The Family Handyman – September 2019

STUFF WE LOVE

10 SEPTEMBER 2019 FAMILYHANDYMAN.COM

Fast roller cleaner

T

here are several products for cleaning roller sleeves on the

market, but the Roller Ready tool stands out because it’s so

simple to use. It fits in the chuck of your drill, letting you

spin off water as you rinse and clean your roller sleeve. The fully

submersible, smooth design (no nooks and crannies for paint to

get in) makes it really easy to clean when you’re done.

To clean a roller, slip the sleeve onto the Roller Ready, spin it

in and out of a bucket of water several times to rinse out the

paint, then spin out the water. The sleeve will be dry and ready

to use again in no time. You’ll find the hard-plastic version for

$18 and a Pro Version made of aluminum for $30 on Amazon.

RETRACTABLE

RATCHET STRAPS

The endless headache over

your tangled ratchet straps

may have finally come to an

end with Quickloader straps.

With standard straps, there’s

no easy way to store excess

strapping—you could spend

five minutes apiece rolling

them up to store in your vehi-

cle, only to have them unwind.

Instead, the Quickloader

straps use a spring-loaded

mechanism to keep the straps

coiled. Like the blade in a tape

measure, the straps are under

tension and able to retract into

the case. A 12-ft. strap rated

for 1,500 lbs. costs about $

at The Home Depot and online.

TIME-SAVING DRYWALL

W

hen it comes to a taping and mudding project, the corners that

meet existing walls are my worst nightmare. Not only do you have

to tape and mud the corner, but now you’re stuck painting the

entire wall, and there’s never a good way to tape up to a wood or brick

accent wall. Well, Trim-Tex makes a special tear-away bead so you don’t have

to lose sleep over a corner again.

Adhere the bead to the surface, staple it down, then run your mud-

ding knife along the raised edge. Before your final sanding, tear away

the leg that’s sticking out. Tear-away bead is perfect for repairing or

covering a ceiling or butting drywall to a surface you don’t want to mud,

like a paneled wall, exposed brick or existing trim. A 10-ft. stick costs

less than $3 at home centers.

MIKE BERNER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Rinse

bucket

Spin

to dry

Tear-away

leg

Raised

edge

Neatly

retracted