The Best Paint Rollers For Walls And Woodwork

Stanley's set is the roller kit we used on the new plaster ceiling in our photos and in the Short above. It's a complete decorating kit, with a 9 inch roller frame, sleeve and tray for walls and ceilings, plus a 4 inch roller with its own frame, tray and two sleeves, one for gloss and one for emulsion.

Three paint brushes and a poly dust sheet are included too, so you can cut in and protect the furniture without buying anything else. In our Short, the 9 inch roller put emulsion on smoothly with minimal mess. The smaller tray stores inside the larger one, which keeps the kit tidy in the shed. If you already own brushes and a dust sheet, you're paying for things you don't need.

ProDec's Tiger kit gives you the essentials for walls and ceilings at a low price, with a push-fit frame, a 9 inch black plastic tray and two 9 inch woven acrylic sleeves, so you've got a spare ready when the first one is loaded with a different colour.

The medium pile holds plenty of paint and suits smooth or semi-smooth surfaces, which covers most plastered walls and ceilings and smoother masonry paint jobs. The sleeves are well made for the money. Our only complaint is the frame handle, which started coming away from the frame after a few days of painting. Keep an eye on it and you'll get a good run out of the kit.

The Harris Easy Reach has a built-in extending handle that reaches up to 88 cm, which helps you reach a ceiling from the floor in rooms with standard heights. It's also handy at floor level, where it saves your back when painting a garage floor.

You get a 9 inch frame and a sleeve that Harris says gives a fine finish and good coverage, and the handle has an ergonomic foam grip. It's a simple, well-made roller that doesn't cost much, and its only real limit is reach. At 88 cm it's shorter than many extension poles, so for stairwells and tall ceilings you'll still need a proper pole or a telescopic ladder.

The HandiRoll works differently from every other roller here. Paint sits in a 550 ml tank at the bottom of the handle, and a power trigger pumps it into the centre of the sleeve, so you're not dipping into a tray every few strokes and there are fewer drips. Wagner says one fill covers about 5 square metres.

It extends to 2.5 metres, which is long enough for stairwells and high ceilings, and it takes a 9 inch sleeve. Wagner backs it with a 4 year guarantee. It's the most expensive roller in this roundup, and a full tank on a fully extended handle adds up to a heavy tool, so expect tired arms on a big ceiling. You'll also need to clean the pump thoroughly after every job.

Mini rollers give a smoother finish than a brush on flat surfaces, which is why they suit painting kitchen cupboards, flush doors and furniture. Cottam's kit gives you a slimline frame, a tray and five sleeves, so you can match the sleeve to the paint.

There are two foam sleeves for gloss and satin, two polyacrylic sleeves for emulsion and a velour sleeve that's meant for the finest finish on smooth surfaces. Having spares means you can bin a sleeve after an oil-based paint instead of spending ages cleaning it. The construction quality could be better, but it's still good for the cost of the kit.

Hynec's mini roller kit goes beyond the rollers. Alongside three roller sleeves, an ergonomic frame and an anti-slip tray, you get brushes, dust sheets, masking tape, a can opener and a paint stirrer, which covers almost everything for a small upcycling or touch-up job.

The rollers give a smooth finish on furniture, doors and panelling, and the anti-slip tray stays put on a worktop or table. The extras are where the money goes. It costs more than the Cottam kit, and if you already have brushes and tape, you'll be paying twice for them. For someone starting out with no decorating kit, it's a convenient way to get the lot in one order.