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my question is, is there a specific brand roller i should be getting. i see everyone saying something about a 4 inch roller. the ones i saw at walmart were 9" smooth surface foam roller. they were sold individually. i didnt think they were what i needed to i didnt buy any. do i need to go to home depot/lowes to get the right ones? if someone could give me a list of companies/product numbers thatd be great.

thanks.



EVERYTHING YOU REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT 4" HIGH DENSITY FOAM ROLLERS

I don't think we could build an all inclusive list of the specific brand names underwhich the high density foam 4 inch rollers are sold under.

There may only be one or two companies that actually manufacture them... but they package them and sell them under a wide variety of brand names.

Normally the key things we do know about the high density foam rollers is that :

a ) the packaging usually mentions something about them being high density

b ) the rollers are usually made of a white foam. The crappy 4 inch rollers are almost always yellow foam or black foam. BUT there are 'cheap' or low density foam rollers out there that are white.

c ) I did notice that the real high density foam rollers almost always had a yellowy or hard plastic center core. The cheapo rollers almost always had a black plastic center core. BUT even this is not a consistent way to reliably identify the real high density compared to the cheapo or lower density sponge rollers.

d ) the packaging usually makes mention of the rollers being ideal for painting melanine surfaces

e ) the squish factor. If you pinch a high density foam roller between your fingers... there will be a significant difference in how easily you can squish it betwwen your fingers compared to the low density 'cheapo crappo' foam rollers.

f ) if you look very carefully at the surface texture of a high density foam roller - you will notice that the pores on its surface are something like a marshmallow - meaning that there are only very small air pockets in it. The cheapo crappo rollers look more like a sponge - in that the cheapo rollers have large air gaps in the surface. Naturally this is what makes the difference between 'high density' and 'crappo density'... less air pockets in the foam means that there is a higher density or amount of the foam material compared to the amount of and size of the air pockets.

I was able to find the right type of high density foam rollers at Home Depot, Reno Depot, Loews and just about any 'REAL' paint stores.

At the 'Dollar' type stores - they almost always are selling bogus or look-a-like high density foam rollers. They look like the real thing - but they actually are made of a lower density foam.

It's kind of difficult to tell the difference between the 4 inch foam rollers unless you have actually seen and pinched the two different types. It's sort of like telling someone that you are to paint your car in a coffee color... when different people have a different vision of what 'coffee color' looks like. I put two creams in my coffee for example and other folks drink it black. So my vision of coffee would be far lighter in color then someone who has only seen a black cup of coffee.

So IF you have a genuine paint store in close proximity to you.. Sherwin-Williams, Color-Your-World, Benjamin Moore etc... the odds are extremely high that they would only sell the high density foam roller.

But even in this example, you have to be certain that you are looking at a 4 inch high density roller rather than one of the 10 or 12 inch foam rollers. Normally those larger size rollers are the cheaper lower density foam - because they are designed to roll latex paints and act as a substitute for the more familiar 'fuzzy' type roller.

Once you do stumble on at least ona genuine high density foam roller you will then be able to easily detect the difference with the lower density 'crappy' foam rollers that are out there.

And just to confirm why it is the high density foam rollers that are recommended... it is because the cheapo foam rollers have larger air pockets in them. If you are using a cheapo foam roller, those larger air pockets in the foam will transfer larger air bubbles to the surfaces you are painting ( and that is a bad thing ). The high density foam have smaller and less air pockets - and accordingly they transfer less and smaller air bubbles to the surface you are painting.

Hope this generic synopsis helps you find the 'right' high density foam roller.

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