sleeves are available at paint stores. (Some people find the smaller rollers easier to control than the larger ones.)

How to Use a Paint Roller

7. Ensure the roller sleeve fits tightly onto the roller frame. If it's loose, try bending the frame wires out a little to get a snug fit.

8. Wet the roller before using it. Use water when working with latex paint or mineral spirits when the paint is oil based or alkyd. Get rid of the excess moisture before starting work; you want the roller to be damp, not soaked.

9. Load your paint roller by rolling it back and forth in the well of the paint tray, then roll it lightly on the upper portion of the tray.

10. Starting in one corner of a room, apply paint in the shape of the letter "W" or "M" on a section of wall about 1-yard-wide. Fill in the unpainted areas using slow (stoops spattering), even strokes.

11. Reload the roller, move onto the next section and repeat the process, making sure to slightly overlap the previous section.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of using a paint tray, you can get a roller grid at paint stores. This fits right into a bucket, and since a bucket will hold more paint than a tray, you won’t need to refill the tray as often.
• Not even the pros can use a roller to get right into corners and up to the edges of walls. You need to "cut in" these areas using a "cutting" brush (it has the bristles cut on an angle to allow you to paint a narrow line).
• If you're going to be using the roller the next day, you don't need to clean everything up. Just wrap the roller and frame in a plastic bag, seal it tightly and put it the fridge or freezer. Just make sure to take them out 1/2 hour before you want to start work the next day.
• Never stop or take a break when you're in the middle of a wall. The paint will dry and there will be a noticeable line where the paint meets after the whole wall has dried.