Special Paint Rollers Reduce Brush Use

Question: We’re getting ready to paint several rooms of our house and I want to use a roller as much as possible. Is there is roller that gets right up to inside corners of a room and other tight places?

Answer: I’ve just been through a marathon painting session, painting virtually all of the rooms of our 2,400-square-foot house with minimal use of brushes (mostly for trim). The secret? I gave up the traditional fuzzy-wuzzy rollers in favor of a set of sponge-like ones made right here in Southern California.

The one I used most is called The Reacher, probably because of its long handle and its ability to reach into corners. The end of the handle is threaded for a standard extension pole, available where you buy the roller (I got my Reacher at Standard Brands Paint for less than $4 with two extra rollers). The extension pole is great for ceilings and the upper part of walls.

The manufacturer of The Reacher also produces a wide range of smaller rollers, like the one pictured here, to reach into crevices that the bigger roller can’t handle. The spongy nature of the roller on the entire family of rollers from Corcoran Manufacturing Co. Inc., Anaheim, is what makes it able to reach right into the corners, where a brush is often necessary when you use conventional rollers.

I learned about this clever variation on the widely used roller from a general contractor who uses it to paint the wooden trim and eaves on his remodeling projects. He hasn’t used a brush for those nooks and crannies for years!