Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Brushmate is a convenient storage system for paint brushes that have been used for applying solvent-based (oil-based) paints, or other decorative coatings such as varnish or woodstain. Basically after using a brush, you simply hang it on a little brush hook inside the Brushmate, and days, weeks, or even months later, you can simply take it out and it’s still moist, and ready to use. If this doesn’t sound exciting enough, the guide below explains why this system not only saves an incredible amount of time, read more »

Choosing paint for interior wood generally comes down to a decision based on brand reputation mixed with affordability, as it is normally the case that the big brands have the higher price tags, and you as a consumer end up thinking ‘Can I get away with using the cheaper stuff?’ The other main consideration you need to make is about the paint system you want to use on your wood, which is a subject that I cover in greater detail in my guide – ‘Which paint for wood’. read more »

Choosing the right paint for your walls and ceilings can be slightly daunting to the uninitiated as if you start looking at the options and different types of paint racked up along the miles of shelves in your local DIY store, it can leave you shaking your head and wondering where to begin. It’s literally very difficult to decide from such displays, which paints are for walls, which are for ceilings and indeed which are for wood? Well, in this guide I’ll give you my opinion on what to look out for read more »

Mythic Paint is a relatively new player in the UK market, and they offer a selection of water-based paints for both the interior and exterior of your home. Okay, nothing too exciting in that introduction, but where my interest certainly began to perk up was when I noticed that all their paints contains zero VOCs (nasty chemicals), zero carcinogens (very nasty chemicals), are completely non-toxic, and have literally no smell. Now, there are other ‘user-friendly’ paints around, but none that have stirred up this amount of interest in the ‘trade’ marketplace. read more »

Doing a paint roller review has been on my “must do” list for a while now, and having walked around my local big DIY outlet at the weekend, I thought yes, I really, really must do a guide to buying a paint roller. Seldom have I seen, in my opinion, so much poor quality product stacked on row after row of shelving, and seldom have I imagined, so vividly, the problems that people will have when they try and paint their houses with this stuff.

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