Home Improvement Blog

Let’s continue with DIY remodeling ideas. Now that you have some knowledge about paints, you also need to know what brushes you will need.

There are two types of brushes: natural and synthetic.

The filaments of natural brushes are made of horse hair and oxen. These filaments are called bristles.

The filaments of the synthetic brushes are made of nylon and polyester or the combination of the two. Other than those, there’s also another type of synthetic filament called Chinex. This type is usually combined with nylon or polyester.

The synthetic brushes will work great with almost every kind of paint. The polyester brushes are mostly used with water-based paints (latex paint). The amount of paint it can hold and release is good enough for smooth painting. They are also very easy to clean up.

If you are painting rough surfaces, go for nylon brushes. They are stiffer and hold the paint longer. That’s why it may take some time and effort may be required  to clean the brushes.

The combination of polyester and nylon is presumably the best and most common. Those brushes implement the quality of both materials and the cleaning is also much easier.

Those are the best options mostly for tough materials, but if you are going to paint, for example, wood, the brush should be very soft. An ox hair bristle brush is a very good option for this purpose, as it is the softest and will paint the wood very smoothly.

The size of the brush is also important. Be sure to use 1-2 inch sized brushes for very small surfaces like handles or window sashes. Use brushes sized 2-3 inches when painting, for example, the exterior trim. For painting large surfaces get brushes that are 4-6 inches wide.

If you are painting with alkyd paints, choose natural brushes and use synthetic ones for latex.

Photo: © Phillie Casablanca

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