With my baby due in less than 10 weeks I've been decorating our spare room for him, I was going to be using emulsion paint so I planned on using a paint pad for the majority of it. I knew my paint pad was worn so on one of my many trips to my local Homebase. I bought a refill pad. For anyone who isn't familiar with a paint pad its simply an oblong shaped pad that feels like a paint roller. The back is plastic and the front is made from a layer of sponge with a soft fuzzy layer on top. Its a much easier, quicker and cleaner way of painting large areas such as walls and ceilings.

The paint pad refill I bought is a Homebase brand, it comes with a simple cardboard sleeve over it. This has the Homebase logo on it along with Performance Refill Pad, it also gives the size which in this case is 2ocm's x 8.5cm's. The label also states that this refill pad is for use with a performance paint pad handle, is easy to clip on and is for use with emulsion paints.

The back of the cardboard sleeve gives a little bit of advice about using the paint pad and how to clean it. It also advises that the paint pad shouldn't be used with oil based paints.

To fit the pad onto a handle is easy, it simply slides in, to use a paint pad you need a tray, the same as you would for a roller. To use the pad its a case of dipping it in the tray of paint, scrape the excess off on the side of the tray and sweep the pad over the wall. The pad distributes the emulsion evenly and quickly over the wall getting the job done in half the time. I also find there's little or no splashes with a paint pad.

Washing the paint pad is easy enough, just use plain warm water until all the emulsion is gone, this does take a few minuets, despite the pad only being a centimetre thick it certainly seems to hold a lot of paint.

If you use a paint pad already and are looking for a refill for your handle I would certainly recommend this one from Homebase, it costs just £4.99 and is perfectly adequate for the job. I will certainly continue to use this make when I'm decorating.