What Does A Painting Contractor Know About Paint Brushes That You Don't?

What Does A Painting Contractor Know About Paint Brushes That You Don't?

For many homeowners a paint brush is a paint brush, so why spend a lot of

money on one.

First of all, there are a lot of factors you may want to consider before you

purchase your next paint brush. An experienced painting contractor will

consider the following when choosing paint brushes. As a homeowner you

should consider the same.

1. How well does the brush pick up and release paint? This can make a big

difference in how long it takes to complete your house painting project.

2. How long will the bristles of the paint brush last. Nylon is the longest-

wearing filament used in brushes.

3. Can the paint brush be tipped easily? Tipping affects how a brush will

spread paint. How a manufacturer has designed the tip of the bristles varies.

Some sand the end of the bristles so they are not just a blunt end. Some

use an abrading method where the tips are split. This makes a difference in

how well it holds paint and how evenly the paint brush will spread paint.

4. The flexibility of a brush should also be considered. A paint brush with

proper flex helps distribute the paint more evenly. It helps maintain its

shape to avoid over spreading (Loss of control).

5. You want to be able to avoid pulling and pushing or flinging or spattering

paint. A good quality brush will go a long way in preventing these problems

and this my friend will save you a lot of time.

6. The next thing you need to consider is what type of finish you want to

achieve. Do you want a fine or course finish? To achieve a fine finish you

need a softer finer filament that has a more finely finished tip. This is

not only important in terms of finish but also it will reduce how many times

you have to dip the brush. This is another time saving feature.

7. What type of paint are you going to be using the brush in, latex or oil?

Generally you will want to use nylon in latex paint only and China Bristle in

oil paint. Even though there is nylon polyester mix brushes on the market

that say you can use them in either latex or oil, I find you are better off

using China Bristle for oil paints. The solvents needed to clean oil paint

out your brush don't seem to damage the China Bristle brushes. However,

solvents do have a negative impact on nylon brushes over time. Also I find

that oil paint cleans out of China Bristle brushes in less time than nylon.

8. What size brush should you use? The bigger the brush the more paint it

will hold, but there are things to consider here. For production, a brush

needs to pick up and hold a lot of paint, then spread the paint evenly as you

spread the paint over a distance. This reduces dip and spread time which in

turn shortens the time it takes to complete your project. You need several

different size brushes. For siding I recommend a 3%1/2 inch brush. This

seems to be an ideal size for siding. It holds a lot of paint and yet it is

not too cumbersome. For trim I recommend a 21/2 or 3 inch sash brush. The

sash brush has the proper angle cut, and density of bristle that make cutting

in your trim much easier. Don't use a 31/2 or 4 inch brush on areas where

you should be using a smaller sash brush. The sash brush will make your job

of cutting in the trim much cleaner, faster and far less headache. Also, don'

t use a 21/2 inch sash brush on large wide open areas where you should be

using a 31/2 or 4 inch brush for production runs.

There are a number of high quality brushes on the market today. The Purdy

line of paint bushes is used most often by my painters for all of the above

reasons. You can't go wrong with a Purdy.

I invite you to visit our web site for more information on Tips Of Trade in

the painting industry. I post new articles every month that can be helpful

to both the painting contractor and the homeowner. www.

homeownersfirstchoicepaintinginc.com

One final thought: Time and quality of finish is very important to a painting

contractor and the less time wasted using cheep equipment the more productive

and profitable he will be.
Nicky Taylor
President
Homeowners First Choice Painting Inc.
seiss@bellsouth.net

Article Source: http://kawarthapublishing.com

Resource article from Homeowners First Choice Painting Inc. Author: Nicky Taylor Copyright 2008 www.homeownersfirstchoicepaintinginc.com

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