How to use a paint roller

Using a roller

1. Strangely enough, your first step should be to grab a paintbrush. Use it to paint right from the edge of the wall and in to a width of 75mm - this is called 'cutting in'. This will prevent the roller hitting surfaces you don't want to be painted.

2. Pour up to 6cm of paint into the roller tray. Leave a section of the tray empty so that you can remove excess paint from the roller when loading it.

3. Roll the roller firmly back and forth along the tray until it's loaded evenly with paint. This will prevent dripping or skidding over the surface. If not enough paint is loaded or if it's unevenly spread, you'll end up with a patchy application.

4. Start rolling the paint on approximately one roller width from the cut-in section and work back towards it, getting as close as possible to the edges to eliminate join marks.

5. Spread the paint evenly on the surface, refill the roller and continue working. Remember to start each application one roller width away from the last and work back towards the area already painted.

6. After applying two or three roller-loads of paint, use a relatively dry roller to lightly roll back over the just-painted area and remove any heavy texture or thick edges of paint that may have been left over. Continue until the entire surface has been coated.

Source: Painting & Wallpapering (Murdoch Books)

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