Plastic Painter's Skimming Grid 22 X 25cm

A simple skimming grid for loading your roller properly, especially when using lime-based paints.

This is one of those boring little tools that makes more sense once you have actually used it. You place it in your paint kettle, tray, or bucket, load the roller with paint, then roll it over the grid before going to the wall. It helps take off the excess paint and spreads the paint more evenly through the roller sleeve.

I think this is especially useful with lime paints and mineral paints. Not because the paint is bad, but because they are more natural products and can have the odd bit in them. You can get tiny dried bits from under the lid, thicker bits from the side of the tub, or little lumps if the paint has not been stirred properly. A grid gives you a quick chance to catch some of that before it ends up dragged across your wall.

It also helps stop you overloading the roller. That matters with lime-based paints, because heavy coats are not your friend. You want thinner, controlled coats, not a roller dripping with paint and leaving fat edges everywhere. Roll it through the grid, even out the sleeve, then paint.

It is made from black, unbreakable, solvent-resistant plastic and measures 22 x 25cm. It is stackable too, which is handy if you are using a few on bigger jobs or keeping them in a decorating kit.

Is it glamorous? No. But it is the kind of thing that can save you from picking little dried bits out of wet paint with your fingernail, which is always a low point in the day.

We know this one is plastic. We would rather it was not, and if we can find a better version that works properly, we will. At the moment, this is the best option we have found for the job. It is strong, solvent-resistant, reusable, and does the boring but useful thing it needs to do.