How to Avoid Roller Marks When Painting

There is nothing worse than going to the effort of redecorating a room, only to encounter defects in your finish such as flashing, picture framing, and roller marks. As a professional Decorator of over 20 years, I’ve learnt how to avoid such defects. I thought I’d put a blog together on how to avoid roller marks when painting. If you’re experiencing problems, then this may help.

What Causes Roller Marks?

Roller marks can be caused by several different things. It may be that the paint you’re using is very porous, so you don’t get very long to spread it out before it dries. Or if the paint is drying quickly, it may be that you aren’t keeping a ‘wet edge’ when you’re rolling, so there is a thicker build up on the overlaps of your roller strokes.

However, the most common cause of roller marks is when your roller leaves a slightly different texture on the upward stokes as it does on the downward strokes, and that difference is visible after your paint has dried. The proper term for this is ‘flashing’, and there are things you can do to avoid it.

How to Avoid Roller Marks When Painting

Step 1 – Choose a Good Quality Roller

The most obvious advice I can give you on avoiding roller marks is to use a good quality roller and use an appropriate paint (I’ll get into both in the following sections), but there are other things you can do.

Step 2 – Choose the Correct Paint

Some paints contain a crude polymer that doesn’t seem to settle down. Others drag on application. Either of these can cause roller marks. You’ll always achieve a better finish with certain paints than you would others (I’ll go into options on the next section).

Step 3 – Dilute your paint

If you want to avoid roller marks, then you should dilute your paint slightly, particularly when using trade products. Diluting too much may mean you need to apply an extra coat to get a solid colour, so go easy. However, diluting it (usually with water when rolling emulsion paint) will make it easier to apply and spread, thus cutting down on roller marks.

Step 4 – Get Your Technique Right

You should also look at your technique if you’re having problems with roller marks. Get loads of paint on your roller, start at the top of your wall and roll all the way down all the way up in single movements. Really spread the paint out, so you’re applying a generous coat, but getting rid of any texture in the paint.

The Best Paint Roller to Use to Avoid Roller Marks

A good quality roller is your single best weapon in your fight against roller marks! You need something that is easy to manoeuvre, holds plenty of paint, and doesn’t leave orange peel. I’m going to give you two recommendations, each suit different types of paint.

The Purdy Colossus

Axus Silk Touch

The Best Type of Paint to Use to Avoid Roller Marks

What if I told you that you can avoid roller marks when painting by simply changing your paint? It’s true! Some paints are hard to apply, and they have a high sheen-level, so it’s difficult to avoid roller marks. Or they drag like mad due to a lack of polymer binders, which can be even worse! What you need is a low-sheen paint that just glides on! A trade product is preferrable. I can give you a couple of recommendations, but there are a few paint products on the market that will do the job.

Dulux Diamond Matt Paint

Dulux Diamond Matt isn’t exactly the cheapest paint on the market, but since reformulating it recently, it’s certainly one of the best, especially if you are trying to avoid roller marks.

Tikkurila Anti-Reflex

This is more of a ceiling paint, but it has been specially developed to avoid defects such as flashing, picture framing and roller marks.

Final Thoughts

Well, I hope that has given you the insight you need on how to avoid roller marks when painting. To sum up, use good paint and a proper roller. If you go with one of my recommendations, then I don’t think you will have any issues. Happy painting!!