OK, I admit that I hadn't encountered one of these before, so when my eldest child called and asked for help decorating the new house I should have flinched when she said - "Someone lent us a Paintpod so we can get it done quickly."
I wandered to B&Q to buy some paint. Where I had my first shock. A five litre pot of paint is £30. HFM? The "Paintpod" itself is £50 and to use it for ceilings you have to pay extra.
I stared at the stuff, consulted with the decorating expert (my wife), uttered "stuff that" and bought Proper Paint at £18 for ten litres. Back at the house wife and I got to work and finished two rooms in three days
- woodwork rubbed down, undercoated, glossed, walls and ceiling painted, furniture moved in. Daughter's other half took on the living room with the paintpod which we were assured was cleaner, faster, etc.
In the same time he didn't manage to finish painting the ceiling. The paintpod was a total farce, he went through two of them in that time and the ceiling took three coats which are still nowhere near as good as the finish we got with a one-coat paint elsewhere.
So, did the couple learn from this experience? Hmm well we had friends visiting who ooh'ed and aah'ed over the finish in the completed rooms and then spotted "the paintpod" in the kitchen and gushed "oh you have one of those" and daughter immediately said yes it was fast and clean to use. Omitting the details of the numerous breakdowns, cloggages, failure to complete the job or that the much admired rooms were done the old-fashioned way. <sigh>
I can't get the hang of young people.
Anyway if a moment of insanity grips you and you consider buying a paintpod, don't. Just don't. It's a piece of crap, oh and it's noisy crap too. One of the things I like about decorating is that it's generally peaceful with time to think and admire a good job well done. The paint pod rumbles, clanks and clatters and one can hardly hear oneself think over it.