Painting problem

Spray gun or short pile roller

Brush marks with most gloss paint are almost inevitable. The only paint I've used that flattened itself well was one of the "one coat" ones(*).

How wide/long is the shelf? Anything bigger than A4 and your not going to be able to get enough paint on thick/fast enough for it to "self level". Gloss painting is a bit like plastering (without the polishing stage), Whack it on, spread it out to stop runs, couple of strokes to smooth over and LEAVE IT ALONE.

(*) Possibly becasue it covered so well I followed the above better than I normally do, particulary the leaving it alone.

MDF fibres will be raised and need rubbing down between coats to flatten the surface. TW

I did that. The main problem is a patchiness in the finish corresponding with each time I recharged the brush.

It oil paint though. Does that mean using a disposable roller) if such a thing exists)?

Toolsatan £4 for ten

That would appear to be the answer. I certainly didn't fancy trying to clean a roller using white spirit.

The mini foam rollers are handy. If you need to stop painting for a period (up to a couple of days) then don't bother trying to clean the roller, just tightly wrap up the business end in a large plastic bag - that will keep it "wet" until you next need it.

I use cling-film. A couple of layers will keep the brushes moist for a week.

Sounds to me like you need to thin the topcoat a bit. And definitely use a wider brush.

We used to do so in them good old days when rollers were really made proper like.....

Brian

I remember the first time I tried that (with a full size roller). It's how I discovered that some rollers are in fact made from card!

NT

One can also stick the foam roller in water ... load it with paint generously, stick it in, take it out later. Any water that doesn't shake out will form a drop that sits on the wet paint, and a rag will pick it off easily.

Thomas Prufer

Does this work okay with oil-based eggshell?

the white spirit probably cost more than the roller and paint combined. If wanting to use the roller again, say within a day, wrap it in cling film or a plastic bag.

Exactly my line of thinking.

Also, sometimes depends on the paint. I used a foam type roller for some Zinsser "sealer" paint, wrapped up the roller and a couple of days later when wanting to use it again the foam had disintegrated. I also noted with this type of paint when washing the brushes in white spirit and then storing the spirit/paint for reuse the pigment appeared to stay in solution without settling to the bottom of the container as it does with most other solvent based paint.

The trick I've seen is to get it on fast with a roller and then use a GOOD Quality wide brush to go lightly over once to even out the paint. The technique seems to rely on getting the paint on very fast and not over working it.

It has for me! YMMV, though.

Thomas Prufer