While painting is a bit of a chore, the right tools can help you get the job done easier and faster. Lots of small tools exist for paint preparation, but who wants to carry around a bunch of tools?

Try a 5-in-1 or a 10-in-1 painter’s tool. Many manufacturers make them. They offer slight variations on a similar theme: a small hand tool that serves many functions.

This tool is easy to carry in your pocket, so it saves lots of trips up and down a ladder.

The typical painter’s tool provides a heavy-duty scraper and putty knife with a rigid point for scraping small areas. A semi-circular cutout in the blade lets you scrape paint from a roller. Many painter’s tools have a stiffened blade that serves as a flat-bladed screwdriver or a tool to remove the cover of metal paint can.

The stiff handle and flat end can be used as a hammer in a pinch. Some tools even have a small set of screwdriver bits that fit in the base of the handle.