Moistening paint rollers before painting? Can someone explain this please
netrate
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I read and viewed a few people saying you should moisten the paint roller before painting so the paint sticks better. I tried by running the water over the roller and then trying to get the water out and found it made a lot of bubbles when mixed with the paint – so obviously I am doing something wrong. Is it supposed to be just a little water? A lot of water and then let dry for a day? What is the actual way of doing the moistening?
Replies
Never heard of that.......
If I did wet it, I'd use a spinner to get the water out.
Then roll in a rag to further get the water out.
But it seems to me, once you get the roller full of paint-that's wet enough and you go on your merry way.
I've wet them so they don't soak up so much paint. Stick a dry roller (or at least some types of rollers) into latex and it soaks up a fair amount of water, leaving a sort of thick scum on the roller until you work it off. Getting the roller damp helps prevent this.
Same thing for a brush.
I've never seen any good painters ever do this - and I'm talking the most detail oriented guys in the business - none, zip, zilch, nadda.
I just did a bunch of various painting projects at my folks house last summer, first time I started wetting the rollers. I agree the latex paint works better on a damp roller.
Here was my method: Wet the roller under a faucet until it is fully wet, then get any remaining water out of the center tube. Take the dripping roller over to a clean flat surface - like a wall you arern't painting, or a clean smooth plywood chunk.
"Paint" the water onto the surface in quick strokes. The idea is to zip the roller around in quick movements that get out the water and ruffle up the nap.
The roller should now absorb and release paint evenly - the roller is now a neutral medium, instead of a dry one. Brushes work the same too.
I'm starting to wrap my head around this, although it has stumped me why this "technique" even exists. Non-professionals seem to love Behr paint since it's thin and easy to apply in thin coats - I'll bet anyone who enjoys wet rollers likes it for the same reason. Professionals don't want thinned down paint - paint needs to be thick to resist drips while being applied in thick coats. I don't like freshly rinses brushes for the same reason - the paint goes on thicker with a brush that's been used a while - as it should.
Film thickness relates directly to durability - painting shouldn't be a contest to see how thin paint can be applied.
I do believe that you believe this :)