Bestt Liebco Tru Pro Triple A Lambskin Roller Cover, $16.48

What’s worse than spending a few days repainting your home only to realize you hate how the final finish looks? You end up having to start all the way over. Let’s skip that, do it right the first time by learning what paintbrushes and rollers work for what jobs.

Yes, you read that right. The type of paintbrushes and roller covers that you use DOES affect the finished look of whatever you’re painting. This is something that most people don’t really think about, so don’t feel bad if you’ve ever painted something in your house and then didn’t like how the finish looked.

The material that the brushes and roller covers are made of work differently depending on the type of paint being used, which then leads to the final finish being different than you might have expected. Just imagine spending a long weekend repainting a few rooms in your house only to do the final walk-around on Sunday night and you realize that you hate how it turned out, even though the color is just perfect!

That’s why it’s important to know which types of brushes and roller covers to use depending on what you’re painting and what kind of paint you’re using. So let’s dive right in and take a look at the best types of brushes and roller covers you should be using.

A lot of the paint work that you’re doing around your house will almost always require a brush. Whether that’s for cutting in around doors and windows or painting an entire area — brushes are essential. 

The three most common materials used for paint brush bristles are:

Set of 5 brushes — natural bristles and wood handles, $11.99

Paintbrushes that use natural bristles might sound a bit strange to you. After all, what exactly are natural bristles? Unlike synthetic bristles (which we’ll discuss shortly) natural bristles are typically made from some type of animal hair. The most common types of hair used for natural-bristle paintbrushes are hogs and badgers. These types of brushes are best when you’re using oil-based paint, varnishes, shellac, or polyurethane. They hold more paint than other types, allowing you to apply a thick coat and leave a smooth finish. 

One of the best things about natural paintbrushes is that they are usually cheaper than synthetic ones, which is typically not the case with most things “natural”. In any case, consider getting this set of 5 brushes to cover almost any painting needs that you may have. 

Purdy XL brush set (3-Pack), $34.00

As alluded to above, natural bristles are not the only option when it comes to paintbrushes. There are also synthetic bristles, which are typically made of a blend of polyester and nylon fibers to create a smooth, soft, and durable set of bristles. Due to their synthetic blend of fibers, nylon and polyester brushes are ideal for latex-based paint and are super easy to clean. 

That said, the majority of painting that you’ll be doing in your house will be latex-based, so synthetic-bristle brushes are a must have in your repertoire. To cover just about everything you’ll need, pick up this 3-pack of synthetic brushes from Purdy and you’ll be good to go. 

For those bigger paint projects — rooms, walls, heck even the entire house — you’ll be using rollers for the vast majority of the work. And with many walls in your house being so big and flat, the finish will make a huge difference. So it’s important to know which types of roller covers are best for your job.

Bestt Liebco tru pro triple a lambskin roller cover, $16.48

As the fact that it comes from an animal might suggest, lambskin roller covers are essentially the “natural” equivalent of roller covers compared to what you read above about brushes. And due to this similarity, you might also guess what lambskin roller covers are best used for: oil-based paints.

 The only issue with lambskin roller covers is that, unlike the natural brushes above, they are far more expensive than synthetic roller covers. So if you’re doing some big time oil-based painting, expect to pay a little more for roller covers. You can pick up this lambskin cover from Tru Pro for about $17 a piece.

RollerLite polyester knit standard roller covers (6-Pack), $14.74

 Just like the synthetic brushes above, polyester roller covers are best used with just about any other type of paint than oil-based. So if you’re working with water-based paint or latex paint, then polyester roller covers will typically be your best bet. The great thing is they can also be used on just about any surface and they’ll offer a consistent finish.

Polyester roller covers are the most common ones used in home projects and they will really show the level of gloss in your paint well. So if you opted for high-gloss paint, a polyester roller cover will really help that gloss pop. They’re also much more affordable than their lambskin counterparts, and you can pick up this 6-pack of polyester roller covers for under $15. 

PANCLUB foam paint roller covers (6-Pack), $13.99

If you think you might be bouncing around from one type of paint to the other and you just want to be covered (pun intended), then just get yourself a stash of foam roller covers and you’ll be good to go. Foam covers can be used with any type of paint or surface, so it won’t really matter what you’re working on. With foam rollers, the thickness of the foam will be what affects the finish the most.

The thicker the foam cover is, the thicker the coat of paint will typically be as you roll it out. So keep that in mind when you’re shopping for roller covers. For most surfaces, we suggest going with a middle of the road ⅜” thickness, like this affordable 6-pack from PANCLUB.