Brushing Up on Paint Brushes

Professional painters use professional equipment. It may seem to some that a paint brush is just a stick with bristles. There is a lot more to these essential tools than first meets the eye. You will get your best results matching the brush to the paint and to the job at hand. Sherwin-Williams offers some great help with it comes to choosing the right brush for your project:

Sherwin-Williams paint brushes come in a variety of sizes, end types and bristles. A high-quality brush can mean a better-looking job with less effort. Why? Because a good-quality brush holds more paint and applies it more evenly, which can save you time and help you get the results you want.

Types of Brushes

  • Natural-bristle brushes made with animal hairs are used for applying oil base paints, varnishes, shellac, polyurethane and other oil base finishes. The natural “flagging” (splitting or fuzzy tips) of these brushes creates split ends in the bristles that hold more paint and help assure a smooth paint release and finish.
  • Blended nylon/polyester brushes are easy to clean and work well with all types of latex paints. The combination of nylon’s durability and polyester’s shape retention is the mark of a high-quality brush – one that also produces a high-quality paint finish. What’s more, these durable brushes are built to handle numerous projects. So, with proper care, nylon / polyester brushes should last for years.
  • Polyester brushes are best for latex paints. These brushes hold their shape and stiffness in any paint and apply paint smoothly and evenly.

Brush Sizes

Sherwin-Williams paintbrushes are available in widths from 1 to 4 inches. The size you select is up to you, but a good rule of thumb is:

  • 1″ to 2″ – window and other small trim
  • 3″ – glossy paints for doors and cabinets
  • 4″ – large, flat areas

Brush End Types

  • Chisel Trim Brush – slanted bristles produce a good, straight line for trimming in corners and edges.
  • Square Trim Brush – the ends of the bristles are cut square and used primarily for applying paint over flat areas.
  • Angled Brush – bristles are cut to make it easier to apply paint to window trim.

Brush Styles

  • Thin Angle Sash – slanted bristles and a thin profile produce a good, straight line for trimming in corners and edges.
  • Angle Sash – features slanted bristles and holds more paint than its thin counterpart. Excellent for cutting in at the ceiling or painting trim.
  • Flat Sash – bristles are straight across and used primarily for applying paint over flat areas.
  • Trim – a flat brush excellent for painting large flat surfaces, especially exterior siding.
  • Wall – a thick flat brush that holds a larger amount of paint. Excellent for painting larger surface areas.

from https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/how-to/painting/exterior-painting-how-tos/exterior-planning/sw-article-dir-extchoosebrush

Primed for Success

Primers fill and bind with underlying surfaces, which keeps the finish coat from peeling or from soaking unevenly into the surface.

Why use primer?

Primer is formulated to adhere to the surface below while providing the best possible surface for the finish coat. Primers fill and bind with underlying surfaces, which keeps the finish coat from peeling or from soaking unevenly into the surface.

Priming Bare Wood

When top coat paint is applied directly to bare wood, the wood can absorb components of the paint preventing it from forming the proper bonds, which weakens the paint so it can easily crack or peel. Bare wood also has color variations in the grain which primer helps cover. Additionally, some types of wood also has natural tannins and may require alkyd/oil primer to trap the tannins and keep them from bleeding through to the surface.

Primer applied to bare wood
Use a good quality primer designed for bare wood when painting over home repairs.

New Drywall

Application specific primer is also important on new drywall (first time to be painted). Drywall paper surface and joint compounds are very porous and can unevenly soak in components of the finish-grade paint making it weaker, causing uneven color and uneven sheen. A quality drywall first coat such as Sherwin-Williams PVA Drywall Primer & Sealer can help make your newly drywalled project a big success.

Primers designed specifically for new drywall are required for the first time drywall projects are painted.
Drywall primers are heavy bodied and designed to fill the porous surfaces of new drywall products.

Drastic Color Changes

Primers can be a big help when you are changing paint colors from dark to light or light to dark by creating an even, neutral base coat that allows your new color to actually be the one you chose. Without a primer coat the color of your old paint could affect the final tint.

Prime over dark colors before applying a lighter color top coat.
It’s good painting practice to prime over dark colors before applying a lighter color top coat.

Prime Time to Call the Doctor

One of the great benefits of working with Paint Doctor’s Painting is the expertise we bring when it comes to using the right primer for your project. Your unique project requires a specific prescription and we highly recommend you follow the Doctor’s instructions. Call Mike at 541-497-3804.

Call the Doctor

When you hire the pros at Paint Doctor’s Painting, you get an entire crew doing all of those difficult painting operations at once with the speed and accuracy that comes with doing the job right the first time every time.

Paint Doctor’s Painting would love to transform your interior spaces with the color of your choosing or give some new curb appeal to your exterior. Call Mike at 541-497-3804.
When you consider the amount of time involved in doing your own paint project compared to hiring the Doctor, we think you will agree. Many property owners significantly underestimate what it takes to wash, prep, caulk, fill, sand, scrape, mask, pack, place, climb, spray, roll, brush, move and do it all again.
However, when you hire the pros at Paint Doctor’s Painting, you get an entire crew that is doing all of these operations at once with the speed and accuracy that comes with doing the job right the first time every day. Rather than having your house in that paint-job-in-process mode for weeks, you can have the whole job completed in a day or two.
Consider also the safety factor. We have the equipment and knowledge to do the job safely. When you consider how each time you move a ladder and reset it you have to get it just right and even then you are climbing, reaching and working off that ladder… Better left to the pros.
Call Mike at 541-497-3804.