Paint Application Supplies

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Roller Tray or Paint Bucket?

which works

best for rolling on paint?

Most DIY'ers use a roller pan or tray to hold the paint when rolling. The advantage of the standard roller pan is that they all contain a built in roller grid for rolling off excess paint after dipping into the paint. Roller trays are inexpensive, and easy to clean out after using.

Tray Liners

You can get plastic roller tray liners, for quick color changes. If you don't like to clean up after painting, you can simply allow the liner to dry, then dispose of it.

Unlike a paint bucket, roller trays work best on the floor only. Rolling paint from a step ladder requires dipping and climbing with a roller tray.

Disadvantages of the roller pan are: they don't hold much paint, are easy to step into and tip over, and can't be used on a ladder.

Paint Buckets with a roller grid

Paint buckets on the other hand, hold a lot of paint (five gallon buckets are commonly used by professional painters), and you probably won't step into the bucket by accident while rolling paint on a ceiling etc....

You can bring the paint bucket up the ladder with you when rolling paint up high. You don't need to bring the standard five gallon bucket up the ladder, a one gallon or two gallon pail is lighter and easier to use on a ladder. Roller grids are available for either size paint pail as well as in the standard five gallon size.

When using a smaller bucket, you will need to use a smaller roller. Typically, the mini roller is used to roll paint out of the smaller bucket sizes - when working off of a ladder.