Brushes » Brush Shapes

Brush Hair

The material used to form the tuft of a brush that picks up and spreads the paint is the most important part of the brush, and determines the performance and the price of the brush. There are distinct advantages of both natural and synthetic hairs.

NATURAL or animal hair is a by-product of the food and fur industries, no animals are destroyed for the purpose of brush making. It has superior paint-holding ability because of tiny, microscopic “scales” along the shaft of the hair. Price and performance of a natural hair brush is determined by the “grade” of animal it was taken from, and the availability of its hair. Shorter-length hair is more readily available, making the longer lengths more expensive. Natural hair may be used alone (pure) or blended with other hairs or synthetic filaments to achieve a combination of performance and price.

SYNTHETICS are man-made of either nylon or polyester filaments. They can be tapered, tipped, abraded or etched to increase color carrying ability. Often, synthetic filaments are dyed and baked to make them softer and more absorbent. The common name for this filament is “Taklon.” The advantages to using synthetic brushes are:

1. They are less prone to damage from solvents, insects or paints.
2. They are easier to keep clean than animal hair brushes because the filaments don’t have animal scale structures to trap paint.
3. They are less prone to breakage and are durable on many different surfaces.
4. They are better suited for painting with acrylics because a synthetic filament will withstand the caustic nature of acrylic paints with less damage.

F.Y.I. For the protection of the hairs, most brushes are treated with a water-soluble sizing. This should be removed by thoroughly washing with brush soap and water or special brush care products before use.

Please study the information on this page and the next two pages. We’ve attempted to answer the most commonly asked questions about brushes to help you select the brush that will produce the most satisfying results.