Selecting a Brush
There are a lot of considerations for brush selection - price, size, paint type, angled sash or straight cut, interior or exterior painting, and are you going to use the brush again (clean and store it properly for the next use). Professional painting contractors will use a well made brush on a daily basis for months, where a home owner can have a professional paint brush last years.
As professional painters we typically use straight cut 3” brushes for cutting in interior walls. With latex paint, the following are good professional paint brushes: Purdy XL, Purdy Pro Extra, Purdy Chinex and Corona Chinex brushes are all excellent for interior house painting applications. Our experience with Chinex bristle brushes is extremely positive and I would recommend their use for professional painters and DIYs alike. In fact most professional painting contractors that have tried Chinex bristled brushes will not use anything else.
Some professional painters swear by Wooster brushes, but I have not had enough experience with them.
For trim we use a 2”, 2.5”, or 3” straight cut or angled sash paint brush. We use a white china bristle brush for oil based paints or one of the above mentioned for latex paints. Some professional painters like to use a synthetic brush with Oil based paints (Chinex or a Polyester/Nylon blend like the Purdy XL)
For a one time interior painting project I would recommend a 2.5” angled sash brush preferably a professional grade brush. If properly cleaned and stored after each use it will last a life time of occasional painting projects.
When using primer paints we like to use either a cheap brush or one of our older well used brushes. Primer paint dries fast in the bristles and are difficult to fully clean out.
Selecting a Brush for Exterior Painting Projects – Today’s exterior latex paints are very thick and heavy – so we recommend a stiff bristled brush. After an hour or more painting outside, the brush will feel like a hot gummy bear, so a stiff bristled brush works better in our experience. However, exterior projects are often less detailed and there also tends to be obstacles that will snag, break and bend bristles. So an expensive professional brush is not as critical and even discouraged for some exterior projects.
Final Word – A professional brush will not make you a professional painter, but properly used it will provide a better finish. If well cleaned and stored a professional paint brush will last long enough to pay for itself.
How a brush fits in your hand may also contribute to your brush selection – see next topic.
