What tools do you actually need to paint a room?

The short list

Bunnings lists the tools for a room as a drop sheet, brush, roller, tray, stirrer, can opener, tape measure and pencil, plus tape and an undercoat. That is close to right. Here is the same list with the bits that get forgotten.

• One angled brush for cutting in, and a wider one if you are doing doors and skirtings.
• A roller frame, two sleeves in the right nap, and a tray or a paint pot.
• An extension pole that screws into the frame.
• Canvas drop sheets, which stay where you put them.
• Sugar soap and a sponge, plus a bucket you do not mind ruining.
• Filler, a flexible filling knife and sanding sheets or a sanding block.
• A scraper, masking tape, a stirrer, a can opener and rags.
• A step ladder that is tall enough that you are not on the top step.

Rollers: the nap decides the finish

The fabric depth on the sleeve, called the nap, is the one specification worth getting right. Dulux sets it out by paint type and surface: 6 to 8 millimetres for gloss and semi-gloss, 10 to 12 millimetres for low sheen and flat paint on walls, and 20 to 32 millimetres for rough surfaces such as concrete or heavy texture.

Outside, the figure is the same. The Dulux Weathershield sheet asks for a 10 to 12 millimetre roller on exterior walls.

Buy two sleeves rather than one. Washing a sleeve out properly between a ceiling colour and a wall colour takes longer than the second sleeve is worth, and a half-washed sleeve drags old paint into the new.

Brushes: two is usually plenty

An angled brush around 60 to 75 millimetres does the cutting in: ceiling lines, corners, around switches and windows. A wider straight brush suits doors, skirtings and architraves. Beyond that you are buying brushes for jobs you are not doing.

Nearly all wall and ceiling paint sold here is water-based, and synthetic filament brushes are made for it. Natural bristle belongs with oil-based products, where it is still hard to beat.

Whatever you buy, keep it wet and keep moving. Dulux's own instruction is to work up to a natural break and never over an area that has partly dried, because the brush drags marks through it. Wash brushes out the moment you stop, not when you get back to them.

What you can skip

The painting aisle is full of things that solve a problem you do not have. None of these are scams; they are just not worth it for one room.

• Masking every edge. Tape is for glass, floors and where two colours meet. Everything else is faster cut in with a brush, and tape lifts fresh paint if it sits too long.
• Hiring a sprayer for a single room. By the time the furniture, floors, windows and every other surface are masked, you have spent the day you were trying to save.
• Edge pads that promise no cutting in. They work on a straight, flat join and nowhere else.
• Multipacks of cheap sleeves. They shed fibres into the first coat and you pick them out of the wall with tweezers.
• Tray liners. A paint pot with a bit of paint decanted into it is easier to carry up a ladder anyway.
• Paint conditioner, unless you are brushing trims on a hot day and need the paint to stay open longer.

What is worth the money

Spend on the things that touch the paint and the things that keep you off a ladder. A good sleeve and a good brush are the difference between a wall that looks even and one that does not, and they last for years if they are washed out.

The extension pole is the quiet hero. Rolling a ceiling and the top of a wall from the floor is faster, gives a more even film, and means fewer trips up and down. WorkSafe Victoria's guidance is worth keeping in mind on that last point: anyone on a ladder is at risk of falling, even below two metres.

Cleaning up, and where the leftovers go

Water-based gear washes out in water, but the rinse water is still paint. Keep it out of the stormwater drain in the street, which runs to the bay, and let washings settle so the solids can go in the bin rather than down the pipe.

Leftover paint has a proper home. Paintback takes it free, up to 100 litres a visit in containers of 20 litres or less, and covers interior and exterior paint, deck coatings, floor paints, undercoats, sealers, stains and varnishes. Aerosols are not included.

Locally, the Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre on Harold Road at Skye is listed as a Paintback site with no fee. Paintback's location finder will point you to the nearest drop-off further down the Peninsula.

Where to buy it around Frankston and the Peninsula

There is a Dulux Trade Centre at 60 to 64 Dandenong Road in Frankston, and Bunnings has stores at Frankston on the corner of McMahons Road and Gertrude Street, at Mornington on the Nepean Highway and at Rosebud on Boneo Road. Between them they cover most of the area.

Wherever you buy, ask for the product data sheet rather than going by the label. The sheet is where the spread rate, the recoat time and the minimum temperature live, and those three numbers decide whether your weekend plan is realistic. Our guide on working out how much paint to buy uses exactly those figures.

When is buying the tools the wrong move?

If the list above is most of what you would spend on having a small room done, and you will not use any of it again, the maths has already answered you. The same goes for a stairwell, a raked ceiling or a two-storey exterior, where the gear you would need to do it safely is hire equipment, not shopping.

If you are pressing on, our step-by-step guide to painting a room sets out the order to use it all in. If you would rather it was done for you, we quote interior repaints in writing, and we bring our own gear.

Quick questions

Sources

What this guide relies on. Product advice changes, so check the maker's current instructions for the exact paint you're using.

1. How to use a paint roller: nap lengths by surface and sheen — Dulux
2. How to paint a room: tools and materials list — Bunnings Warehouse
3. Find a collection location: what is accepted and the limits — Paintback
4. Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre — Planet Ark Recycling Near You
5. Dulux Trade Centre Frankston — Dulux