Customer Reviews for Wagner 9 in. Smart Roller with Manual Ratchet Trigger

I purchased this SMART Flow roller when we added an addition to our home. I needed a good roller for areas that I couldn't comfortably use my Wagner paint sprayer. I reviewed this roller prior to purchasing and loved the thought of being able to cover more square footage faster with a roller that held paint. I admit this roller took a while for me to get use too and I felt that it was expelling more than I needed, but after a bit of use I did get the hang of it. I feel like this did speed up my time painting rooms and I would recommend it to others that are looking for a roller that saves time.

Overall works ok would recommend

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This item eliminated the need to pour the paint into the paint tray. I still had one to kind of sat it down if i needed to use a brush or other tool. I bought a thick, one coat type paint because the walls were previously hot pink and I would say it still worked well once the paint got more fluid on the roller. I would definitely recommend and my husband seemed to like it also!

The Wagner Smart Roller cuts painting time in half. We used it to paint our exterior. While I did trims and borders with a paint brush, my husband would follow with the roller. There was no need for a paint tray, no opening and closing the paint can, pouring the paint, cleaning up the excess paint you lose when you do pour it...none of that! The assembly is easy. You just fill it up and go. The refill process is easy, quick and clean. The roller is lightweight. The application is as smooth as you want it to be since you control the amount of paint you want to apply to the area. It also comes with a cover to prevent splatter. Disassembly & clean up is easy also.

The Wagner Smart Roller cuts painting time in half. We used it to paint our exterior. While I did trims and borders with a paint brush, my husband would follow with the roller. There was no need for a paint tray, no opening and closing the paint can, pouring the paint, cleaning up the excess paint you lose when you do pour it...none of that! The assembly is easy. You just fill it up and go. The refill process is easy, quick and clean. The roller is lightweight. The application is as smooth as you want it to be since you control the amount of paint you want to apply to the area. It also comes with a cover to prevent splatter. Disassembly & clean up is easy also.

I painted a 14x14 room a very dark color, 3 coats, the first being on fresh drywall and it took very little time. Am really glad to have used the Smart Roller for this project. The instructions are very clear and the product easy to use the first time though I found it easier the second time around once I was a bit more familiar with it. The paint stick is long and I am short so was a little bit of an annoyance at times when getting into lower/tighter areas and you need to make sure you have enough clearance in your work area, tall people probably wouldn't have the same issues. I LOVED not having to pour paint or deal with a paint tray and all the mess that brings with it. Not having to walk to the tray and take time to load the roller was fabulous. Getting the cover on the can, and filling the paint stick takes a little practice but once you have done it once or twice it is very easy. I felt there was a bit more paint left in the bottom of the can than I wanted initially but I used it for my cut in and trim so was not a problem. I used this product with both Behr Ultra Flat and regular Behr Flat and did notice a difference in the paint types when filling the stick and rolling though not really more noticeable than a standard roller process. Set up and Clean up were easy - took longer the first time and you need a place to keep track of the small parts but once you have that done it is easy. It does seem to take a good bit of water to get everything cleaned up but I found the extra clean up time to be completely worth the effort for my project though when putting up a touch up coat it might not be worth the effort. Historically I am a very sloppy painter and found that with this tool my work space was much neater when I had finished. I did not use the Smart Roller to paint the ceiling for this project though there is a splatter shied with the kit and clear instructions. Note though that if you are not using a standard gallon paint can make sure to order the correct sized cover, you will need it to fill the paint stick.

This is a pretty awesome invention. I've always disliked pouring paint into trays and then cleaning up the inevitable drips down the side of the paint can. It also saves quite a few trips back to the paint tray to load up on paint again. However, I'm used to throwing out the regular roller covers when I'm done painting, and I really didn't enjoy the clean up time required. For some reason, I can't seem to find any replacement roller covers that specifically state that they're for the 9" smart roller either. I haven't checked in-store though - only online. Assembly was easy, and the instructions are pretty detailed as well. The plunger O-rings came with petroleum jelly on them, so I didn't add any more even though the instructions said to. I should have added more, since the plunger couldn't make a tight enough seal to pull paint into the tube when I went to start painting. Once I took it back apart and added a generous amount of petroleum jelly, the plunger did just fine. I also had a little bit of trouble getting the "paint straw" down into the 2-gallon ceiling paint can. It would be easier if the straw was a little bit longer. (And no, you don't REALLY need to buy another can cover for paint cans other than a standard gallon. If you really want to get fancy, grab a piece of cardboard bigger than the can opening, cut an "x" in the center, and shove the straw into it.) The roller took a surprising amount of paint to get started weeping. I initially filled the tube halfway up, and quickly found out that was barely enough paint to make it start weeping out of the roller after I had depressed the ratcheting plunger all the way back down. I also found that the head didn't weep well close to the far edge. This is due to the last weep hole in the end of the roller head core being smaller than the rest (see picture). The holes get progressively larger in order to account for an even flow rate despite the pressure differential, but for some reason the last one is as small as the first one. I think the designer wanted to make sure the end of the roller didn't get a ton of paint on it, but they overcompensated in this case. If I had a drill press, I think I'd take a shot at drilling it out a tiny bit more. Once I was up and painting, it took almost no time at all to cover the twenty square feet of ceiling in my hallway that surrounded a water spot I wanted to cover up. I should have picked a bigger project to use this on though, since clean up took about 5 times as long as actually painting. I also found that it was a pretty good length for reaching the 8' ceiling in my hallway (I'm 5' 3"). However, I think I'd have to stand on my toes to reach the 9' ceiling in my living room, and you can just forget about me trying to use this on the 10' ceiling in the master bedroom without either a ladder or stilts. It's great when you've got a full tube of paint, but the handle gets shorter and shorter the more paint you use. When you're done painting, you can empty out *most* of the remaining paint into the can by pulling back on the plunger, then inserting the "paint straw" into the valve and pushing the plunger forward again. Then you'll need a 5-gallon bucket to fill with water and plunge the whole system a bunch of times. That part of cleanup wasn't too bad, but cleaning out the roller head assembly was pretty time consuming, and I ended up with paint ALL OVER my hands. I'm used to just throwing away the roller cover and spraying down the roller frame and being done with it. In summary, this roller is definitely worth it if you've got a big project to do (at least an entire room), and you don't mind the cleanup afterwards.

I had just redone a bedroom wall with bead board and I need to repaint the wall. It wasn't a big job, but it gave me the opportunity to test out the roller. I like that fact that you don't have to use a tray. I'm constantly stepping on it or having to get off a ladder to get paint on the roller. It is easy to load the paint into to handle without a mess. I was able to paint the wall quickly and evenly without a mess. I wish I had used this when I had painted other rooms in my house. Cleaning took a bit of time but it's well worth it worth it for the benefit of a fast and easy paint job.

This reloadable paint roller from Wagner is the ticket for large painting and even some staining tasks, especially ceilings. I used this roller to stain the outer face of my new wood fence and to paint the ceiling in my bedroom. It worked well with the house paint, and surprisingly, just as well with the thin wood stain. No leaks, no splatters and no runs. The roller assembles quickly with snap lock type connectors and once you have the paint can cover and tube attached to your paint or stain can, it's easy to load by pulling back on the plunger in the handle. Depending on where you are painting you can leave the splatter guard attached or not. I used the shield when painting the ceiling and took it off for the fence staining job. If you are using a large five gallon bucket and not a standard gallon pail, then you can use the loading tube by itself, without the can cover attached. The ratcheting handle works smoothly. I learned very fast that you do not need to feed it as much paint or stain as you think you do. A little squeeze once you have the paint flowing works very well. Too much and you'll get a lot of runs/drips, same as you would with a regular roller being overloaded with paint. The box says you can cover 70 sq ft with one fill and I think I got that for sure with the paint over an existing older coat, less with the stain, but I was putting on the stain for the fence very heavily and it was new wood. I don't think you can find a better loadable paint roller for the price. If you need to complete a big painting job It has all the needed features you'll want, and it's backed by the Wagner brand name. The one tip you need to follow from the manual for reliable operation if to keep all the O-rings at connection points well greased with petroleum jelly. This assures a tight seal for the roller head and allows the plunger to load the tube with paint without leaking or losing suction. The only complaint would be that cleaning this type of roller is much more involved that cleaning a regular roller, but you expect that when you buy one of these. Take your time, clean the paint tube, plunger and roller feeding pipe thoroughly and lube up all the seals when done and you can expect it to last quite a while.

The roller comes with a plastic lid that fits snugly over the paint can, with a plastic straw for the paint to be pumped through. I could not use it with a 2 gallon primer unless I transferred it to a regular size paint can. The handle filled quickly, in the same way one would fill an eyedropper. It covered the walls with an even coat of paint and there was no dripping anywhere, except for a few drops that were caught by the splashguard. I had no trouble with this at all. There was no need for a paint tray and it made the job move along simply and quickly. For me, the handle was a little heavier with paint in it. It works well for large spaces, and I want to also get a smaller one and others in this line. I don't know how often the roller itself can be re-used, but for the neatness of this job, I'd say it was worth it.

Man, can't believe how much time I've saved! However, some of that time saved was spent on doing a THROUGH cleaning for later use. It would have been nice of the product included a bag of some kind for parts and rollers. So far, I have used the roller several times without incident, a real time saver. A smaller version is available for edges, looking forward to giving that a try.

This really did cut my time in half. I did the first coat with a traditional roller and this was much easier.

I used the Wagner for a patio ceiling and it worked well. Ceilings are tough projects for me and I look forward to simple wall projects.I Recommend this product. David

This item works very well but is a little labor intensive to clean. Also need to order a new roller pad and assembly.

It worked fairly well but when I had to change the roller to go from primer to paint it was a disaster. I will purchase Wagner rollers designed for this product and try again. It does use more paint.

Would not recommend. I thought it was going to be making the job easier but it just ended up frustrating me. Kept dripping little spots on my carpet too. Not impressed.

easy to use, a bit of time to clean with a lot of small areas for paint to get into

I purchased this to paint ceilings in my home. I initially thought this was the best thing ever. I soon realized that the rollers wear out quickly and need to be replaced, otherwise paint will drip everywhere. Clean up is also time consuming. I would not buy however as I was only able to use this a short time before it stopped working. In the middle of my second day completing the job, the stick stopped sucking up paint and is now garbage.

The smart roller is easy to use

Do not waste your money on this product

Does not suck up the paint literally takes forever to get 1inch of paint in there not as easy as it looks its jusy cheap asf nothing about it works the roller lets a lot of fuss out too it was just plain waist of money im on my way to buy a regular roller literally .

I threw it out the second I was done. I couldn't even return it because it had paint all over it from it leaking.

Was sick with Covid, but wife wanted bedroom painted. Effortless roller painting with Smart Roller allowed me to paint during quarantine. I finished bedroom painting only two hours per day.

Wagner Smart Roller …I bought 2 neither one works. The tube / handle will not fill with paint.I am a 68 year old woman with failing health. I now have to paint ceilings and walls using the old fashion method of roller and tray . Am on a fixed income and cannot afford professional painter. I wanted house to look nice in my end of life . If I could I would give -10 stars . Cannot return items because they r dirty with paints from my hands… don’t buy

Sounded like a great idea, but this product did not work as promised... could not get paint to load into the handle, after about an hour of trying and speaking to Wagner customer support I decided to give up and return it...

Great for outdoor use but drips a lot so not good for use inside.

This is a horrible design. first it took forever to get the paint to suck up into the container then as I am painting it just starts to spin. Does not matter how much I tighten it the handle continues to spin and open. I have to use to hands. I purchased this item because of my back and neck injury and this thing was not the solution at all. Also when it came time to clean, so, so much paint was lost. I was uberly disappointed. I painted just one wall. I went back to a traditional roller which was much faster in both painting the wall and cleaning the paint roller. I wish I could return this product but I no longer have the receipt.