Choosing a Paint Brush

How to choose the right brush for your paint job.

As a rule, buy the best brushes you can afford. They will do a better job and, with care, can be reused many times. Quality paintbrushes have hardwood handles and flagged or split-bristle tips that hold more paint. Their bristles are anchored at the top with metal or plastic spacers inside a metal ferule. They are tapered at the bottom to deliver a sharp paint edge.

Less-expensive brushes may have plastic handles, unflagged bristles, and blunt ends. Their bristles may be anchored or spaced less securely and be coarser and stiffer-textured, producing more-noticeable brush-stroke marks.

The choice between synthetic and natural bristles should depend on the type of paint you are using. Synthetic or nylon brushes are best suited to water-based paints because they do not absorb water and they maintain consistent stiffness throughout.

Natural-bristle brushes are recommended only for oil-based paints -- they absorb the water from latex paints and turn limp, making it difficult to load a brush with paint or keep an edge. For general home painting or decorating, you will need at minimum a sash brush, a trim brush, and a broader wall brush.

From Householder's Survival Manual

 

• • Basements
• Spring Cleaning
• • Painting
• • Artists

• How Much Paint Should You Buy?
• Don't end up buying too much or too little paint. Use this formula to figure out how much paint you need for your room before you buy it.
• 
• Making Paint Last
• Tips for preparing your siding and trim for a long-lasting paint job.
• 
• Paintbrush Drip Stopper
• You'll wonder how you ever painted without this amazing simple, but ingenious, tip.
• 
• High-Quality Paint
• How to choose a good latex paint.
• 
• Exterior Painting
• Paint your house faster and better using these brushing, rolling and cutting-in techniques.
• 

• Be Inspired
• 10 Celebrities Who Give Back
• 7 Amazing Stories, $700,000 to Charity
• Virginia Cervasio: Making It Matter
• PLUS:
• Quiz: What's Your Celebrity Cause IQ?