If you’ve ever had to paint while perched atop a ladder, you know firsthand just how much of a delicate balancing act it can be. Unless you want to make a zillion trips up and down to refill your brush, you’ve got to carry a paint tray up with you, which is easier said than done — especially if you’ve got a rickety, old ladder. One false move and suddenly your painting project can turn into a frantic cleanup effort.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Contractor-turned-inventor Ben Mayberry has developed a stunningly simple new tool called Paint Handy that helps prevent paint spills from happening.
How? Well, a couple years ago, Mayberry noticed that when paint is poured onto a surface with a microfiber texture, it stays there. So long as you don’t overdo it, the fibers hold the paint in place like some sort of Velcro for liquids, even if you flip the tray upside down. With the right amount of paint and the right amount of surface area, you’ve essentially got a spill-proof paint palette.
It doesn’t have quite as much capacity as a regular, old paint tray, but you’d be surprised by how much it can hold. Just check out the video below.
Mayberry also added a couple design touches to make Paint Handy even more user-friendly. There’s a strap on the palette’s underside that allows you to affix it to the back of your hand, and the size and shape allows it to snap on top of your paint bucket when it’s time for a break. You also don’t have to clean the palette after each use. Just slip it inside a 2.5-gallon freezer bag and it won’t dry out, so you can use it continually until your project is finished.
To jumpstart his first large-scale production run, Mayberry has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Paint Handy. You can lock one down for a pledge of about 25 bucks, and if everything goes smoothly and the campaign meets it’s $30K funding goal, Mayberry expects to ship the first units to backers as early as April.
