Purdy Parrot

To be a painter these days, one has to be able to create many types of finishes in a variety of situations. Knowing which products and tools to use is a big part of that.

Producing a trim or cabinet grade finish that looks sprayed without needing to set up a sprayer (and clean it when done) is a skill worth practicing. The Purdy Parrot 1/4″ woven mohair roller cover is a handy solution when spraying is not a practical option.

You would not be likely to use the Parrot on walls or ceilings. It is intended for use with enamels, varnishes or urethanes. It has a solvent resistant polypropylene core and the mohair is a tight and silky nap.

So, don’t pick this cover for latex paint tasks.

Oil Based Enamel Performance

Recently, we ran a few Parrots in Benjamin Moore oil based enamel undercoater, which is a medium viscosity primer.

The goal was to lay down the primer on some large MDF panels. We found the Purdy Parrot to be very much up to the task of loading and releasing the oil primer.

Best technique for using this cover is to not apply too much pressure. Getting the surface covered and then laying the product off produced a very desirable result for us.

Interestingly, the lay off aspect of the Purdy Parrot has a definite directionality to it. On final layoff, it is best to keep your roller frame oriented the same way for each pass, and determine whether rolling away from yourself or toward yourself produces the better lay down of product. Then, repeat until complete.

For this particular primer and surface combo, we found the Purdy Parrot to be the perfect fit. While the primer was wet, there was minimal stipple which laid flat when dry, and we experienced no release of hair or mohair fibers in the finish.

The Purdy Parrot is about a $6 roller cover, and we purchased it at Lowes.

[Learn more about Oil Priming MDF]

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Scott Burt

Scott Burt is a contractor and freelance writer whose column "From the Field" has appeared in American Painting Contractor magazine (www.paintmag.com) since 2008. His writing and projects also appear in other print and digital venues. This site is an extension of Scott's publication work, and he encourages readers to leave comments and questions about articles published here. Hope to hear from you!

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