Use This Multipurpose Tool To Properly Clean Your Paint Rollers

When you're a DIYer, you're the maestro, orchestrating a whole symphony of activities. You've already picked out the perfect color, bought your rollers, spray devices, and brushes, and you've got all your surfaces protected. Once you've gotten rolling, latex paints are designed to dry pretty fast compared to oil paints, so you work thoroughly yet quickly. Although it might be tempting to take a well-deserved break once you're done painting, we recommend you immediately clean your paint rollers using an incredibly handy multipurpose five-in-one painter's tool. 

The nap of a paint roller comes in varying thicknesses. Painters use thinner napped rollers for the smooth surfaces of a pristine wall, and thicker naps are generally used to paint a rougher and less-even surface. The way that affects your wash-up is that a thick nap holds the most paint. But even with a ton of paint, using a five-in-one tool is still a time saver and will do a much more thorough and complete job than your bare hands ever could. On occasion, you might be called away in mid-project, then you'll need to keep your paint roller from drying out. But if you're sure you're done and don't clean it right away, you risk having to replace the roller for the next project because even a hint of stuck-on paint means you can't reuse it. 

We don't advise the seemingly easier method of throwing the paint roller in the washing machine because the machine or the rollers can get damaged. Although this hack is somewhat labor-intensive, it's worth the effort and ends up saving money. First, it's a swell idea to protect your hands from the hot water and paint chemicals with a pair of rubber gloves. You might submerge your roller in a bucket of hot water for a few minutes. Then, working in the sink under some hot running water, drip two or three small drops of mild dishwashing liquid onto the roller and rub in the soap. By the way, if you add too much soap, be on the lookout for a sudsy, foaming paint job the next time you use the roller!

You'll notice a section carved out of the five-in-one tool that resembles a curve or half-moon shape. Hold the roller at the top, place the curve around the roller at an angle, and pull it down, squeezing the paint out while rinsing it with water. Once you've gone around the whole roller a few times, you might submerge it in clean water a second time and repeat the squeegee process, noticing when the water finally runs clear. As a best practice, let the roller dry standing up so it dries evenly. Store it in plastic, and it's as good as new and ready for its next painting gig.