Painting the ceiling is always a challenge and especially more tasking around the stairs and landing. I have had an extendable paint roller before and found that it was great in reaching up and getting the hard to reach places but it was a bit of pain every time I ran out of paint as I had to lower the roller and then dip it in the tray and then reposition myself.
The clever thing about the Paintstick is that you can draw paint into the handle, rather like a syringe, so that you can keep on painting rather than having to keep loading the roller up with paint.

*Price*

I bought the Paintstick from a retailer on eBay and paid £12.99 for a brand new sealed unit. You can buy them for £19.99 from Homgar.com.

*Description*

The PaintStick comprises of a telescopic handle with a roller frame and a 3/8" roller cover. In the box you also get the fill tube to go in to paint tin so you can draw up the paint and a paint tin cover.
There is also a spatter shield to stop splashing when painting ceilings.

*Setting up*

First of all, as with most rollers, check the roller cover for lint. I always rinse the roller cover with water and let it dry before using.
Next it is time to pop the roller cover on to the frame. When looking at the roller cover, ensure that the outer end cap is in the open position by depressing "PUSH TO REMOVE" side of the tab. The roller cover will then slide onto to the roller frame by pushing it on, once it is in position it will click. This is quite tough and it does put up a bit of resistance, you just need to give it some welly.

The roller frame screws on to the handle make sure this is done tightly so that the head cannot fall off while you are hard at work. If you want to, you can then clip on the spatter shield. I prefer to use it without this as I could not get the thing to stay on and I am not very patient. Now the Paintstick is ready to go!

*Ready to draw the paint....*

There is a fill tube that needs inserting through the hole in bottom side of paint can cover and pushed in until tight and to the ridge of the fill tube. This paint can cover will then snap paint onto the paint tin. Now not all tins are circular so this can be a little troublesome. If you have a rectangle shaped tin or plastic tub as a lot are these days, simply get rid of the paint can lid and just use the tube, it works just as good without.

Hold the PAINTSTICK at a 45° angle over the paint tin and place the fill port (a little valve located at the top of the handle by the fitting for the roller frame) over the fill tube. Gently push the PAINTSTICK down until it bottoms on the fill tube. This process is quite simple up till this point. To make the next step easier, the packaging advised to lubricate moving parts with Vaseline. I did not do this and found that the handle used to feed the paint into the handle was really stiff. After a bit of lubricating, the handle moved more freely, it needs pulling all the way back to draw the paint up. Once you think there is enough paint in, start painting by getting sliding the handle, pushing the paint out while you work.


After a few goes with the Paint stick you will realise whether you have enough paint in or not, the general rule of thumb is if you are getting a dot pattern when painting apply more paint. If the roller is sliding around, apply less. The roller should put up a little resistance when being used but should not be too sloppy as this will waste paint.

*Vaseline*

Vaseline seems quite key to this piece of kit and when I first set it up, I noticed that it already had some in the mechanisms. After a couple of uses I found that the fill port started to leak paint out, I tried to tighten it up but it still leaked. I then lubricated the valve port with a bit of Vaseline and the leaking stopped.


*Speed*


The Paint stick does make painting these awkward places a lot easier as it saves a lot of time. I find the Paint stick easy to use and quite effective at covering large amounts of area. I do find painting ceilings quite tiring though and sometimes holding onto the paintstick and having to continually put pressure on it to maintain the flow of paint can take the toll on my arm muscles! However, when a job needs doing, it needs doing quickly so there so is no time to stand about and moan about achy arms!

*Clean*

Once you have finished your painting and you are pleased with your work, it is time to clean the paint stick. Argh! What a nightmare, the parts are a pain to take a part and you really have to get rid of all the paint from the tubes to prevent it going hard and ruining it for next time.

*Overall*

It does take a while to clean which is why the product only gets 4 stars. However the effects are great and for the same price of a regular telescopic roller, I have one that makes painting a lot less hassle.