I painted my dining room this weekend. It was the end of an arduous process of removing wallpaper, washing the walls, replastering crack and holes, resealing window joints, sanding, more plastering and finally, painting.
After the first coat, I discovered to my dismay that I had made a terrible decision buying the discount rollers. There was quite a bit of lint left over on the walls, stuck on with the first coat of paint. Lightly taking sandpaper to the walls removed it all pretty quickly, but I wasn’t eager to repeat my mistake.
So off to the hardware store to buy the best possible rollers on stock. The associate showed me which would be the absolute best, and suggested I wrap my hand in painter’s tape (inside-out), and remove any loose lint from the roller that way - brilliant! It removed quite a bit. The second coat went on, and I let it dry. There’s STILL lint on the walls (but not nearly as much)!
Is having lint on the walls just a fact of life when painting? Am I doing something horribly wrong? Is there an easy fix that won’t result in my going out and buying another can of paint?
No, it’s a fact of life of using rollers. That’s why I only use brushes unless I’m doing something exterior where the lint doesn’t really matter, since people aren’t usually close enough to see it. I just finished my living room yesterday, and I only used brushes. That’s the fix. Sorry that it’s not an easy one.
I suppose you could call using rollers horribly wrong, but some people don’t mind the lint. To each his own…
Before you dip a roller into paint, wrap some masking tape around your hand a few times so the sticky side is out. Then roll the roller over the tape to remove as much of the lint as possible. It wont get all of it, but it can make a very noticeable difference.
The more expensive the roller, the less the lint. Also, you can get ‘foam’ rollers that work well with some types of paint and have no lint, but if the paint is rather thick and sticky, may pull apart. No matter what type of roller, always use the tape method of removing dust/lint. I find the most effective to be about 4 strips of duct tape hanging backwards (with just the top and bottom rolled up to stick it up) which you can roll your roller across a few time before beginning. This works best if you have a metal cabinet that you can put the duct tape on so you can remove it easily.
My husband, the former professional painter, buys only top quality roller sleeves, and before using them, we wrap the roller sleeve itself tightly with masking tape. Pulling the tape off the sleeve takes off about as much lint as you’re going to get (don’t worry about pulling all your fuzz off - it doesn’t happen).
ETA: Is it lint on the walls, or bad paint? We also use only good quality paint - between de-linting the rollers and using good paint, we never have any noticeable lint on our paint jobs.
I’ve painted 7-8 rooms with a roller over the last few years, and never noticed lint. Never bothered de-linting with tape, either. The walls are textured, though, so I wonder if that makes a difference. Maybe the lint is easier to see on a smooth wall?
I’d guarantee that’s the case. These are plaster walls, and are *really *smooth. (I spent way too much time going over (seemingly) every square inch to fill in cracks and nicks.) I think any minor amount of texture would hid a tiny little lint strand.
Not necessarily. There are a number of techniques that can be used to hide or eliminate brush marks, but they are all very labor intensive, making brushing large surfaces even more arduous – this is why rollers were invented in the first place.
Something else to keep in mind: once you’ve used a good-quality roller a time or two (preferrably on a prime coat or first finish coat), any lint it may have been carrying on it is now gone. Take care of that roller sleeve and it will serve you well for several more projects. Doing what most people do (including a lot of professional painters I know) and pitching a sleeve just when it’s properly seasoned, rather than taking the time to clean it, is a major waste, IMO.
As to quality of paint, I don’t think the paint will necessarily help hide lint. Mainly, a good quality paint will apply better and cure to a stronger surface with better colour. If you’re looking to hide flaws (whether they be imperfections on the wall or lint or whatever), use a lower gloss paint to hide flaws and/or a thicker nap roller sleeve which will create more of a textured paint surface.
I’ve had mixed results. At first, I thought it was just the cheap rollers (technically, roller covers), but then I found various types do it…and then some are wonderful. I think it is best to keep the roller loaded (wet) with paint. Do not continue to roll once you hear that “sticky” sound, although it seems like you could. That is time to reload the roller with paint (i.e., roll it in the paint tray). I am very conservative about this. So, I’d advise: Don’t overspread the paint! It’ll look thin, anyway and just make more work for you.
Why, yes, thank you. I even use little camel-hair art brushes to do the edges in perfectly straight lines. And I NEVER use a dropcloth, since I don’t drip. Actually, I do drip, but not very much. I clean it up immediately with a damp old sock rag. Yes, this is ALL true.
Not if you do it right. Takes forever, though, so I could never be a professional painter. No-one could afford me, or I’d starve on what other painters charge. Yes, I’m obsessive-compulsive about painting. I even wash my brushes every half hour, so no paint dries on them. You would think they were new, even though I’ve used them for years. And I NEVER loan them to anyone else.
Buy quality roller covers (and brushes, given the amount of painting the average person does, properly cared for, they’ll most likely outlast you).
Wash, (well a good long rinse with some rubbing just like you were cleaning paint out of them) then spin (What, you don’t have a roller cover/brush spinner?).
Repeat a couple of times and you should be lint free.
CMC fnord!
Oh yeah, roller cover/brush spinners require a 5 gallon bucket to spin them in … unless you like getting wet.
A top line set, I hope. The camel-hair ones are available at art stores, but the ordinary house painting ones are in hardware stores. Don’t get the black ones. Go for the ones that have bristles consisting of a light brown shaft with a finer white tip. Tug on the bristles lightly. If any come out, ask to see another brand. Treat 'em right and they will last forever.
