How to Achieve a Perfect Finish with a Foam Roller

A foam roller belongs on doors and cabinets

This is the bit that trips people up, so I'll put it first. A foam roller lays paint down flat with almost no texture in it, and that's exactly what you want on a door, a cupboard, a bit of trim or a piece of furniture, because those are the surfaces where a stipple pattern would look wrong. On a wall it's the opposite, since a wall has texture of its own, foam takes forever to cover it and you'll end up with a patchy sheen that looks worse than an ordinary sleeve would have. So if you're doing a room, a microfibre sleeve is the tool, and the foam roller comes out for the doors and the trims afterwards.

Get the surface right or nothing else matters

A foam roller hides nothing, which is the price you pay for how flat it lays the paint, so anything you leave on the surface will still be there under the finish.

• Wash it. Doors and kitchen cupboards carry hand grease and cooking film even when they look clean, and paint won't stick to either. Sugar soap and a rinse, then let it dry properly.
• Take the shine off. If what's on there now is gloss or semi gloss, a light sand with a fine abrasive gives the new coat something to grip. This is the step people skip, and it's the reason a door gets painted twice.
• Fill and sand flat. Dents and old screw holes want filling before you start, not after you've noticed them in the first coat.
• Undercoat where you need it. Bare timber, patched filler and anything that's been stripped want an undercoat, because they'll soak up the topcoat unevenly otherwise. A sound painted surface that you've sanded back usually doesn't.

Rolling it on

The whole technique is about going slower than feels natural, because speed is what puts bubbles in a foam roller.

1. Pour a bit of paint into the well of the tray rather than filling it, and load the roller off the ramp until it's evenly wet without dripping.
2. Work in sections about an arm's width, and roll slowly. Fast rolling whips air into the paint and leaves a surface full of tiny pinholes once it dries.
3. Lay off at the end. Run the roller over the section you've just done in one direction, light pressure, no more paint on the roller, and stop.
4. Leave it alone. Going back over a coat that has started to skin is what tears the surface and leaves drag marks, and there's no fixing it until it's dry.
5. Two thin coats beat one thick one every time, and a light key with fine abrasive between coats is what turns a good finish into a flat one.

The pinhole problem, and what actually causes it

Pinholes are the one fault that's specific to foam, and they turn up after the coat has dried as a fine scatter of little craters. The cause is trapped air rather than dust. The foam picks up bubbles as it rolls, and if you roll fast, or you keep going back over it, or the paint is too thick for the temperature, those bubbles sit in the film and burst as it sets. Rolling slower fixes most of it, laying off in one direction fixes the rest, and if a coat has already dried with pinholes in it, sand it back flat and put another thin coat on rather than trying to fill them.

Foam covers wear out and that's normal

A foam cover is more of a consumable than a tool, particularly with enamel, and the edges go ragged well before the face does. You can wash one out in water while it's still wet if you're on water based paint, but once it's gone hard or the edge has started to crumble it's doing more harm than good, so it goes in the bin and a fresh one goes on. That's why they come in packs.

The paint side of it

We stock Haymes and Taubmans, mixed and tinted to order in the shop from the range we carry, and for doors and cupboards you want an enamel rather than a wall paint, because a wall paint stays soft and a door gets knocked. Paint is a dangerous good, so it doesn't travel by post and it's a shop purchase only. Have a look at the range on the stand before you commit to anything, because a colour on a chip behaves differently once it's on a door with the light hitting it side on.

Shop related products

• Uni-Pro Little Ripper 100mm Foam Set. Frame and foam covers together, which is the size that suits doors and cupboards.
• Roller Cover 100mm Foam 2 Pack Little Ripper Uni-Pro. Spare foam covers, because you'll want a fresh one partway through.
• UniPro Microfibre Cover 230mm 4mm Nap. The sleeve for the walls, so the foam roller stays on the joinery.
• Phoenix 230mm Plastic Paint Tray. A tray with a proper ramp, which is how you load a roller evenly.
• Medium Sanding Block 98 x 69 x 26mm. For taking the shine off and for keying between coats.

Did you know we also keep a few painting bits in the shop that never made it onto the website. Uni-Pro high density foam brushes in 25mm, 50mm and 75mm for the cut in around a panel, the wire roller cleaner, and mini microfibre covers in the finer naps. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.

While you are here

The paint mixing counter is where the tinting happens, and it's worth a conversation before you buy rather than after.

Have a read of these next

• Foam vs Bristle Brushes: Which Should You Use?
• Haymes Ultratrim, what it is and when to use it on trims and doors
• Painting Over Textured Walls Smoothly

I still roll too fast when I'm nearly finished and I still get pinholes for it, so take that as the voice of experience rather than the voice of authority.

Candeece

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