Painting with a roller

[user1484830599]

Help! I am great at cutting in but I cannot use a roller to save my life. What am I doing wrong?

I get lines on the wall from the end of the roller and the coats are so thick I end up doing 4 when I should be able to get away with 2.

Any tips? I have lots of painting to do so really need to get better at this!

1. Get the right amount of paint on the roller, you need to roll it up and down the tray part a few times so all the roller has the same amount of paint on it, you soon know by the noise it makes.

2. Start a little way in from the edge and roll a section of wall in different directions leaving a patchy edge so no 'joins' are visible

3. Have a damp cloth in a plastic bag so you can wipe up smears etc. straight away while the paint's wet.

4. Roller slowly to avoid splashes and to be able to hear when the roller's running out of paint - it makes a different noise.
   Also you have more control so are less likely to get the edges of the roller on adjacent walls or ceilings.

5. Choose the size of roller for comfort, a laden 9 inch one is too heavy for me to do a ceiling well, but a 7 inch one is easier for me to use.

6. If you have to stop but will need the roller again the next day in the same colour paint, take the roller off the handle and pop it in a tight fitting plastic bag so it's ready to use the next day.

Thank you BlankTimes. Im doing all these things, I just cant work out what I'm doing wrong!

You may be using a shit roller. It should be half-inch deep pile and fluffy (when fresh, and when cleaned), not thin or foam. It'll hold a lot of paint.

When coating the roller, dip it then roll it towards the pointy end of the chevrons in the palette, this pulls the paint away from the outer edges and towards the centre, means you get less outer edge lines.

If I've slightly overloaded or it looks edgy, roll the edge off on the blank bit of wall you're about to paint to offload some of the paint. Then roller over it.

Opposite of BlankTimes I always roll out a ~4ft square and always roller in the same direction - usually updown - for the final coat. Since we're both successful, that means it doesn't matter and do as you like :)

The plastic bag/clingfilm trick is a godsend, otherwise you have to spend half an hour rinsing out after every session. It'll keep for a couple of days if you seal it tight.

Yep, I'm using a good roller. Thanks for the tips I'll give them a try.

DH is a painter and decorator and he uses paint buckets rather than the wee trays. They are a lot deeper so hold more paint and he dips and rolls the roller up the side Of the bucket to even out the spread of paint