list of the best places to buy painting and decorating tools wholesale in the UK

My list of some smaller independant suppliers where you can buy both trade and retail painting and decorating tools, paints wallpapers  at wholesale prices. 

Each entry will have a brief overview of the kind of products you can buy as some are more trade than retail in supply

This list is by no means extensive of all independent suppliers

but should provide a use full reference

Over time i will add more stores and update on any changes

 

 

                            Mypaintbrush .....

Award winning web site based in the midlands all leading brands of brushes and tools trade based quality and always have some new innovative products to promote also the home of the distinctive FOX brush brand

Also supply fillers, abrasives, rollers, hand tools and accessories

A great source of good quality trade tools

free delivery over £50.00  free t shirt orders over £70.00  free brush comb when you spend over £20.00 on Fox products.

 

                                     Decoratingdirect.....

Trade based suppliers based Middlesbrough A very broad range of brushes tools rollers with prices to suit all pockets they also sell access equipment and most sundries useful to the pro decorator and diy.

some trade paints, floor coatings, masonry, primers etc also do Sadolin  stains lining papers and an extensive range of thermal liners. 

very good extensive site with some great brushes.

free delivery orders over £45.00

 

                                              Trade1st...

Located in  Cheshire very crisp responsive site selling all leading brands of tools brushes and sundries has a nice top ten featuring best sellers on each page.

A good broad range of trade and retail brands which are easy to locate from the brand image scroller on the home page not a great deal in the way of paints but they do have some usefull primers and damp proofers

free delivery orders over £50.00 

 

                                     Decoratingwarehouse...

based in Nottingham large range of all paints and wallpapers probably the largest online! all leading paint brands and sundries most but not all of the brushes and rollers are geared towards the retail market .

 Suppliers of Purdy, Hamiltons, prodec products

Paints are primarily Johnstones, Dulux,Granorcryl 

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff  

free delivery orders over £69.99 inc vat 

 

 

                                        Decorating-supplies....

Based in Sheffield supply small range of trade brushes and tools including Hamiltons, purdy, prodec, Axus

They have a very good range of work wear paste tables and some good deals on Gopaint brush storage products.

free delivery orders over £60.00 

 

                                            Thedecoratingstore...

Based in Shoreham they have good range of trade brushes Wooster, Purdy, Hamilton, Prodec, Elder and jenks, Rembants.

They also have a range of Mythic paints and some good quality power tools

Very good best seller offers on the homepage 

Orders £50.00ex VAT and above up to 15kg FREE 

 

                                              Glenwooddecoratingsupplies...

Based in Darlington have a very  large and extensive range of paints and coatings some trade brushes and a good range of retail brushes and rollers too

Interestingly they also have their own brand of paints

 Free UK Mainland Delivery on orders £35+.

The battle of the wooster vs purdy roller sleeves put to the test

 

I had a great chance to use wooster and purdy roller sleeves side by side with acrylic eggshell paint by Johnstones

 I much preferred the wooster sleeves as the purdy marathons felt a little too synthetic for my liking the wooster sleeves had a  much softer action fluffier in use and gave a much better quality finish they washed out much easier too!

OVERALL BOTH GOOD QUALITY AS YOU WOULD EXPECT

But by far the wooster pro dooz gets my vote for all round performance.

 

 

                              PURDY MARATHON pro extra

                             

                            WOOSTER PRO DOO- Z

                              

 

                       PURDY IN THE RED CORNER

                    

 WOOSTER IN THE GREY CORNER

Refina Plasiflex finishing trowel

Plasiflex trowel for skimming and finishing plaster a review

                           The 14" plasiflex by refina tools

As a decorator you may come across Artex ceilings which are a little dated i have often been asked to skim over these or do i know a plasterer who could do the job?

I am used to using caulking tools with plastic blades for joint finishing and saw these trowels used for skimming, they have a very flexible edge and are becoming a popular choice with professional plasterers. I decided to buy and use a plasiflex to skim over a swirl artex ceiling for a customer.

The tool itself is very well made and the edges surprisingly flexible.

It was as you can See from the video very easy to use and i was very pleased with the results.

After preparing the ceiling by scraping away any high spots from the artex i then repaired some quite large cracks with self adhesive joint tape the tape was then roughly skimmed over with plaster.

a generous coat of thinned unibond applied to the ceiling sealed the artex ready for skimming.

As you can see the ceiling was perhaps the worst type to test my plastering skills which had been confined to patching small areas and skimming onto boards but i found this tool surprisingly easy to use it very lightweight and ergonomically well designed for prolonged use.

Once you get used to the feel of the tool and spreading without pressing the plaster too much it was a speedy job to quickly apply the first coat of plaster to back fill the artex which in places was a couple of mill deep.

once set i began to apply the second coat and it was only then that this tool began to show its true ease of use the flexi edge smoothed the rough first coat without effort and it was very difficult to believe it was this easy to skim such a rough large area so quickly.

The ceiling dried to a great unpolished finish ideal for mist coating a couple of days later.

I would not hesitate in recommending this product and it paid for itself on its first job.

So if you do the odd bit of patching or want to branch out into offering to skim rooms this would be a good choice of tool.

flexible not half!

Wooster products at Screwfix

WOOSTER PAINTING AND DECORATING PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE @

 

I have noticed that my local screwfix outlet now stock a small range of wooster products
I think that this is great news and i fully support them.
You can get some silver tip brushes and 9 inch frames and sleeves
Sherlock roller poles
Pelican scuttles and liners
Lock jaw tool holder
Exquisite superflow brushes
It is a small range but i'm sure overtime it will grow it's really great to see such high quality products available so conveniently local without having to order online.
I would recommend using the online stock checking tool on the screwfix website where you can reserve for collection

Acrylic satinwood paint by Dulux a review

I find that satin wood paint is becoming evermore popular but some times i struggle with the coverage and finish getting the balance right can be a pain.

Dulux quick dry satinwood brilliant white

I found this product

Is easy to apply without overloading

Has a nice smooth level finish

Gives excellent coverage

Was very easy to apply gives the user plenty of time to lay off

Only required two coats for perfect coverage

You don't have to overload the surface trying to get it to cover

Nice sharp white finish

Price wise, very competitve and easily available

Overall an excellent product  

For  customers who request a gloss finish i use johnstones acrylic gloss paint, it has a great shine but i not a huge fan of the acrylic satin they produce.
I'm now happy that i can be confident and offer an equally good satin finish with Dulux satinwood