It does not matter whether you are painting an entire house or a wall mounted coat rack a good brush is essential to achieving a perfect finish. So just what is it that makes a brush good while first off a good brush needs to hold and retain a good amount of finish it will need to dispense the finish you only on the surface, and it should believe very few if any brush strokes. If you know a little bit about brush types and how they are made you'll be able to select the proper brush for the job at hand.

Most brushes have the same basic configuration and can be pigeonholed into a few groups they can be grouped by the type of bristle or the shape of a bristle also known as the profile of the bristles. There are two basic types of categories a bristles can be put into a natural bristle which are usually made from hog hair or a synthetic bristle commonly made from nylon. A natural bristle brush is generally the best choice for oil and other solvent-based paints and finishes, whereas a synthetic bristle works much better for water based paints and finishes.

The most widely used natural bristles comes from China and is made from hog hair these natural bristles have naturally split ends which are excellent for holding a lot of finish, they also have a long tapered shape they gives great strength and resiliency to the bristle this allows the bristle to maintain a shape when is it is used in tight corners and for doing edges. The natural hog bristle also finally dispenses the finish and leaves very few if any noticeable brush marks. Often times brush manufacturers will include other natural hairs from badgers and also camel hair. These other natural bristles are used in specialty brushes for things like blending and softening different glazes. Sable hair is often used in small brushes that are often used by artists.

The original synthetic brushes were very comparable to toothbrushes they were thick and blunt. Today's modern manufacturing techniques allow for very fine soft nylon bristles that actually have a man-made taper and split ends that mimic natural bristles. Cheap polyester bristle brushes are not good for applying stain or paint what they are excellent for applying things like wood filler and bleaches.

The shape of the bristles will determine if the brush is suitable for a certain finish and materials, bristles whether they are natural or synthetic can be blunt tipped, tapered or flagged. So what type of brushes should you have on hand? Well first of all you should have two good quality chisel tipped brushes for applying a clear finish a narrow 1 inch and a 2 1/2 inch brush should cover most projects. You may want to have one or two synthetic bristle brushes if you plan on applying any water based materials. You may want to have several different size artists brushes for doing touch up and detail work if you plan on doing any faux finishes you want to have several round brushes in stock as these are excellent for creating effects like blending, antiquing and even highlighting.