# Colossus vs White Dove



## JC PAINTING Cullman (Apr 29, 2021)

Been using colossus for along time and once I got past the shed it held a lot of paint and made my job faster so production was there but the finish??? I switched to white dove recently and I’m curious what white woven roller is the best? 98 percent of the walls finish in eggshell and they are flat walls .. That is one reason I switched I opted for a better finish rather than speed! I know microfiber is a great finishing cover but I only use them in satin sheen or above.. everyone’s thoughts are welcome.?.?.? And thanks


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Are you asking what brand? They are all pretty much similar. I hate white dove type covers. I hate the pickup, release is poor, and the texture finish is awful. IMO they have a unique pattern to the upward movement on the roller, then a totally different pattern on the downstroke. I am a big fan, like you of microfiber for eggshell and above. The rollers that I do like are the purple ones from HD, I think those are arrowworthy too. They seem to be a cross between white dove and orange poly's??


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## Masterwork (Sep 13, 2020)

MikeCalifornia said:


> Are you asking what brand? They are all pretty much similar. I hate white dove type covers. I hate the pickup, release is poor, and the texture finish is awful. IMO they have a unique pattern to the upward movement on the roller, then a totally different pattern on the downstroke. I am a big fan, like you of microfiber for eggshell and above. The rollers that I do like are the purple ones from HD, I think those are arrowworthy too. They seem to be a cross between white dove and orange poly's??


Don't you roll everything in the same direction? I've never seen a cover where the texture matches on the upward stroke.


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## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

While I do appreciate the amount of paint the Colossus can hold, it tends to leave a very "open" nap finish that, IMHO, requires additional paint or working to even the look and achieve uniformity. Maybe I'd reach for one if I were repainting ceilings with heavy texture, provided it was same color painted over same color. They remind me of the old sheepskins, despite being some bastard child of woven polyamides. Linzer makes some of the best microfibers covers available IMO, from 4" minis to 18" big-boys.


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

Masterwork said:


> Don't you roll everything in the same direction? I've never seen a cover where the texture matches on the upward stroke.


Well, surely you mean _finish_ in the same direction, and yes. I do. (I do roll up and down). Physics says the upstroke and downstroke will have the same texture but will look very different b/c of lighting. Think tiny little melting chocolate chips pointing upward (but melting for a while) on the upstroke but downward (but melting for a while) on the downstroke. Same texture, but opposite "peak" directions so a different look. In any case, after rolling up and down, I always lay off on a downstroke. If you don't do your finish/lay off stroke in the same direction and the same way, it's asking for trouble.

And just in case its not clear Masterwork, I'm agreeing with you. Just added detail.


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## cardgunner (Feb 29, 2016)

Joe67 said:


> Well, surely you mean _finish_ in the same direction, and yes. I do. (I do roll up and down). Physics says the upstroke and downstroke will have the same texture but will look very different b/c of lighting. Think tiny little melting chocolate chips pointing upward (but melting for a while) on the upstroke but downward (but melting for a while) on the downstroke. Same texture, but opposite "peak" directions so a different look. In any case, after rolling up and down, I always lay off on a downstroke. If you don't do your finish/lay off stroke in the same direction and the same way, it's asking for trouble.
> 
> And just in case its not clear Masterwork, I'm agreeing with you. Just added detail.


So I find this intriguing. Typically when rolling a wall I start Upper left to lower right to upper right to lower left to upper left> Work the top edge left to right> roll down then work the bottom edge right to left > Finish wall, roll up & then down, angle up to the next 4" of space to the right roll up then roll directly down > follow this till your area is finished. Typically my area is 96" long by 18" wide. 

Are you suggesting you finish your area by starting from the top roll down, lift off, advance to the next 8" going from the top and roll down and lift off? So to finish the 96 x 18 you would lay your roller on top 3 times and lift off 3 times? If so that seems like a little effort except when you have to do that x200 times then it seems like a lot of extra effort. Does it make that much of a difference?


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

cardgunner said:


> So I find this intriguing. Typically when rolling a wall I start Upper left to lower right to upper right to lower left to upper left> Work the top edge left to right> roll down then work the bottom edge right to left > Finish wall, roll up & then down, angle up to the next 4" of space to the right roll up then roll directly down > follow this till your area is finished. Typically my area is 96" long by 18" wide.
> 
> Are you suggesting you finish your area by starting from the top roll down, lift off, advance to the next 8" going from the top and roll down and lift off? So to finish the 96 x 18 you would lay your roller on top 3 times and lift off 3 times? If so that seems like a little effort except when you have to do that x200 times then it seems like a lot of extra effort. Does it make that much of a difference?


Sounds like you do X's. I roll straight up and down 9" at a time with partial overlap (unless I'm in a 14 or 18" roller, obviously). Some say to do 50% overlap - I do less. I almost always use 3/8" nap (many here would say 1/2" or even 9/16") which, when properly loaded, does about right for one pass on typical 8' ceilings. I start in about the middle, work the paint up and down toward floor/ceiling to get the spread, and finish with a super-light downstroke fading off the wall down near the baseboard. Most of the time - if conditions aren't unfavorable - I'll get 3-4 swaths down (so 27-36" of wall or so), and then do the light layoff down strokes.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Masterwork said:


> Don't you roll everything in the same direction? I've never seen a cover where the texture matches on the upward stroke.


Its pretty rare that I would need to lay off a wall top to bottom. I think I had one product that was producing an extreme color difference when rolled up then down, but I would never use that again. The products I use don't have an issue just applying normal with a 9 or 14, up and down across the wall.


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## Masterwork (Sep 13, 2020)

MikeCalifornia said:


> Its pretty rare that I would need to lay off a wall top to bottom. I think I had one product that was producing an extreme color difference when rolled up then down, but I would never use that again. The products I use don't have an issue just applying normal with a 9 or 14, up and down across the wall.


That goes against everything I've learned and seen over my years....


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Masterwork said:


> That goes against everything I've learned and seen over my years....


Don't know what to tell you, no one here rolls walls like that? How is it possible to roll 16-20' walls all one direction? Even 8-10' walls with furniture in the way, doesn't make much sense trying to lay paint off from top to bottom, but many ways to skin a cat!!


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## Masterwork (Sep 13, 2020)

Do you only make one pass with the roller? I'd love to see a video of you painting lol.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Masterwork said:


> Do you only make one pass with the roller? I'd love to see a video of you painting lol.


You trying to be funny?? One pass, wtf are you talking about??


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## Masterwork (Sep 13, 2020)

MikeCalifornia said:


> You trying to be funny?? One pass, wtf are you talking about??



You _always_ roll the entire wall so the texture is pointing the same direction. No matter how tall it is. Even if you have to roll it in sections, each section is the same. In my opinion, it's easiest to finish by rolling down towards the floor. No room because of furniture or a narrow hallway? Use a shorter extension handle, and roll the top part down as low as you can, then flip the handle around and roll the bottom, but _always_ make sure the last stroke is downward. 

Never, ever, finish one part of the wall with an upward stroke, and a downward stroke next to it. You may think it looks fine, but I've got a wake up call for you. Go stand right beside the wall, and look down the length of it. Tell me what you see.


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## Debbie253 (Dec 26, 2020)

MikeCalifornia said:


> Are you asking what brand? They are all pretty much similar. I hate white dove type covers. I hate the pickup, release is poor, and the texture finish is awful. IMO they have a unique pattern to the upward movement on the roller, then a totally different pattern on the downstroke. I am a big fan, like you of microfiber for eggshell and above. The rollers that I do like are the purple ones from HD, I think those are arrowworthy too. They seem to be a cross between white dove and orange poly's??


I also use the purple covers from HD. They’re good quality and they also wash out well so they’re economical to use.


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## cardgunner (Feb 29, 2016)

I got to say I have now being always finishing my walls rolling down and haven't noticed a difference once fully dry HOWEVER while the wall is drying it is much more uniform thus I'm sure it is once dry. I can't feel or see any difference. Microfiber 3/8" nap arroworthy spreading eggshell Ultra Spec. It doesn't take that much longer to start top and finish bottom. Still use the X technique to cover the wall but I finish with 3 roller paths all going down. Not sure if I would correct a helper, as once dried I don't see a difference. But as it dries you do see uniformity.


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