Which Paintbrush Should You Use To Paint?

Are you deciding to paint your house and looking the market to shop for paintbrushes? You need to keep few points in mind before you buy the right paintbrush for your painting needs. The hardware store might have too many varieties of paintbrushes of various size, shapes, materials, lengths, bristle types, and prices, and you need to decide which one suits your work the best. The finish of the paint depends a lot on the type of brush that you use to coat it. Choosing the right paintbrush is as difficult as choosing the right paint for the walls. Here are certain pointers that you should keep in mind before choosing the right brush for your painting needs.

Bristles

The first thing that you need to check in the paint brush is its bristles. The brushes are available in two bristle types – Natural and Synthetic. Natural bristles are made from animal hair and synthetic bristles are made from either nylon or polyester. You can also get a brush that has bristles made from the combination of both nylon and polyester. If you are applying an oil based paint, then natural bristle brush is the perfect choice for the application. Synthetic bristles works best with water based latex paints. There are some synthetic brushes that can be used for both latex and oil based paints.

Brush Width

There brushes are available in varieties of width options. The width of these brushes range from 1 to 5 inches. If you choose a wider brush, then you can paint more surfaces at a single stroke but you need to make sure the kind of surface you are going to paint with it. Always go in for slightly narrow width brushes as they are easy to hold. For example, use 3 and a 1/2 half inch brush instead of the recommended 4 inch one.

Shape of the Bristles

The most common shape for the bristles is the square shape. They are perfect to hold and apply the paint in a right manner. However, if you want to paint the corners of the wall, then the square cut brushes may be too wide for the job. For the corners, you can use a sash brush that is easier to hold and reach the surface while painting the corners. They are also perfectly suited for cutting while painting the perimeter of the room.

Bristle Tip

Bristles of good quality brushes have split or flagged ends that give perfect finish on the surface while painting. They can hold more paint and allow smoother coats. Sash brushes on the other hand have tipped ends that make them perfect for the use in the narrower areas. Most of the professional painters prefer to paint with tipped brushes as they give you greater control in the strokes and helps you to apply paint in more precise manner. It is best to have both the split end brush and the tipped end ones while painting, to give you much better coats over the surface.