Today we’re going to be chatting about one of my very favorite tools – the Wagner Sidekick Power Roller. If you hate painting and are looking for a way to make it a little faster and easier, this is the post for you!
This post is sponsored by Wagner and contains affiliate links, but all raving and obsession are 100% me (as usual). Thanks for supporting the brands that support Love & Renovations!
Many of you have asked tons and tons of questions about the Wagner SMART Sidekick Power Roller ever since I first shared about it back in December, and I’m so excited to say that today is finally the day I compile all of the answers into one place and teach you how to use this life-changing tool. Get ready. Get excited. Hold onto your butts. This is gonna be fun.What is the Wagner Sidekick Power Roller?
If you’ve been living under a rock, you may not have seen me rave about this tool every single time I’ve painted a room in the last 6 months. For those of you who don’t know why I’m raving, allow me to explain. A power roller is essentially a paint roller on steroids. It’s a tool that automatically feeds paint into your paint roller for you so that you can dispose of the paint trays and the mess and get your room painted faster – and with less back pain. I don’t think I need to point out that it’s perfect for those of us who are 7 months pregnant and tend to become sore after a large sneeze, much less painting an entire room.How to Use the Wagner SMART Sidekick Power Roller
How do I set the Sidekick up?
The Sidekick attaches directly to your paint can, making it easy to get a whole room painted without having to lug a paint tray around. I still bust out the paint tray when I’m just painting one wall or if I’m working in a really small area, but this is perfect for those larger areas or full rooms where you just want to get it over with as quickly as possible! Simply slide your paint can onto the ledge on the Sidekick, insert the suction tube and push it all the way to the bottom, then click it into place and push down the yellow clamp so that it’s holding your paint can in place. You’re ready to get started! Of course, I’ll make the note that you should always reference the directions before you get started and while setting up – Wagner products always come with incredibly helpful and detailed directions (it’s one of my favorite things about them as a brand!), so the instruction manual will definitely answer any questions you might have. I’ll also note that you should be careful when transporting the paint around the room. The hose is long and in many rooms you won’t even need to move your paint (for this 10X10 room, my paint was able to stay in one place while I worked around the entire room), but if you do need to pick it up be sure to use two hands and pick up both the paint can and the Sidekick. It’s pretty sturdy, but it’s not meant to be carried by just the paint can!How does it actually work?
But, clean-up is a nightmare, right?
- Grab a 5-gallon bucket and fill it with warm, soapy water.
- Pull the suction tube out of the paint can and insert it into the bucket. Pull the roller cover off of your handle and toss it in the bucket as well (there’s a button to press so you can do this mess-free!). Toss the now-empty roller handle back into the paint can and run the Sidekick for 15 seconds to return any paint that’s left in the hose to the paint can.
- Grab the roller handle out of the paint can and put it in the warm, soapy water along with everything else. Turn the Sidekick on and allow it to run for 10 minutes, circulating the soapy water through the hose and back into the bucket.
- Grab a drink. Scroll through Instagram. Take a quick catnap.
- Once your 10 minutes are up, you can choose to repeat the process for another 5 minutes if you want to be extra careful (I always dump my water and get fresh water to do this because I’m obsessive about keeping this thing in good working order, but it’s only required if you used oil-based paint), but if you’re in a hurry you can be done with that part! Pull out the suction tube (leave the roller handle in!) and run the Sidekick for another couple of minutes to empty the hose of any lingering water.
- Pull out your roller cover assembly and take it apart. I typically just take the plastic pieces over to my kitchen sink and rinse them off, then toss the roller cover. They’re super cheap to replace!
- DONE! Find a corner of your yard to dump your soapy water (we always toss ours behind our little storage shed where there’s no grass and no one hangs out) and you’re ready to put your Sidekick away!
Jerry Rotz says
The first time I used my Sidekick (house exterior) it dripped a lot more than I thought it should, right at the point where the roller clips onto the handle. Still worked, but I had to be really careful not to have that side down. After taking a close look at the assembly schematic, I realized Wagner had failed to include the grey seal that goes on the handle arm at this spot. Bought 2 seal/gromet sets from eReplacement Parts, which completely fixed the problem. I also bought the 3″ trim roller attachment, which works great.
Overall, I’m (now) really happy with this tool. However, keep in mind that it’s a little heavy with a roller and 16′ hose both loaded with paint. Even so, it made the house siding job go quicker than constantly going up and down the ladder. Well worth the price.
Amanda Hendrix says
It’s definitely a good workout, haha!
Jennifer says
Hi, I’m new to your blog, and I love this series! Also, congratulations!
I do have a question. When do you cut in around trim, ceilings, baseboards, etc.? Do you roll a wall then cut in, or roll all the walls then go back with a brush after?
Thanks.
Kristina says
I am assuming you cant put a pole on this? Is that correct?
Amanda says
You actually can! There’s a spot on the end of the handle that accepts standard extension poles. The hose enters the handle through the side, so a pole wouldn’t affect it at all.