How to Preserve Your Paint Rollers

September 22, 2016
Blain's Farm & Fleet

Learn how to preserve your paint rollers for future use with Blain’s Farm & Fleet.

For any painting project, you need the right painting supplies. If you’re painting the walls in your home, you’ll most likely use a paint roller. Paint rollers make it easy to apply even coats of paints in a short amount of time. However, sometimes you need to preserve your paint rollers overnight or even for a few days. If not done right, you can be left with a crusty, hard roller brush. With these simple tips from Blain’s Farm & Fleet, you can learn how to preserve your paint rollers.

Taking a Break

When you need to take a break or you’re just done for the day, you’ll want to keep your roller brush fresh. Roll out as much excess paint as you can and cover the roller brush in aluminum foil. Crimp the edges of the foil to seal out any air.

If you’re planning on leaving the roller unused overnight, you can keep it fresh by sticking it in the fridge (still wrapped in foil). Before you resume painting, take the wrapped roller out of the fridge and let it sit for two hours, which lets the roller nap soften and become ready for painting.

Cleaning the Roller

After your painting project is complete, it’s time to wash the roller until its next use. Roll out any excess paint and remove the roller cover from the roller frame. Submerge the cover in a solvent and let it work on removing the paint. Once most of the paint is off is the roller cover, wash it with a mild detergent and rinse it in clean water. Hang the roller cover to dry.

Keeping your painting supplies in working shape helps save time and money. For more tips on painting and DIY painting projects, visit our Painting & Staining blog.