Last October, I shared some of my favorite pro painting tips while we were working on the guest room, and received lots of positive feedback. I&#;m happy that was such a helpful post and I thought it might be beneficial to elaborate on determining which paint brush or roller works best for specific projects. I wanted to break it down in an easy, permanent resource for you here on the blog. Whether you&#;re tackling a small paint project- like painting a piece of furniture&#;. or a large painting project- like the exterior of your home, I&#;m deciphering which paint tools work best for each project based on the surface you&#;re painting. Click through or pin this one for future paint and home improvement projects! Oh- and there is a little giveaway at the end of the post, too- if you&#;re in need of new brushes. Be sure to scroll to the bottom and enter! Ready for a super educational and informative post? Let&#;s do it!
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Choosing the right brush or roller can really make or break your project outcome. I hate seeing brush streaks, uneven coverage, and have learned that projects go more quickly when I&#;m using the correct applicator. It took my stubborn self a couple years into our home improvement journey before I started investing in quality paint tools. They really do make a big difference, and knowing when to use what is half the battle! Let&#;s talk about brushes first, then we&#;ll discuss rollers.
There are three main things I consider before choosing a brush for a project: the stiffness, the size & shape, as well as the type of filaments. Did you know smaller trim brushes have stiff bristles and more control? They&#;re designed for short strokes that create crisp lines, while wall brushes are larger, hold more paint, and are made for long strokes that cover a bigger surface area, saving you time. When choosing a brush, you&#;ll want to consider the size, shape, stiffness, handle style, and type of bristles or filaments.
Brush Stiffness
Stiff brushes are designed for cutting in a clean, crisp line and trimming out around windows, door casings, and millwork. Generally, the more stiff the brush, the more control you have to achieve a hard edge. Anytime I trim out millwork, the ceiling or corners of a room, or windows & doors, I most always have a ClearCut brush in my hand.
Brush Size & Style
Smaller sized brushes are better for working in tight areas or on detailed projects- like furniture or window mullions. In addition to size, you also have to consider the shape of the brush. Angular brushes are best for getting into tight corners or difficult to reach areas. Large brushes are optimal for covering a lot of surface area when a roller won&#;t work- like painting fences or curved surfaces (furniture projects). When choosing a brush, I also base my selection on the handle and how it feels in my hand. I&#;m partial to a short brush because it fits in my small hands and palm nicely, and doesn&#;t get in the way like longer handles&#; it&#;s great for tight areas and details. That part is really a personal preference and depends on how you paint and hold the brush. Experiment to find out which style you like best!
Brush Filaments
Not all brushes are created equal, and filaments (or bristles) are a big part of that. Purdy offers tipped and flagged filaments for their specific brushes, which helps with brush marks and cutting in crisp lines. Stiff brushes made for cutting in, have tipped filaments, so they won&#;t fray or split over time&#; meaning you can continue painting crisp edges with each project. Tipped and flagged filaments are actually intentionally split, then tipped&#; meaning they&#;re much softer, have smaller end bristles, and allow us to paint without brush marks. Isn&#;t that interesting?!
The question I&#;m most often asked about painting&#; how do you paint without seeing brush strokes? I have two remedies for that: good self leveling paint and the right brush. My favorite brush for this is a Nylox brush, pictured above. These brushes are awesome for smooth interior projects (doors, trim, and cabinetry). Paired with a self leveling paint, they provide an ultra smooth finish without any brush marks. As the paint dries, you&#;ll notice them disappearing. These brushes have very soft flagged and tipped filaments that provide an even finish. I made a little diagram for you&#;
My personal favorite brushes&#;
When selecting a roller cover, you have to determine what look you&#;re going for&#; completely smooth, stippling, a little texture, or a lot of texture. You should consider the nap, roller width, and knit to determine what roller fabric works best for your project.
Roller Cover Fabric
When choosing a roller cover, there are two main fabric options: woven or knit. Knitted roller covers hold more paint, cover more surface area, and leave more texture. Woven roller covers, on the other hand, prevent lint while providing a smooth finish. The amount of stippling or texture you get also depends on the roller&#;s fabric density.
Roller Nap
The less nap on a roller, the smoother the finish will be. 1/4&#; nap is great for ultra smooth surfaces- like doors, 3/8&#; nap is ideal for walls & ceilings, 1/2&#; nap is optimal for textured walls and concrete, 3/4&#; nap is best for stucco and masonry, and 1-1/4&#; nap is what you&#;ll need for brick or highly textured masonry. For the majority of our interior walls here at home, we use White Dove roller covers. They have a 3/8&#; nap, work with all paints & stains, are lint-free, have a high-density woven cover, and they give us a nice smooth finish. I&#;ve got another diagram for you&#; I was on a roll in Illustrator and it was kind of fun getting back to my graphic design roots. Ha!
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My personal favorite rollers&#;
Did you know that Purdy also has a convenient tool selector? I played around with it a lot last year and it&#;s very accurate. You answer questions like the type of surface you&#;re painting and the type of paint you&#;re using, then the tool selector will provide you with the right tool for the job. That really helped me learn what to use.
As for the GIVEAWAY&#; the winner will receive a Purdy brush pack filled with a few of my favorites. If you&#;d like to test them out- all you have to do is comment on this blog post, and you&#;re entered to win! Easy peasy. The winner will be announced in one week via . *The winner must have a US mailing address to win&#; sorry Canadian friends!
Was that WAY more than you wanted to know about paint brushes and rollers? Since partnering with Purdy these past 8-9 months, I&#;ve actually really loved learning about all of this stuff. I find it so interesting and my new knowledge has definitely come in handy during our projects. The more you know makes for a better outcome!
If you&#;re looking for the best roller sleeve to help you paint your interior doors, look no further! In this blog post, we&#;ll go over the best roller sleeves for the job and explain why they are our top picks. Finding the right roller sleeve is super important to have the best outcome in any painting job. Having the right equipment is the bread and butter of painting and as fussy blokes, we know that all too well!
Interior doors are not only fun but an important part of the painting in your home or office. Although most wouldn&#;t notice a well-painted door, you&#;re more than likely to get looks or comments if your interior doors aren&#;t painted correctly or if they don&#;t necessarily match the look and feel of your home or office.
To ensure you paint interior doors well, you simply need the correct roller sleeves to do so! There are two things we first need to look at when considering the best roller sleeves for painting interior doors: sleeve material & sleeve size.
Sleeve Material: Go Microfibre
There are many paint roller sleeves available in different materials and not every material will suit every job. Our number one recommendation is generally always going to be to go for the microfibre option. Microfibre roller sleeves are versatile and reliable and the sleeves from Two Fussy Blokes are high-quality and reputable too! Microfibre roller sleeves work great for interior doors because they have the flexibility to adjust to different surface textures and materials you&#;re painting. Whether your door is made of timber or laminate, a microfibre roller sleeve can provide the best paint release in any situation for a great finish.
Sleeve Size: Smaller is better for doors
Although you might think that just taking a typical roller sleeve size of 230mm (9&#;) is pretty good, this size is more reserved for larger flat surfaces and even if your interior door is larger than most, you&#;ll want to pick up a smaller mini roller sleeve of around 100mm (4&#;) for the best results.
Why? Well, a smaller roller gives you way more control over the paint application, reduces the likelihood of streaks and allows you to apply paint to the door evenly for a great finish. Not to mention, the fact that loading a smaller roller with paint is quicker and less messy than trying to do the same with a larger roller.
What about sleeve nap sizes?
Nap sizes depend a lot on what material you&#;re painting and what sort of finish you&#;d prefer. If you&#;re painting a typical interior door, we recommend using a roller with a shorter nap of around 5mm for a lovely smooth finish. Shorter nap sizes are perfect for that spray-like finish you would otherwise get with an actual paint sprayer. For other hard surfaces where you won&#;t mind having a bit of texture, you&#;d be best to go for a larger nap size (but no greater than 10mm), although we&#;d recommend leaving those for the more general painting of walls, ceilings etc.
Our Main Recommendation:
We highly recommend Two Fussy Blokes&#; range of mini microfibre rollers to get you started on your interior door painting project! These are versatile, great to keep around for any odd jobs if you don&#;t use them all for your interior door and are such to help you paint your best for a stunning looking door.
Do I need to remove the door to paint it?
No. You don&#;t actually need to remove any interior door to paint it! That being said, it is much easier for beginners to get consistent paint and a satisfying finish by having the interior door lie flat and off its hinges, but it&#;s possible to do it in place. We recommend making sure you cover the hinges and other bits you don&#;t want to paint and allow plenty of ventilation.
What about paintbrushes and sprayers?
Paintbrushes, while a good alternative, is more likely to show streaks or brush marks especially if you&#;re using them across the wider, flat surfaces of the interior door, rather than for just cutting like you would when painting a wall. As for sprayers, these are also good tools for door painting but can be much messier dealing with the overspray of paint, especially if your door is being painted while still on its hinges and in place.
Let us know how you go with interior door painting from these tips and our recommendation for the best roller sleeve to do the job.
Until next time, you can find out more about our roller sleeves available in our online store today!
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