Ditch the roller! (Paint Pads)

Member Name: Shazzy

Product:	Paint Pads
Date:	15/02/02 (5108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smooth, even finish, paint goes further

Disadvantages: Slightly slower to use than a roller

Paint pads have been on the market for a good few years now, and I honestly thought that just about everybody who’s done any recent decorating would’ve tried them at some point. Not so. My best friend had never tried them. She’d stuck with her faithful roller through thick and thin. Well there’s nothing wrong with loyalty, but sometimes it’s worth trying something new.

It’s a long time since I last used a roller and I doubt anybody could persuade me to go back to them. We built our own house once, and part of my job was to paint the whole thing. It was a big house too and I wanted it to look nice without getting too fed up with the painting. You know what happens when you get fed up. You start botching it, and end up just having to do it again later. I started off with a roller, but a friend told me that she’d used paint pads and found the result to be much better. Well, I like to move with the times and thought I’d give them a whirl. From that day onward, I was hooked.

Paint pads are just so much easier to use. Less splatter, even coverage, and very easy to clean. What more could you want? Well, they’re actually more economical too. After switching to paint pads, I found that the paint goes much further. The pad picks up excess paint and spreads it out further than a roller does. This gives a much more even cover as well as being economical. Because the paint is applied in a thinner layer, it dries quick too, so when painting with emulsion, more often than not, by the time you’ve gone round once, you’re ready to go round for the second coat.

Pads are mostly used for ceilings and walls and the ideal size for this job is an 8 inch pad. To apply the paint to large surfaces, paint an X first with each stroke being about 16 inches long (this is what I’ve found gives the best result) and then spread the X out in upward and sideward strokes.

Paint is loaded onto t
he pad in much the same way as when using a roller. Pour the paint into a standard roller tray, press the pad against the paint and drag it across the edge to remove the surplus.

The pad consists of a short mohair surface bonded onto a flat foam sponge. The sponge is usually attached to the handle by sliding it onto a narrow holder and securing with a button/lever on the back.

As with any other tool, you get what you pay for. I’ve found that the short hairs easily work loose when using cheap pads and the hairs aren’t as soft as those on a better quality pad. The softer and more tightly packed the hairs are, the smoother the finish. I never buy them in sets because a) the quality of the pads are rarely much good when bought in sets and b) I don’t need all those small pads. I prefer a brush for painting smaller areas so all I’ve ever really wanted is the large pad and an angled pad for the corners. For the same money, I can get two good quality pads instead. Expect to pay about £5 for a decent pad.

There are extension handles available to use with some pads, just as with rollers, making ceilings, stairwells etc easier to paint. Not that a stairwell is ever easy to paint, but without special ladders, you’ll never do it with a brush!

There are also pads available that have small wheels on the sides for painting along edges. I haven’t tried one yet, but I bought one for doing my stairwell so I’ll update and let you know how I got on with it. Don’t expect that to happen just yet though, I’ve a lot of painting to do and the stairwell is one of those jobs that I know I’ll keep putting off. It’ll get done eventually though.

I never use pads with solvent based paints, and if I did, I doubt I’d bother to clean them. I always end up getting into a terrible mess so anything that’s used with solvent based paint gets binned in my house. However, if you’
;re using them to emulsion the walls, cleaning them’s a doddle. Just slide the pad off the handle and hold under running water while you push your fingers down the pad, pressing any excess paint out of the pad. Even I can do that, and cleaning isn’t my strong point!

If you haven’t tried them yet, I’d highly recommend that you get yourself one next time you plan to paint a wall or ceiling. I know there are those who still swear by their faithful old roller, even after trying pads, but if you never try, you’ll never know will you? They’re available from all the major DIY stores, and most independent DIY and hardware shops stock them too, so there’s really no excuse y’know.

Now, back to the painting! The porch is finished but daughter no. 2 is nagging me to get started on her room. No peace for the wicked!

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