Premier lambs wool - 3/8oz (10 grams)

Product Information

The finest and softest sheep’s wool is Merino which comes from the Merino sheep. It is the most popular breed of sheep used for clothing and produces the most luxurious wool, famous for its fine staples at about 20-25 microns in diameter (superfine merino can sometimes be down to 17 microns) and a soft hand feel. It has excellent drape due to its long staples at approximately 4.5 inches. The sheep originates from Spain, but nowadays about 80% of all Merino comes from Australia. A lot of the desirable properties associated with wool and hair stem from a natural protein, called keratin, which is found in the fibers of the hair and skin of mammals. The bilateral core of keratin causes the fibers to twist and bend, giving wool its natural crimp and resilience. Another beneficial property of keratin lies in its flame-resistance, which unlike with plant fibers, makes wool and hair fibers self-extinguishable once no longer directly exposed to a flame. A long sleeved mohair roller would be used to cover a textured wall or an artexed ceiling whereas a smooth foam roller would be used to paint emulsion on a nice smooth, plastered wall. The length of the hair on a roller is called the nap or pile of the roller.

Lambs wool used on a roller sleeve is perfect for emulsions. They hold more paint than synthetic sleeves and do not splash as much.

Crimp is also important. It is the natural waviness of the fibre, the elasticity. The crimp in wool makes it soft and springy to touch. It also adds bulk and traps a large volume of air between the fibres, giving it good insulation properties. In general, the more crimp there is, the smaller is the diameter of the fibre, ie the lower the micron count. Finer wool with more crimp such as merino create fabrics that drape better than coarser wool with little crimp. Merino has up to 100 crimps per inch, more than either cashmere or lambswool. These are available from all DIY stores and as you would expect are the cheapest options available, often 3 for less than a few pounds. As opposed to having bristles or moving parts, a paint pad is essentially a sponge fixed to a base and a handle. Once dipped in paint, the sponge is then run over the surface to be painted, leaving the paint on the wall. As it’s a sponge you get a nice even and consistent finish

Roller sleeves with patterns cut out of them can give a very nice stippled effect to a wall. Some of these roller sleeves are called stenciled rollers and they are generally made from rubber or cut foam.

Types of Paint Roller Pile (Nap)

As we have stated above, to get the very best finish for a given surface it’s essential that you use the correct type of sleeve with the correct length of pile. Lanolin is a wax or grease, present in all sheep's wool, but not in goat's wool. It has important natural antibacterial properties, useful for preventing body odours. Cashmere - goat They are also often used for painting timber and fine furniture in paint, varnish, oil and a whole host of other finishes, depending on the type and material of the sleeve. Extended Pole: Although not actually a roller, but more of an addition. Most roller frames have hollow, or threaded handles. This allows you to insert or screw on an extension pole into the handle to reach high ceilings or the top of tall walls

And while it requires both food, energy, water, and medicine to keep animals reared, the environmental impact naturally varies from factory to factory, with some wool and hair processing being organic and free from pesticides and chemicals. Although when we refer to a paint roller we think of it as a whole item, but in fact the most import part is the interchangeable sleeve as this is the part that gets the paint on the wall and determines how good the finish is. The remainder of the roller, the frame and the handle is just there hold the sleeve. Although most different roller sleeves fall under the umbrella of either synthetic or natural as each is either made from a synthetic or natural material, we have mentioned them here so that we can give a general overview of what type of painting each is suited for. Cashmere is produced from cashmere goats. Native to Kashmir province in India, they are raised today all over Central Asia (Turkestan, Iran, Iraq, Mongolia), China, Australia, and New Zealand. Using a paint brush in this way, i.e. for detail, is called cutting in. You can find out all you need to know in our cutting in project here.

BAKKA uses the 100% superfine merino produced by world renowned Italian firm Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgesesia SpA. You can get an idea of the quality of this wool from the photos in our shop. Their 100% superfine merino has a registered trade name, it is recognised to be the first and unmatched superfine merino, and has been used by top knitwear producers around the world for over 30 years. Cashmere is expensive relative to other wools because the annual supply is so small. Lambswool and merino wool - sheep As they are quite small, the paint pad it ideal for cutting in and getting into spaces that a standard roller would never reach. As the pile or nap is often fairly long they are also great to use on rougher surfaces such as textured or masonry. Although they give a great finish they do tend to be rather expensive! For this reason it’s important that we also take a look at the different types of roller frame that are available, these are as follows:

For example, you’ll get a better finish on a smooth flat surface when using a short pile roller sleeve, but you’ll end up with a rough, patchy finish if you use the same type of sleeve on a very rough surface. Standard Roller Frame: The standard roller frame either features a frame and end caps or a straight bar that the roller sleeve slots on to. Available in a range of sizes from 9 to 18 inches Aside from the soft and luxurious feeling very often associated with the popular cashmere, it can be difficult for many to distinguish between the different types of wool and hair. Although there are many similarities in both the farming procedures and general properties of wool and hair, they’re usually distinguished between what animal they’re sourced from. Wool is sourced from sheep (Merino, Lincoln, Dorset etc.) whereas Hair is sourced from other animals such as goats (cashmere, mohair), alpacas (alpaca) and rabbits (angora). What is Wool? Our columnist Robert Lim recently declared his love for wool, but allow us to remind you why. Wool and hair have many general properties in common, making them desirable for use in a variety of garments:

What Type of Paint Roller to use on What Surface?

Likewise if you have a smaller, more delicate surface to cover, such as a skirting board, a smaller width roller would be much more suited to this. Although not exactly a paint roller, they do kind of work in a similar way hence the reason we are mentioning them. With this in mind they are ideally suited for use with matt paints on flat plastered walls and ceilings and also for applying water-based gloss paints.