DIY Choosing a Paint Roller

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Choose a Roller by Surface Type

Choose a roller nap for painting interior walls and ceilings based on the surface you're dealing with and the type of paint you're using. If you have a textured ceiling for instance, you will want to use a thicker nap, about 3|4 to 1 inch, depending on the depth of the texture, than for a smooth drywall or plaster surface where a 1|4 inch to about 1|2 inch roller nap would do.

Choose a Roller by Paint Type

The paint finish should be the second consideration when choosing your roller nap. As a general rule use a short nap roller for shiny or oil–based paints and longer nap for flat latex paints. If you're using a flat latex paint you will have more latitude with the choice of nap lenght. You can get away with using any nap length from 3|8ths to 3|4 inches for flat latex on a smooth surface and have no problems with roller marks. If you're using a shiny paint the choices are more limited. For eggshell over a smooth surface you can use a quarter inch, up to about 1|2 inch nap. If you're using semi–gloss you're choices will be more limited to 1|4 to 3|8ths inch nap. And for high–gloss you will want to stick with a quarter inch nap to get a smooth finish without roller marks.

Choosing a Quality Roller

The quality of the roller you choose should also be considered. The nap on cheap rollers is not as dense as top quality rollers. You can usually rely on the price to correspond to quality, but not always. To test a roller for quality wrap you hand around the center and squeeze. Test two rollers of differing price at the same time to feel the difference in nap thickness. You should not be able to feel the inner core on a quality roller when you squeeze it in your hand. Even a short nap roller will have plenty of cushion between your hand and the core. Another test of roller quality is the core itself. A cheap roller will have a paste board core while a quality roller with have a plastic core. The quality roller will stand up to many paint jobs and can be washed repeatedly. The paste board in cheaper rollers will breakdown after only one or two uses and the nap will shed excessively.