Hate touching-up your walls?Get a ballpoint paint pen.

A recent study by Rubbermaid found that 63% of Americans have at least two cans of paint stored in their basement or garage. The leftover paint is kept to handle small touch-up jobs, until people move away; but 70 percent of those surveyed say they touch up scuff marks and nicks on painted surfaces just once per year, or less.

People said they avoided the dreaded task because it's messy, and difficult to match the color. Additional frustrations are the amount of time it takes, and the difficulty of making new patches and brush marks blend with existing paint.

Mitch Clark, a Rubbermaid marketing director, said “people would rather live with the scuff marks and nicks than tackle a messy, time-intensive touch-up project. The study showed touching up paint ranks only behind a cluttered garage, blocked gutters and dirty windows as the task people most often avoid.”

Rubbermaid's solution is the Paint Buddy Touch-up Tool. It allows you to store paint for a fast and easy touch-up without the hassle of having to search for the right paint, pry off the rusty lid, stir the glop, and deal with the drips and mess. It's like a giant, refillable, ballpoint pen for paint.

Paint Buddy stores your paint for easy touch-ups anytime. Just fill it with paint and it’s always available to cover scuffs, nicks and marks. When you squeeze, a valve opens to let paint flow onto the blending roller. The roller’s flocking blends the paint so there are no brush marks to reveal the touch-up. Paint Buddy allows you store leftover paint inside the tool where it stays fresh; and it’s ready to go with a couple of shakes, to easily restore a clean, just-painted look.

When finished, simply close the valve, wash the roller or throw it away, and give Paint Buddy a quick rinse under warm water. Put back the old roller (or put in a new one) and the cap, and Paint Buddy stores the paint until you need it again.

NOTE: Paint that's been protected inside a paint can or Paint Buddy may not be a perfect match for paint on your walls that faded or yellowed or absorbed smoke. But unless you've had a really severe color shift, or used really crappy paint, you should get a good-enough match. In my own tests, on a wall painted with Sherwin-Williams Dover White latex paint over four years ago, I could not spot the repair work from a foot away.

TIP: If you get several Buddies, label them to show the rooms where each paint color is used, and also indicate whether the paint is flat or glossy, if you have multiple versions of the same color.

Paint Buddy is also good for stencils, poster making and other craft projects.

Paint Buddy has a suggested retail price of $10.99 (but is usually available for a few bucks less), and is sold at home centers, mass merchants, paint and hardware stores. You can also buy replacement rollers. For more information and touch-up tips, visit www.paintbuddy.com or call 1-877-748-7546.