Product Review: Black & Decker EZ-Twist PaintStick and StainStick
Ease of Use, Performance: 20/25
Look & Feel: 23/25
Features 23/25
How much I enjoy 21/25
Total: 87/100
First off I would like to thank HomeRight, licensing partner of Black & Decker, for letting me use their products and apologize as well. I have had these two products and just could not get the chance to use them. I had plans but they all fell through, first my sister in law’s log home was going to get stained but they had the company do the work instead.
Then the contractors were supposed to fix my roof so I was going to paint the ceilings were it was leaking in but the roofing work got postponed. I still have not seen hide nor hair of them since they came out and gave my landlord the bad news that it will cost him much more because you they new plywood on the roof with the new shingles.
I did want to add why it had been so difficult to get to use the PaintStick and StainStick to show one thing, other than my little problems. Sometimes things do not always go the way you want them to, do it yourself projects are the same way to be sure.
The PaintStick and StainStick are two products that can ease the problems that come with having to paint or stain those large things like rooms, decks or even houses. Both are basically a pole that holds the fluid and a roller or pad that has the fluid coming right out of the center for application.
Do not get me wrong, these are both great products but there are also some things you should know about the PaintStick and StainStick, they are messy to clean up. I have read a lot on the internet and do have to agree in part with the main complaint people had but I certainly would not call it a complaint, more of a warning. Cleanup does take a bit more work but this is more than offset by the quick work of the actual painting or staining, the PaintStick and StainStick will quickly take care of even large jobs.
You should also know at the start that these tools are for use with either water or oil based paints and stains but I would not recommend using them with any oil based products that use mineral spirits for cleanup. While the company does not suggest this I do, using an oil based paint or stain would cost a lot to clean up after as you would have to purchase a lot of mineral spirits or other cleaners.
Using the PaintStick and StainStick is easy, you place the fill tube and push it into the valve and pull back on the handle to suck paint or stain into the tube. Once you have it full of paint or stain you simply start painting using the handle to push stain onto the pad or paint onto the roller.
The roller of the PaintStick is full of holes spaced regularly around the inside of the plastic roller and allows the paint to uniformly come out onto the roller. There is a foam rubber tube inside the roller to help distribute the paint through the roller.
The tube is a clear plastic with a screw top to hold the plunger handle inside it while the end of the tube attached to the valve and roller section is glued in place. The valve is a rubber two piece valve to allow the fill tube to have paint pushed into the tube of the handle.
The roller of the PaintStick is held in place on the hollow tube that attaches to the handle by a snap in end that just pushes to pop off. The roller tube holds onto the handle with a screw thread ring for easy removal but only goes on in one direction so the roller assembly does not turn while using.
The StainStick has slightly simpler workings with just a tube going to a slit in the pad that is one of those quick painting pads with short bristles all over it. The one edge of the pad has a pad that wraps over it so there is the pad on both sides for an inch or so.
This inch of pad on both sides is to get in between those deck boards and makes for a nice easy way to get into cracks and corners while staining. The StainStick and PaintStick both work in the same way, push the handle plunger style into the tube and the paint or stain inside the tube is pushed into the roller or pad.
The StainStick has a smooth tube and plunger while the PaintStick has a large thread inside the handle so that you can set a small button and have to twist the handle to regulate the amount of paint going into the roller. You can also set the button up and not have the small post in the handle inside the thread so you don’t have to twist the handle to push the paint into the roller.
I used both of these in the same few days and had a fun time working with them as well as an easy time with getting the stain and paint where it was supposed to be. I used the StainStick to stain my stairs and small deck and had it done in under an hour without any problems.
The StainStick is really simple to use and you quickly get the feel for using it just like you do with those painting pads with the short bristles. They usually work best by going in one direction and the StainStick works the same way, but you also have the double sided edge on the top for those cracks and in between boards.
The StainStick works well for getting the stain in between the cracks and the double sided edge works really well for between the boards. I used a white stain on my deck that worked out well as it already had some white stain or paint on it, I will have to do some touch up but one coat worked just fine for the deck and main parts.
Using the StainStick I was able to go over the same spots without having to wait for them to dry so I was able to get enough stain into the boards. The StainStick worked very well for the deck with stairs and was even good on the rails and other parts like the square posts up to the railing.
While I did not use the StainStick on some large deck it would make a great tool for larger projects just like the PaintStick would. I painted some ceilings using the PaintStick and it worked very well, there is even a drip shield for the roller that snaps on and prevents spatter.
The roller fills very evenly but takes a bit of time to get enough paint into when you first start with a clean dry roller using the PaintStick. I had no problem using the PaintStick to hit those ceiling spots that needed a quick touch up and it really was very quick without having to keep going to a tray and get more paint on the roller.
Simply suck some paint up using the handle and your good to go for a decent area of ceiling or wall and no problems with large drips or splatters with the shield. Both the StainStick and PaintStick hold a good amount of fluid so you don’t have to do that to and from the paint or stain bucket or tray.
The StainStick worked very well with staining but the stain would come out of the pad a bit fast while pushing the handle in but it was no problem. You just had to make sure you held the pad against or over the decks or boards while pushing the handle in to get more stain.
The PaintStick worked very well for painting the ceiling and I tried it out on some walls as well without any problems. Using a roller with a longer handle worked very well and was even easier than using a roller with a short handle. The paint came out very evenly onto the roller while pushing the handle and there was no problem with getting too much at one time.
The largest complaint I heard from users of both the StainStick and PaintStick was cleanup but I do have another about the PaintStick, an observation more than a complaint. It takes a lot of paint to start using so you really should use the PaintStick for larger jobs instead of touchups.
When you start and finish there will be a lot of paint in the roller as well as the tube and when you use the fill tube to flush the paint out it will not get all of it. The StainStick does not have as much tubing so there is not as much stain wasted but the PaintStick does have a bit more. It really is not that big a problem but one that you do want to consider depending on the size of job you are thinking of using them with.
For jobs like stairs or a small deck the StainStick is perfect and I would not hesitate to use it again for small jobs like a picnic table or bench. The PaintStick should be used for jobs like rooms and not for any small touchups but if you are going to be going from room to room and doing some touchups over a whole house this would be perfect.
Cleaning will have to be done with a lot of water or cleaner, so I highly recommend that you use water based paint or stain. I could not imagine trying to use cleaner or mineral spirits to clean out these tools as it would take a lot and be difficult to get all of it without being able to run the chemical through the parts.
I used both tools and cleaned them out with water and dish soap and it took about fifteen minutes to clean them out completely. I took apart the tools in a utility tub or my bath tub and rinsed them out using a scrub brush and one of those aquarium tube brushes to clean out the various parts. I ran water through the tubes, handle parts and valves to get the paint and stain residue out as well as the tube brush to get the stuff out of the valve.
Using the dish soap and a scrubber I got all the stain and paint off all the parts of both the StainStick and PaintStick easily and quickly. I had no problems getting all the parts clean and just used a little petroleum jelly like the instructions say on the tube and handle, valve parts and such to get the moving parts lubricated.
The various parts like the rubber O rings for the handle and tube are replaceable and easy to find at hardware stores, you can get replacement parts for either stick from Black & Decker or HomeRight. Any of the various parts are available separately so if you need some part you do not have to purchase the whole tool but can order the part you need.
The pads and rollers are available from several hardware stores like Ace Hardware and you can order them directly from Black & Decker or HomeRight.
I would highly recommend using the cleanup tool to clean the roller brush that is available separately for the PaintStick and even for a regular roller. The Roller Cleaner Kit is sold separately just like the replacement pads and rollers but is a must for cleanup if you use the PaintStick.
The Roller Cleaning Kit contains two tools for cleaning the PaintStick but one of the tools can clean regular roller pads and paint brushes as well. The one tool is used to force water through the roller pad from a faucet that attaches to a regular faucet, you simply run water through the side and into the roller pad.
The other tool in the Cleaning Kit is a roller pad cleaner and brush cleaner with a spatula that is handy for any painting. The tool has a clamp type roller cleaner that squeegees the roller pad of paint while your cleaning up to get the most paint out of the roller before starting to wash it out.
You can use this on regular roller pads to get them clean as well so this is something that I would recommend for any painting with a roller and brush. The one end of the tool has teeth for cleaning out a brush that is also a handy way to get some of the paint back into the can and minimize waste.
The cleanup of the PaintStick is fairly easy but made even easier with the Roller Cleaning Kit, this is one tool for any roller painting. Cleaning the StainStick is also fairly easy and is a little easier than the PaintStick; this is really the only downside to the two tools.
Painting and staining is not exactly one choir that anybody relishes but it is definitely made much easier with the StainStick or PaintStick. The use for both is very easy and it makes quick work of all that tough painting and staining with cleanup not being that tough.
The cleanup is offset very well by the speed of the work itself and I would have to highly recommend both of these tools for anyone tackling large jobs of painting or staining. The PaintStick is definitely worth purchasing even if you are only painting one room as it makes quick work of painting and does a great job with those ceilings, even textured ones.
The StainStick is very nice for decks and any wood surfaces like picnic tables or other large surfaced wood objects that need staining. But you should use this with water based paints or stains; cleanup would be much more difficult using mineral spirits instead of water.
The Black & Decker PaintStick and StainStick are both great tools that cut the time and hassles of painting and staining way down. Sure you have more to cleanup with both than using a simple roller or staining pad but this is so much better than those simple tools.
The PaintStick and StainStick will cut the work of actual painting or staining way down and the cleanup is done in a nice clean utility tub. Actually getting the parts clean is simply a matter of washing them off enough and with the combined painting and washing it did not take nearly the time it would have without the tools from Black & Decker.
Using both the PaintStick and StainStick does save time without all that back and forth to the paint or stain so I really do see the benefits of using both these tools. I highly recommend the PaintStick and StainStick for painting or staining jobs that cuts down on the work and hassles of these do it yourself tasks.
