A plastering trowel is designed for laying on, flattening and skimming standard plaster, while a Venetian trowel (also called a polishing trowel) is designed for decorative finishes like Venetian plaster, Marmorino, Tadelakt, stucco and polished plaster.

Venetian trowels typically have flexible stainless steel blades, rounded edges, and a mirror-smooth finish for a scratch-free, high-gloss polish.

A polishing trowel is used for refining and burnishing decorative coatings, Venetian plaster and microcement to create a smooth, polished surface.

Skimflex and Refina polishing-style trowels use ultra-flex, superflex, or Plaziflex blades that glide lightly without leaving lines or marks.

A mini trowel or small trowel is ideal for corners, edges, tight areas, patching, small repairs, micro-detail work and feature walls.

These include midget trowels, detail trowels, corner tools, tight-spot trowels and micro trowels — all designed for precision control.

Yes — in fact it's recommended.

Flexible trowels, ultra-flex trowels and superflex blades reduce friction, prevent scratches and allow smooth multi-directional movement needed for Venetian plaster, polished plaster, stucco and Marmorino.

Flexible trowels: Standard thin stainless blades for general finishing

UltraFlex trowels: 0.3mm high-flex blades for skimming & polishing

Superflex trowels (Refina): Lightweight, extremely flexible finishing blades

Plaziflex (Refina): Plastic-faced flexible blades for final polishing

Skimflex offers flexible and UltraFlex options; Refina covers Superflex and Plaziflex.

Microcement requires a smooth, flexible stainless steel finishing trowel or a polishing-style Venetian trowel.

Look for:

• ultra-smooth blade
• tapered corners
• high flexibility
• scratch-free rounding

Skimflex UltraFlex and Refina Venetian/Polishing trowels both work perfectly for microcement.

Rounded edges reduce the risk of:

• trowel marks
• scratches
• drag lines
• edge indentations

This is essential for polished plaster, Venetian plaster, marmorino and decorative finishes.

For polishing, Venetian plaster and fine finishing, stainless steel is superior because it is:

• rust resistant
• flexible
• smooth
• easy to maintain

Carbon steel is better for heavy-duty laying-on work but not ideal for decorative or polishing work.

Most plasterers use a plastering trowel, a finishing trowel, a flexible skimming trowel, plus a mini trowel for corners and detail.

For decorative or Venetian work, add a polishing trowel, Venetian trowel, and microcement trowel.

Both brands provide professional tools, but with slightly different focuses:

Skimflex = value-driven ultraflex, flexible, mini and detail trowels

Refina = premium finishing tools like Superflex, Plaziflex, and specialist Venetian/polishing trowels

Using both ranges gives full coverage for skimming, finishing, polishing, microcement and decorative plaster.