The Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Paint Supplies

When you’re planning a home painting project, you want to make sure that the process goes smoothly, with the most professional looking outcome as possible.

In order for that to happen, you must use the proper tools. Of course, there are always new tools coming out that promise to make painting easier, faster or more enjoyable. Here are our recommendations for the best tools available:

Synthetic or Natural Paintbrushes?

There are many choices for synthetic bristle paintbrushes. While they’re designed to be used with water or latex based paints, they can be used for oil based paints also.

Natural bristle brushes, on the other hand, should only be used for oil based paints. Otherwise, they absorb water and lose their shape.

If you need a brush for painting a straight edge, for tipping, or for cutting in, you’ll want to choose one that has densely packed bristles with a chiseled edge. A flat edge brush with “split ends” (called flags) picks up more paint from the can and helps you achieve a more even spread.

Paint Rollers

When choosing a paint roller, you want to choose one with a nap (texture) that goes best with the surface you’ll be painting. If your painting flat, smooth surfaces, choose a smooth textured roller. If you’re painting rough textured walls, you should choose a plush, fluffy roller that will get paint into all the nooks.

Cardboard core rollers can wear out pretty quickly as they absorb paint; choose a plastic core roller to get all the way through larger jobs.

Paint Pads

These are great little tools for small jobs where a brush or roller are hard to fit, like around door sills and in corners. They’re easy to use, easy to clean and can be used with any kind of paint. Just be careful that you don’t pick up too much paint at a time, because they are prone to dripping.

Foam Rollers and Brushes

Foam paint rollers work really well on smooth surfaces, but a rough textured surface will tear them up. They’re easy to use and have very minimal spatter.

Foam brushes are perfect for touch ups and other small jobs, and are inexpensive too!

Water, Latex or Oil?

Oil based paints are the choice for most professionals, in particular for wood surfaces like trim, cabinets and furniture. Newer oil paints are non-toxic and not harmful to the environment like older formulations were. Oil-based paints dry more slowly, which lets you get better coverage with less streaking. This is especially important in dryer climates where water-based paints dry much too quickly. Use paint rollers, pads, or brushes with natural bristle, and clean up later using a solvent like paint thinner.

Latex and water-based paints are also safe for the environment, and clean up easily with water. You can use synthetic bristle brushes, as well as any regular pad or roller. Because latex paints dry so quickly, a skin can form on the top if they’re left open. Because of that, you should pour paint into a tray for use and keep the can closed.

Other Painting Supplies

• Drop cloths will protect furniture and flooring from paint drips. A heavy canvas cloth works better than slipper plastic, and provides better protection than newspaper. If you have hardwood floors, do make sure to vacuum or damp mop to get up any dust and sand that could scratch once you place the cloth down.
• For most painting jobs, you’ll want to lay down a primer coat first, especially if the surface being painted is darker than the new color. You can have your primer tinted to match the paint; you might be able to get away with just one coat of paint that way.
• If you’re painting a ceiling, look for paint specially formulated for the job. Some go on a pale blue and dry to white so you can tell where you’ve already painted.
• Blue or green painter’s tape is not always a good idea, instead use a wet jay cloth or clean wet rag to wipe up little mistakes while the paint is still wet – this works best with latex.  Only use the painter’s tape on floors or carpets because if you’ve primed, the tape sometimes sticks to the surface and makes more of a mess than you will want.