Dandy paint roller cleaner

[Fred]

Hi,

has anyone bought any of these? I've seen them on ebay. They fit a roller on the end of a drill and spin the excess paint off. There's another one for paint brushes. Are they any good? Do they do what they say?

The instructions say to use an old drill to spin the roller over a dustbin. Why an old drill? Does the paint splatter everywhere? Is it just to keep the paint off your shiny new drill? If so, I guess I'll either need to design some spray guard or buy a cheap silverline or aldi drill.

TIA

[Tim Watts]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:55:46 +0100, Fred wibbled:

For what it's worth, the way I clean my rollers is similar. I use a hose outside and between soaking, use the jet to spin the roller at high speed. Of course, I get splatted, but the spinning seems to shift the paint faster than what seems like infinite washing in the sink.

So, as a principle, I think it's sound.

As for your drill - I don't think there's much danger of upsplashing getting it - but a cardboard circular shield with a hole in the middle sellotaped onto the collar would help.

[The Medway Handyman]

To clean paint rollers;

(a) buy cheap as chips roller sleeves from B&Q. (b) place in black plastic sack after use (c) chuck sack in bin.

[Bruce]

That's also my method. But I have to do it when SWMBO isn't around, because she insists on spending hours washing them. ;-)

[fred]

I've had the cheapo B&Q sleeves drop fluff on the job so decided to go for something a little better and bought woven hogsomething sleeves from my local leyland trade counter instead which didn't drop so much as a thread. Turned out they were on special at 2quid a pop but they're only

3quid or so normally. After spending 20-30quid on paint I have no qualms about dumping a couple of 3 quid sleeves in the bin at the end of the day. I did clean the tray though, even though it was only £1.20.

I've heard microfibre sleeves recommended here for holding paint better and at about a fiver each I might go back to cleaning but it's a close thing.

[Alan]

In message , Bruce wrote

If its water based paint just shove them in the washing machine on the shortest cold wash.

[peteshew]

Fiddly but effective. Don't do it in the sitting room but outside or in the garage is OK. Bucket of clean water and a cardboard box to spin it in is pretty clean. I've nevew worried about the drill.

Having said that, SWMBO is more enthusiastic then me :-)

Pete

[Andy Dingley]

I just hold the roller in the frame and spin it by hand.

Messy though, but then so is the drill method.

[pcb1962]

I spend hours washing them, but only cos I don't have a water meter. If I did I would definitely buy in bulk and dump after one use. Worth mentioning to anyone who hasn't thought of it, that if you have to stop painting for an hour or two you can wrap the roller tightly in clingfilm to keep it wet. I store mine wrapped in clingfilm too, once they've thoroughly dried, keeps them nice and clean.

[<me9]

I find the best method of cleaning rollers (and brushes too) is to sneak them into the washing machine on a programme with a slow spin. Make sure SWMBO isn't about or the consequences don't bear thinking about!

[Tim Watts]

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:42:28 +0100, wibbled:

I do that too for my nice roller (a nice roller is worth having IMO). I soak it and spin it with the hose 2-3 times - that shifts the bulk of the pigment.

Then warm zero spin wash, persil, no comfort. Squeeze out by hand and leave on kitchen towell to dry - or use again.

I'm the machines boss in this house so I get to kill other people for breaking them :->

Personally, I wouldn't put an un-prewashed roller in - there's a lot of pigment and I fear for it sludging up in the pipes.

[mike]

Used both. They're very good. Just hold the roller/brush in an old bucket or cardboard box to catch the ejected paint. I think the only reason they mention an old drill is so you can leave the spinner in there and save the faff of putting it in and out of your regular drill

- but it certainly doesn't make a mess of the drill.

Just one caveat - don't use brushes with soft grip rubber coated handles. I had a couple of these from Wickes and they were an absolute sod to pull out from pair of springs that the Dandy uses to hold the brush. Bog standard wooden handled ones work fine.

Shame they don't make one for a paint pad though (how would that work?) - I'd rather use a pad than a roller and they seem to take gallons of water to clean out.

Search the archive for more comments - they've been discussed before.

[Fred]

Thanks everyone.

Toolstation used to (perhaps they still do?) sell disposable paint brushes but they looked so awful that I couldn't bring myself to use them.

The tiny (four inch?) rollers that I use for gloss paint I always throw away after use because I think I would need so much white spirits to clean them that it would be uneconomical (and suffocating!), but that's without a dandy spinner thing, perhaps with one a more reasonable quantity of spirits would be sufficient?

I wash all rollers used for emulsion under the tap. never thought about the meter spinning away at the bottom of the drive though. It must use gallons!

BTW I see bottle of blue brush cleaner on the shelves next to the white spirit. Is it worth paying extra for?

[Alan]

In message , Fred wrote

Search Toolstation for 'Use & Thro' Paint Brush The picture shown is not representative of the quality of bristles.

The trick with these cheap brushes (starting at around 16p each for

12mm) is to give them a haircut with a large pair of scissors before use to even up the bristles. They are OK for jobs where the finish is not too important but having said that they perform quite well.

I just throw them away after use.

[Broadback]

Paint-pads are my preferred painting tool, but cleaning then is a PTA, so I've given up. I literally spent more time cleaning them than using them.

[Fred]

[...]

Unless you are painting the underneath of something which will be out of sight, isn't finish always important? I did buy some (the se, not the individual ones IIRC) but they looked so cheap and nasty I sent them back. They may have changed brands since then though.

[Alan]

In message , Fred wrote

Only if you are a perfectionist - and I expect many people's doors and window frames don't have a mirror finish without blemishes.

My soon to be replaced softwood window frames are now a mixture of plastic filler and wood and occasionally if the paint is cracking in small area I will quickly sand it down and apply a few coats of paint, but only to the small area. Stand back a few metres and I see very little difference between old and new..

The quality as delivered isn't too good but given a haircut to even up the bristles they are OK.

It horses for courses, for some jobs I will use a cheap brush and throw it away after use and for other jobs I will use an expensive brush and take care to clean it afterwards.

[Another John]

Ditto! And fun too.

in and out of your regular drill

Yes, I agree.

I bought mine on the rec. of someone in *this* group: good advice.

Also: it means it's worth investing in good brushes, because you can easily get 'em very clean. Cheap brushes are the perfect illustration of the old Italian proverb: "Good things cost less than bad ones."

John

[Fred]

Yes, I had heard them recommended here before but only seen them sold on ebay (direct from manufacturer?). I'll give them a try now that I know that I don't need to buy a second drill to use them in. Did you also buy the brush spinner/cleaner does that work as well as the roller one?

[Another John]

(Sorry late reply - been away) yes i did but the roller spinner too, basically 'cos I figured I didn't have much to lose. I haven't used it in anger yet - only briefly tried it out. Can't wait to use it properly with a used roller: I'm sure it will work (and, as stated before, will be fun!)

John