It can be tricky to achieve deeper SMR with a smooth foam roller. Later, we reached out to OPTP (maker of our runner-up pick) and interviewed marketing coordinator Stephanie LaHaye to learn more about the life span of foam rollers. We also interviewed Michael Fredericson, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Stanford University Medical Center and the co-author of Foam Roller Techniques for Massage, Stretches and Improved Flexibility Lindsay Lopez, owner of Form Pilates in New York City, for her take on rollers in exercise Jon Graff, marketing director at exercise-equipment manufacturer SPRI at the time of our interview, to learn more about the materials and manufacturing of foam rollers and Thomas Best, MD, PhD, professor of orthopaedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, for his thoughts on foam rollers that vibrate. To home in on the best foam rollers during our initial testing for this guide, we enlisted two experts: massage therapist Polina Savelieva, LMT, owner of Active Outlook Massage in Astoria, New York, at the time of our testing, who’s also a certified personal trainer and USA Triathlon coach and physical therapist Matthew Rector, PT, DPT, director of business development at H&D Physical Therapy in New York City at the time of our interview, who also holds a certificate in applied functional science from the Gray Institute. But the AmazonBasics High-Density Round Foam Roller stood out from the EPP pack as the best basic roller, proving you don’t have to spend a lot to get relief. We discovered that the ubiquitous firm-density foam rollers made of expanded polypropylene (EPP) aren’t much different from one another, at least in terms of the therapeutic benefits they can deliver. Gyms and physical-therapy centers are strewn with them, but how do you know what rollers are best for at-home use? To find out, we whittled down hundreds of options to a top-selling selection of the most popular roller types, and enlisted a cadre of experts and their muscles for more than 45 hours of kneading and compressing. A growing body of research as well as bodywork pros-physical therapists, massage therapists, and personal trainers alike-extol the soft-tissue benefits of self-massage for improvements in muscular flexibility and reduction in stiffness (and even pain). If you are doing a lot of painting, a roller frame with a comfort grip will keep your hand from cramping.Foam rolling: These days, it seems like everybody’s doing it. Bargain roller covers may break apart quickly and can leave lint in your paint finish. Try different brands of paint roller frames to make sure the handle feels good in your hand. They will last much longer and give you superb results. Never leave the cover soaking in water.Īlways buy the best rollers and covers that you can afford. Repeat until all the paint is out of the roller, then let dry. Hold the roller cover under running water and squeeze your hand over the roller to remove the paint. Use soap and water to clean up after using latex paint.
Remove your roller cover from the roller frame right after you are finished painting.Don’t use excessive pressure to apply paint-an even, light pressure is all that is needed.Use the rounded end of the foam roller cover when you don’t want any roller edge lines to show up in your finish.If needed, you can screw on a painting roller extension pole to each roller frame to reach high places.To attach the roller cover to the paint roller frame, simply align the hole in the cover with the end of the frame and push it on.Now that you have the right paint roller nap and size, here are a few other things to keep in mind when using a paint roller: