I don't know if anyone else discovered this but when I clean my rollers and brushes from latex paint with soap and water I use some laundry fabric softener to clean out the soap and make the roller covers soft.
Thought I would share.
I don't know if anyone else discovered this but when I clean my rollers and brushes from latex paint with soap and water I use some laundry fabric softener to clean out the soap and make the roller covers soft.
Thought I would share.
George
Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.
Great tip. Thank you for sharing.
I usually soak my rollers in water overnight...much easier to clean...then hit it with a little liquid Tide and rinse.
Not so sure about this one, George. I know that you if you use towels that have been washed with fabric softener, it will leave a residue on whatever surface you use the towel on (e.g., drying a car or cleaning a window) - particularly microfiber towels. Even a thorough rinsing won't get rid of the softener (you need soap to do that.) I would think the same thing goes for a paint roller - the softener residue will get into the paint.
I may be wrong on this one but I'm not sure I'd chance it.
"Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."
Fabric softener can also inhibit water absorption, you should use it on your towels. To clean paint rollers I just use a little bit of dish soap and it leaves them nice and clean and soft.
Dawn dish soap. Great for cleaning everything.
Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night
I do not use fabric softener in the towels I use to dry the car because it inhibits the absorbency of the towels. I use dryer sheets to soften those towels.
Before I started using fabric softener on my rollers they always came out stiff like they hadn't been thoroughly cleaned. I'd rinse the hell out of them and they are still stiff which I attribute to soap remaining in the nap of the roller. I have never had issues with the rollers not absorbing paint to transfer to the wall or and color contamination the first few times I load the roller.
Keep in mind that when using fabric softener in the wash there is no rinse after the rinse with the softener. When I use the fabric softener on the rollers I work the fabric softener into the roller cover then rinse well to rinse out the softener.
Bob you point out some things for consideration that I was not considering.
Thanks to all for your input and comments.
George
Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.
I decided a long time ago cleaning paint rollers was a waste of time and money. They never come out like new. I have better things to do with my time.
I use high pressure water from the hose. I direct it at the roller so it spins full force and slings the paint off. A couple minutes and bam, clean roller and half dry cause it's slinging water off too.
-Lud
I do the same as Justin. High pressure water from the hose. I stick it in a five gallon bucket and spin all the paint off. The rollers are just as soft as new when doing it this way.
I do this in my utility sink. I have a splitter on the faucet, with a 6' section of hose and a spray nozzle on one of the outlets. Then I'll turn the roller bucket on its side in the sink, hold the roller and frame in the bucket (the roller portion is vertical) to contain the spray, and wash it out. Dry enough to use immediately. Many times I'll do this in the morning after letting it soak overnight. When I do it that way, I also have to pull the roller cover off the frame to rinse out the center of the cover and rinse off the frame, but they do clean up even more quickly after soaking. A little dish soap or ammonia can help, but I wouldn't use fabric softener--sounds like a risk of paint contamination later to me.
Painting is my day job. And sometimes my night job, too...
Thanks for the response Jason. Input from a professional painter is valuable. I wish I had someplace I could use a spray. I can do that is the summer but most of my painting is done in the winter. I only have a small utility sink in my basement to use to clean up. I do rinse the roller well after the fabric softener but I am sure there is still some in the roller nap.
From all the negative input on using fabric softener I will stop using it. Maybe I am using too much dish detergent that it is hard to rinse out.
Here is my cleaning procedure:
Wash with running warm water
Dish washing soap and warm water
Rinse
Wash again with dish washing soap
Rinse
Spin roller to remove as much water as I can
Doing this procedure when the roller is dry it feels stiff and I was thinking the issue was that I was not getting all the soap out that was why I tried the fabric softener.
Thanks again to everyone for all the input.
George
Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.
I've never used soap, just water. Does the soap really help that much? I just soak/rinse mine until no more paint is coming out.
I use a lot of the smaller rollers and have a bit of the "frame" I've cut off and I chuck it in a drill and spin them dry.
I use the Justin Ludwig method posted above -- a jet nozzle on a hose with no soap -- gets all the paint out of the nap and then spins the roller on the frame by holding the jet against the periphery of the roller held vertically and working from top to bottom. Roller spins fast enough to sling all the water out. Will work in a utility sink (set tub depth) as well. Works like a charm and clean up is quick!
______________________________
Rob Payne -- McRabbet Woodworks
Same with me. Rollers just get tossed, and we don't buy cheap ones. The only thing we use rollers for is interior walls if the job is too small or too much trouble to spray, and we always go for the smoothest finish possible, which doesn't get done with a used roller. The best thing for brushes is running hot water, and a small angled bristle stainless steel brush sold in the paint aisle. Brushes get cleaned as soon as they are finished with, and sometimes in the middle of a job if it's more than an hour or two.