Wooster Brush R292-9 Lambswool 100 Roller Cover, 3/4-Inch Nap, 9-Inch

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Weiss of GAM says the rollers his company manufactures are not often used for smooth surfaces because a high-pile roller on a smooth surface could put too much paint on the wall. Rough surfaces are usually artex or more heavily patterned. Use a long pile sleeve for these surfaces. If your goal is to see the roller marks or brush strokes, then the microfiber roller is not for you. When painting a flat surface, such as drywall, the long fibers get in the way, Dentz says. “You lose the nicer finish because of smashed fibers.”

Lambswool sleeves are more durable than synthetic equivalents. They have a tight weave that sits firmly against the plastic core and maintains its integrity. Foam outers are more likely to fall apart and are often single-use products for this reason. The exception being if the paint or roller has been contaminated with grit, dirt, or other harder elements. Because they leave behind a minimum of texture compared to a traditional woven roller, the microfiber roller is especially good when using glossy paint. In addition, microfibers are quite good at absorbing liquids such as both water and oil-based paint.

A lambswool roller is the best paint roller to use with solvent-based finishes, emulsions or when coating a semi-smooth or rough surface. But he argues nevertheless that sheepskin rollers can work on those walls as long as the painter knows what he or she is doing. “I would say a certain amount of skill is required,” he says. “But I know an awful lot of people who use half-inch-nap sheepskin to do a living room wall.”

Such covers can absorb and distribute higher amounts of paint as compared to those made from woven fabrics.

Sheepskin rollers play huge roles in texturing techniques. The longer the pile in these types of rollers allow painters to create medium to rough texturing on wall surfaces. The size of the roller determines how the texture turns out. However, you can still use a shed-resistant woven roller cover with flat or satin paints as that will provide a professional finish. It also carries the paint to the surface, so you will need to choose the right height for the best results. And the fibers themselves are thinner than a single thread of silk, making them about 1/5 th the diameter of a human hair.

Norton says that sheepskin pelts will also vary in quality depending on whether the animal was raised on a range or on a farm. “Range animals tend to have more unevenness in pelts because they have more exposure to the environment,” he says. If you want to achieve a smooth finish for painting surfaces such as walls and high ceilings, then the microfiber roller is a perfect choice. Perhaps the best type of project to use a microfiber roller is when you have a considerable amount of surface to cover. A lambskin roller may be more expensive than synthetic options, but it's a better investment than any of its rivals. Its unique properties give rise to capabilities that will save you time and produce a superior finish. And if you're still not swayed, lambswool is a sustainable material - choose it for the environment.Assembly also drives up the cost, Weiss says. Each skin, unique by nature, must be cut into the maximum amount of pieces. They must be sewn inside out, then pulled onto the adhesive-coated core. Even the glue application must be done by hand. “It’s a highly labor-intensive operation,” he says. “There’s a huge amount of labor involved and judgement involved. My mother’s family were furriers. This is the same thing.” You can start by applying the roller cover, which can be accomplished by aligning the hole with the end of the frame and pushing it into place. Unlike microfiber rollers, woven paint roller covers are designed with 90° angles, which produces a very tight cross-section of fibers, making these rollers virtually lint-free. For one thing, sheepskin is a commodity, not a product. It’s generally imported from overseas, and every high-end roller manufacturer wants the best lambskin from the world’s best farms. “We’re all competing for this stuff, and there just isn’t as much of it,” Schneider says. Another reason that makes the fibers on microfiber rollers exceptionally strong is it’s attached to epoxy, which helps to keep them in place for very long.