5 Things to Know Before Buying types of paint brushes for walls

Are you planning to do some DIY wall painting but can't decide which brushes you'll need?

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When it comes to painting, you're only as good as your brush. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned professional, the brush you're using to paint your wall usually determines the end result. This is why it's a good idea to look for the best brushes for the job at hand. 

Best Brushes for Painting Walls: What to Look for 

Selecting the right brush for the right job can be hard, especially for first-time DIY painters. There are four categories to consider when choosing the best wall painting brushes for you. 

These categories are material, shape, size, and quality. 

1. Material 

The first thing you have to consider when choosing the best brush for painting walls is the material the bristles are made of. 

Brushes can be made of various materials but the three main ones are natural, synthetic, or foam. 

Natural brushes often called "China brushes", are made of natural animal hair like boar, horse, or badger. This material absorbs oil-based paint quickly and leaves a smooth finish, depending on its quality. Natural brushes can be cleaned and reused many times.

Synthetic brushes are made of nylon or polyester or a combination of both. This material loads up and releases water-based (latex) paint very well and leaves a smooth even finish. Similar to natural brushes, synthetic brushes can also be cleaned and reused many times.

Foam brush heads are made of foam or other sponge-like material. They generally absorb, hold, and release paint very well regardless of what type of paint it is. Although foam brushes can be cleaned and re-used (with a little bit more effort), they're usually one-use only.

So, which brush material is best for painting walls?

While natural and foam brushes can still be used, synthetic brushes are generally better for painting walls. They load just enough paint, leave a smooth finish without leaving behind stray fibers (unlike natural brushes), and can be washed and reused many times (unlike foam brushes). 

2. Shape 

A brush's shape should help you paint surfaces better and quicker. 

For painting walls, you have two main options. These are flat brushes and angled brushes. 

Flat brushes have an even squared edge tip which lets you use them flat against the wall. They can load up a lot of paint and are best used if you want to cover as much of your wall in as little time. 

Angled brushes have an angled tip. This type of brush makes it easier to apply paint close to another surface (such as window trim) or when painting anything with grooved walls. 

So which brush shape is better? 

Unfortunately, this question ends in a draw. The best brush shape will depend on what part of your wall you're trying to paint. 

3. Size 

Brushes can come in a variety of sizes and will depend on which part of your wall you're painting. 

Smaller 2-2.5 inch brushes are great for cutting into corners. 

Bigger 5-6 inch brushes can help you cover surfaces quicker. 

Choosing the right sized brush(es) will depend on the size of your wall's surface and the level of accuracy you need to paint it, such as when you're painting next to a ceiling or other section of wall with a different color. 

4. Quality 

When shopping for brushes, it's often tempting to simply get the cheapest ones and save a few bucks in the process. Leave the pricier brushes for the professionals, right?

The thing is:

When painting anything, the quality of your brushes can determine how good your results are going to be. 

While it's true that better brushes usually come with bigger price tags, they also make your work easier, leave better results, and can last several years with proper care after use – just ask anyone who's had quality brushes for years.

Best Brushes for Painting Walls: Our Suggestions

So, now that you know what to look for when choosing wall painting brushes, what brushes do we recommend? 

For more information, please visit types of paint brushes for walls.

Check out what our customers are buying right now!

1. Exterior Walls: Riverdale Chinex Angle Sash  

The Riverdale Chinex Angle Sash by Premier has a chiseled (angled) edge that makes it ideal for cutting into window sills and corners while still being usable for general flat wall painting. 

Developed by the Dupont company, Chinex is a modified nylon bristle that mimics the qualities of natural bristle brushes. 

Since paint dries faster outside, this brush lets you clean off dry paint better without getting damaged, unlike natural bristle brushes.

2. Staining Decks and Sidings: Deck Boss or 4-6 Inch Natural Bristle Flat Brush 

When it comes to staining decks and sidings, you can't go wrong with the Deck Boss by Perdura. Its size makes it ideal for saving time on large surfaces while its quality synthetic bristles work great with water and oil-based paints, stains, sealers, epoxy, and varnish for wood and concrete – plus you can attach it to a pole for better reach. 

If you're painting on wood like rough sawn cedar which tend to damage staining brushes, you can replace your Deck Boss with a 4-6 inch natural bristle flat brush instead. 

3. Interior Walls: Premier Montauk 

For interior walls, you want your finish to be as smooth as possible. 

The Premier Montauk Paint Brush is made of Dupont Tynex and Orel filaments which carry more paint to the tip of the brush while leaving a smoother finish. This brush is also stiffer and keeps its shape better than ordinary nylon brushes which means it's easier to clean after use. 

The Montauk's angled tip lets you cut into corners while still doing a great job at general flat painting. 

Picking the right paint brush is a big deal! It may not seem like it, but using the right brush is pivotal to your finish turning out right. If you want to have a great finish then there are three things you need to get right. The right technique, the right paint, and the right brush. These three things make up the holy trinity of painting. You can’t have a truly great paint job without all three.

Today let’s dig into the details on picking the right paint brush. There are a lot of things to consider like size, angled or straight, material, and of course cost. How can you decide? Glad you asked. My grandfather was a master painter and and drilled a lot of the old techniques into me as a kid. He never did take to latex paints being an old timer, but that’s a story for another day.

One important thing he did teach me was how to select the right brush for the task at hand and how to make that brush last for decades. I have never forgotten it to this day. So below I’ll give you Scott’s 5 Laws of Paint Brush Selection based on those important lessons my grandfather taught me all those years ago.

1. Pay For Quality

Expensive paint brushes are better paint brushes. It’s that simple. Just like a Maserati is a better car than a Ford, a quality paint brush will cost several times that of a low-quality one. Don’t be fooled by this though because a high quality brush (if cared for properly) can last decades compared to just a few months or years for a cheaper brush. Buy quality and learn how to clean and care for your brush.

High quality brushes will:

1. Hold more paint
2. Release paint more evenly
3. Hold their shape longer
4. Not shed bristles
5. Last much longer

There is a time for a cheap paint brush. These are called chip brushes usually and I use them as disposable brushes for tasks like primer touch up. For example, I have a bunch of siding that has been pre-primed and it is now being cut and installed onsite. Every time I make a cut, I reveal fresh wood that needs to be primed. I keep a chip brush sitting in a cup of oil-based primer to dab on the end cuts. Perfect use for a chip brush since it gets pretty gummed up by the end of the day I can just trash it and move on.

2. Different Brushes For Different Paints

What you plan to paint with will determine what kind of brush you need. Natural bristle brushes were designed to work best with oil-based paints. Synthetic bristle brushes are for water-based paints. It’s a matter of how the bristles are able to hold onto and release the paint.

There are brushes that can do both and they do a decent job of it, but if you plan to use a lot of one type of paint over the other, the best paint brush is the one designed for your type of paint. I keep both types of brushes in my shop and go back and forth between different paints. Even if you use a brush that is designed for multiple paints keep them two of them and dedicate one to water-based and one to oil-based coatings.

For Oil-Based Paints Use:

1. China Bristle
2. Ox-Tail
3. Other Natural Bristle Brushes

For Water-Based Paints Use:

1. Nylon/Polyester
2. Other Synthetic Blends

3. Angled or Flat

This one is pretty simple to discern. Angled (sometimes called “Sash”) brushes are designed for cutting in. Cutting in has to do with painting straight lines or in tight corners which seems to be a lost art since the invention of blue tape. Angled brushes really shine here and do a great job at painting a perfectly straight line with no wandering bristles.

Flat brushes are designed for coverage on flat surfaces. You’ll cover more ground with a flat brush in this type of application. Today, most of us use rollers to paint wide flat surfaces, so a big flat brush isn’t as useful as it used to be before the roller was invented. In general today, an angled brush will be the most useful brush to have in your arsenal.

4. Size Matters

A smaller brush means more control but slower production. Do you know how long it would take you to paint a fence with a 1″ brush? Forever! Go get a 3″ or 4″ flat brush for something like that. On the flip side I would never try to paint a wood window with a 4″ flat brush. I’d make a total mess of it.

The best tip I can give you about selecting the right size is this: Find a brush that will cover in as few strokes as possible. The larger the brush, the less often you have to reload (dip into paint) your brush. Also, if you are using a 1″ brush to paint a 2″ wide surface like a window sash, that means you have to make two strokes instead of just one with a 2″ brush.

Less strokes makes for a better and smoother finish and allows you to cover the whole surface in one uniform pass.

5. Hard or Soft?

Last but not least, is firmness. Hard brushes make it easy to paint a straight line. They hold their shape and won’t wander like a soft brush. But soft brushes make for a super smooth surface because they don’t leave nearly as many brush strokes. So, which do you need?

This is the place where I compromise. I buy medium-stiff brushes so I can have most of the control of the hard brush, but avoid deep brush marks. If you can learn how to “tip off” your paint you can virtually eliminate those brush strokes even when using a harder brush. Check out the video below to learn how to tip off the surface and avoid brush marks.

What’s the best paint brush?

Are you throughly confused about what kind of brush to buy now? Probably so. You have all the info you need to find the right brushes for your needs, but unless you’re a professional painter, you don’t really need an arsenal of brushes for every specific task. Below I’ll give you my recommendations for picking the right paint brush.

Here’s what I recommend:

I own 3 brushes to do the bulk of my painting. One for latex paints, one for oil-based, and one for big surfaces.

I only use Purdy brushes which are some of the finest in the industry and they are readily available. If I keep them clean, they will last for over a decade. You can buy any of them from my affiliate links below which are honestly the cheapest prices I’ve found for these brushes.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit wall stencil for painting.