Product recommendation - Purdy Corporation Colossus 1-3/4" Core Diameter Paint Roller Cover

Disclosure: My husband works for the company that manufactures these, so I'm lucky enough to have gotten my sample for free.

Two weeks ago:

"Check out what I brought home for when we paint the deck - it's the Colossus! I figured the deck is pretty rough, so I got the longest nap I could find ... it's inch-and-a-half."

"Inch-and-a-half? Like, three times longer than the nap on the rollers we normally use?"

"Yep. Looks like we're recycling shag carpet from the 70s."

"Cool. Can I call it the Afro-ller?"

"If it will make you paint any faster, sure."

This afternoon:

"So I spent an hour and a half last week painting a 10' section of deck railing with a brush, and you just did the same thing with the Afroller in 10 minutes?"

"We still need to touch up the little bits at the top and bottom that I couldn't reach, but otherwise, yeah, it's done."

"Dude, painting with a brush sucks. Long live the Afroller! Even if it does look like you're painting with a Lhasa Apso."

Tonight:

"Okay, so the Afroller sucks up an enormous amount of paint, and we have to go get another gallon to do the second coat on the deck. But another gallon of paint is what, $40? I think our time is worth a lot more than that."

"Liza, get the birdseed out of your mouth. Remember the nasty diapers you had when you ate sand last week while Daddy was in China? Birdseed will be even worse."

"Daddy at work! Took airplane! Faaaaar away! China!"

"No, sweetie, Daddy's right here, covered in green paint speckles, holding a green fuzzy dog on a pole."

*****

In summary: The Purdy Colossus roller covers have ridiculously deep nap, which means they hold a lot more paint than a thinner cover, and they can reach deeper into crevices and uneven surfaces. They do tend to be a little worse for shedding lint than some other brands, but if you're painting a deck, you're going to have a little lint/grass clippings/spiderwebs/acorns in there, anyway. They soak up a lot of paint, which means you may need to buy a little more than usual, but it will probably save you time overall. They're also a little harder to clean than a shorter-nap cover, but even with the extra cleanup time, it still saved us hours in time on this job. Colossus is a new line this year, but they seem to be available through both the Sherwin Williams stores and some major hardware/home improvement stores.

The verdict: If you've got to paint a shed, or a deck, or anything very uneven (like a textured ceiling), you should check these out. It should save you a lot of time ... plus, "Afroller" is fun to say.