having a look i have seen massively mixed reviews.
i’m a fairly experienced decorator, tho not by trade, but it seems half my time rolling is charging the roller. i use a roller bucket usually.

anyone (preferably decorators) have any good experience or recommendations?
i have a lot of painting to do, and plenty more in the pipeline so the right one could save me a lot of time.

seen a lto of people moaning about cleaning, but cleaning a good roller and bucket properly takes time, i’m not too worried about that side.
ta

Painters Thumb

One of those makes the job of cleaning rollers a much easier task. I got one last year. Cannot imagine decorating without one now.

Assuming by clever roller you mean one that pumps paint to the sleeve, its a gimmick for diyers who struggle loading a roller evenly.
Id recommend, if you’ve got big areas to cover, a 12″ long pile woven type of sleeve on a double arm and a sturdy extending screw n pole (steady now) avoiding Dulux Dec centre if possible as there tools are a bit shit.

Having spent my summer and autumn painting a 170m high building with rollers I’d say just buy the cheaper ones from Toolstation and bin then after use, or wrap in cling film if you’re using them for multiple coats in one day.
Life is too short for washing roller sleeves…
Roller and bucket rather than tray.

Get decent sleeves, not cheap crap. Purdy Colossus , Hamilton Perfection or Wooster Pro doo z.

Oh and don’t bother washing it out just bag it up( unless changing colour…)
Washing it in the bath still attached to the pole makes it a doddle – wait until your missus int in tho…

9″ cage roller, bucket, Flexcrete coating (posh masonry paint)
This is halfway through the job, I got quite sick of it… That’s me on the left btw.

wait until your missus int in tho…

Isn’t in the house? or isn’t in the bath?

I used to be a decorator.
I just use any old sleeve, but i like to change pile length to suit the surface.
Only thing I do before using cheaper sleeves is give them a good wash first to get rid of loose fluff.
I’ve got sleeves that are 10 or more years old and probably used to paint a couple of houses a year.
Like others have said stick them in bags overnight for using the next day.
I find getting a decent pole and roller cage more important.
Cleaning sleeves is easy when you know how :wink:.

1 roller nap per color/sheen per job. Cling filmed between paint sessions and garbage at the end. My time is worth more than cleaning rollers 😉

So the op led about loading, and has 8 answers about cleaning, which he isn’t too bothered about. (Clues in the op guys!)

I’m afraid I have no idea so can’t guide, but am interested in finding out. Certainly none of my subby decorators use them which says something (probably about the cost!) but I’ve never asked the question.

Loading is simply a part of using a roller, can’t get around it.
Can cover 300sq/m in an 8 hour shift from ropes with bog standard roller & bucket, can’t see why it would be a massive trial to paint anything smaller…

Used a Dulux PaintPod a few years back and it worked fine. Saved a lot of effort loading but took more pressure than a normal roller to get the paint on the walls. Obviously wouldn’t be the sort of thing you could take up the Spinnaker Tower! 😆

Sorry tiny..
I bought one of these smart roller that feeds paint through the holes in the naps plastic for a multi beamed cathederal ceilinged great room. I figured it easier than manouvering my long poles between beams from the ground. But i didnt end up using it as the faff of recharging tge reservoir seemed to be as much work.
If you are geared up for an airless painter there are roller attachments that spray direct to the roller. I would assume these create overspray. Core fed pressure systems also but you still have to carefully clean down the system at each color/sheen change an each day and the naps will be pricy.
graco roller

wow, i thought no-one had bitten so didn’t look back till now.

so thanks everyone for the advice on using rollers which i didn’t ask for.
i do use half decent heads, a bucket not a tray, clingfilm/placcy bags where appropriate (usually not for me cos it’s large ares now and then), clean out rollers quickly and efficiently otherwise using what is presumably called a painters thumb, warm water and washing-up liquid and not washing it all down the drain, and i can (i think!)load a roller properly
and thanks tiny!

i figured they’re a gimmick too but in the end i reckoned i’ll just try a wagner one for 30 euros. same as you dirksdiggler.
if it saves a bit of time it’ll be worth it.
will try to report back for those curious.

fwiw, with a fairly long pile roller, and a good load of paint, i seem to cover well about a third of a square metre. with a pole on, filling roller is more fiddly but the rolling itself is a lot better with 2 hands control. last room i did, charging roller seemed to take as long as covering that third of a sq m.

mattbee, are you painting white or cream? : )

‘Gold’. That’s the base coat for it, anyway. Because of the shape of the building and where the anchor points are you gat odd strips you can’t reach without re rigging, hence the bit to the left below me at that point.