Most crafters are also DIY-friendly folks. I personally like to paint furniture and accessories to upcycle them, and so when the friendly folks at Color-Glide Pro reached out to ask me to try and review their painting tubes, I thought it would be a good fit.
The Color-Glide Pro is a brushless painting system. In the pack, you get a Color-Glide Pro Tube and one pump. The idea is that you fill the tube with your favorite paint using the disposable pump, replace the cap, and then paint through the felt applicator.
From the description on Amazon.com:
ColorGlide Pro is an innovative brushless painting system with a painting tube, applicator and paint transfer pump. There is a stainless steel ball bearing in the tube that mixes the paint. Perfect for covering scratches and scuffs as well as small paint projects. ColorGlide was created for painting jobs and home improvement projects ColorGlide now makes the painting hassles a thing of the past. Each ColorGlide Pro contains a stainless steel ball bearing that is used to mix the paint and keep it fresh and uniform. The tube holds about 3-ounces of paint and is great for scuffs, scratches and small paint jobs. The QuadPack set includes 4 paint tubes with applicators and 4 paint transfer pumps and a BONUS clip to store the tubes conveniently. Some of the key features and benefits of the ColorGlide Pro is no cleanup time and your paints can be stored for extended time periods and conveniently stored away for later use small areas like a kitchen drawer. Once you begin using ColorGlide Pro paint tubes you will not only have one for each color in your home, you will begin to use them for the special painting projects because they are so handy and always ready to use. No preparation time, no setup and no clean-up. Just paint and then cap and store it for later projects. Transfer your own paint with the included paint transfer pump. Visit ColorGlidePro.com
Each Color-Glide Pro has a ball bearing inside so that each time you use it, you can re-mix the paint inside. Pretty clever!
Since I recently updated my daughter’s bedroom, I thought I’d give it a go. I only had a bit of paint left in the can, so I filled the large-size Color-Glide Pro with the remaining satin interior wall paint. Using the pump was a bit awkward, as you have to hold the pump and depress it with the same hand, while the other hand holds the tube itself. You could also get a buddy to hold the tube for you.
The dispensing area is felt-ish, and is about 2 inches across. There is a small aperture right in the center, and that is where the paint comes through. There is a small valve inside, so that the only way paint actually comes through is if you squeeze the tube. This means that if you are just keeping some paint handy for touch-ups, it won’t leak through and spoil the felt or leak into the cap.
Just give it a squeeze and you are ready to paint! I had some areas of “hat banding”- places where the paint was lighter around where we cut in with a brush- so I did some touch-up work with the Color-Glide Pro. I like that it was easy to handle and use, and a little squeeze kept the paint flowing.
Ta-da! It worked great. Now, if you want to keep the paint in the tube for touch-ups, just rinse off the felt pad and re-cap the tube. My tip- keep an old mug handy to “hold” the tube for you!
I thought that this might have some lets with craft paint and mediums, too- so I tried using it with Gesso.
First I used it to work on a book. The felt applicator glided nicely over the pages-and it was MUCH easier to use then a foam brush!
Next, I primed a piece of wood. Again, very few brush marks and it was easy to cover the whole thing quickly. Just a little squeeze gave me more product to work with and I didn’t have to dip and re-dip a brush.
Lastly, one of the promos I read for the Color-Glide Pro said it’s great for stencilling. I don’t think I agree. You get quite a bit of paint from the felt tip and it was too juicy to stencil with easily. Perhaps if you dabbed off some of the paint it would work better. I took off the cap and ran it under water for 3-5 minutes- and it cleaned up super easily- much more so than a foam or bristle brush. (Also in this photo you can really see the texture of the felt.) I just screwed the top back on, popped on the plastic cap, and now it’s read for the next time I need it. VERY handy!
On the whole, I think the Color-Glide Pro is very useful for DIY’ers and heavy-duty crafters. The tubes come in 2 sizes- and I wish that there was one more size that accommodated a tube of craft paint. The other wish I have is that the painting heads were more of a pie wedge shape, so that I had a 90-degree angle to get into corners- but you can’t have it all, I guess.
Bottom line? Yes, I’ll be using one for each room I paint and there will be a couple on my craft room table as well!
The Color-Glide Pro’s run around $5 each, but I’ve seen some deals for a 4-pack and also singles online.
Disclosure: Product provided for review. Links below are affiliate links and you support CTD with each purchase. Thank you!
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Jani says
Great information. This seems like a handy little tool for painting and applying gesso. I have gotten a little spoiled with all the acrylic paint dabbers. I think I will really like this glider.
jengd says
Definitely sounds like a handy little tool to have around. I’ll keep a look out for them around here.
Phyllis says
Sounds great for touch-ups but I don’t think I would try to use it for painting a wall from scratch. I would use it in my art studio for smaller projects.
Jenny says
Phyllis- no, the Color-Glide Pro is not even recommended for painting a wall from scratch!!!! But it is great for nicks, touch-ups, or that “hatbanding” effect from cutting in. (I cut in with a brush, but generally use a roller on the walls. There is a slight texture difference there and the CGP is great for evening out the paint coverage and blending the textures.
Dale Rose Stream says
Holy cow! This is just what I need for my scrapbook room walls, furniture, etc., as well as getting brave enough to dive into painting on my pages! I have playing with the idea of painting on some of my pages ever since I took a class from Nic Howard a few months ago… AWESOME CLASS & INSTRUCTOR BTW! Because I can’t easily get the paint daubers which are so highly reviewed by other crafters, I have put it off after buying the typical small bottles we CAN get at local suppliers. Hands-on, direct to paper or wall sounds GREAT for me! Koodos on your continued reviews and informational posts & videos. You ROCK!