When it comes to painting your interior trim work and doors nothing compares to the silky smooth finish that only a paint sprayer can deliver.
Until now.
Purdy Clearcut Glide Brush. The Richard Elegance Trim brush is perfect for when you’re looking to paint smaller details on your trim with precision. The tapered fibers are designed to leave clean edges, which helps you maintain a high-quality finish. The brush also has great pick-up and release, and is comfortable to hold. The Best Paint Brush for Trim Quality paintbrushes are much easier to clean and last a lot longer than cheap brushes. They allow you to paint without brush strokes. In fact, a good quality paintbrush almost does the work for you!
Thanks to advancements in painting tech, elegant finishes are achievable when spraying isn’t a viable option. In this article I will share with you some great products and tools that will breathe new life into your old worn looking trim. You’ll be amazed at how a seemingly small improvement will dramatically renew your home’s beauty.
Before I get into all of that, I want to show you some before and after pics of an interior painting project my company did recently. I’d like to focus on the trim specifically.
Here is a closeup photo I took of a piece of door casing using a brush only.
Traditionally, to achieve a finish like this you would have to use an oil based paint. Oil bases on trim were great because of their ability to reduce brush marks when used. The oil in the paint “levels” or fills in the gaps where your brush made contact with the surface of what you were painting. (Personally I don’t like using oil base, it’s messier and harder to clean up).
Another irritant to me is that oil causes what’s known as “drag” when brushing. Drag is just what it sounds like. When you’re painting, it feels like someone is trying to stop your brush from moving easily. It seems like you expend more effort loading up your brush than you do actually painting.
SO….now that I’ve confessed my sin of being an oil hater….Let’s move forward into what the future holds. Because as I said, tech is here!
Sherwin Williams Pro Classic.
A water based paint that performs like an oil. Without the mess. Yeah! (I would argue you achieve a better result when having to brush with this product than with an oil base.) In all honesty, it does have a slight drag just like an oil, but not as bad. XIM makes this extender specifically designed for latex paint to ease the flow when brushing.
Now that we’ve got the right products, we need the right weapon to apply them. My choice: Purdy’s 2.5 in. Angled Nylox Brush.
Why this one? Well for me, this is my day in, day out cut in tool. Besides cut in’s, I use it on trim as well. It is by far the most versatile brush in my arsenal. It loads up well so you can move some paint, but what I love most is how super soft the bristles are. That’s what you want to help reduce brush marks! Combine that with the self leveling feature in Sherwin-Williams Pro Classic and you can’t go wrong.
As for cutting, you can get the bristle tips down to about an 1/8″ for laser like precision cutting. I wanna go paint something just thinking about it!
Before we go getting all cocky and believing we can rule the world, keep in mind there is preparation, skill, and technique involved too. If you need your home painted I’m your guy. But if you hand me the best wrenches ever made and pop the hood of your car wanting me to fix something, I guarantee you when I get it put back together there will be parts left over. 😛 7z for mac torrent.
Before ripping into a full blown project I would do some practicing on scrap pieces of casings and base moulding. They generally come pre-primed. If the pieces you select are bare wood, you will need to prime them using a wood primer. (I would suggest priming the pieces even if you bought the pre-primed variety) You can purchase both of these at your local big box store. Let’s begin with technique: Assuming your test piece is already primed, sanded, and ready to paint.
If you find the drag in Pro Classic to be a problem, add some of the XIM latex extender to your paint and stir it up. You’ll feel it loosen up as you stir. You don’t want to add too much so that the paint becomes runny. You want the paint to have some “body” to it. It’s best to follow the directions on the extender as to know how many parts to use per gallon/quart of paint.
Load up your paint brush and hold the trim piece. Start at one end of the piece (I’m a righty so I like to work from top to bottom while holding the work in my left hand) and brush the paint laying it on using somewhat heavy pressure, to move it in long strokes. Be sure to cover all the nooks and cranny’s of the surface with paint.
Once you’ve got the piece completely covered, start at one end and make two to three passes using lighter pressure to get good coverage and remove excess paint. Finally make one long final pass the length of the piece using light and I mean light, pressure to finish the layoff. It’s important that you don’t over brush the work. Remember, every time you lay that brush down you’re putting more trails into the paint. Then let the magic of Pro Classic do its work!
With a little practice you’ll achieve beautiful results that you can brag about to your friends. Or if your afraid you’ll have parts left over, you can always hire me to do it. Have a great day, and happy painting!
Like other tradesmen, paint pros are creatures of habit. The tools a mentor uses can often become a go-to for a younger painter as well. When it comes to brush preferences, many pros quickly learn what brand, size or style works for them, and end up sticking with it for the long haul.
“Your dad may have been a painter for 40 years and you started working with him when you were eight or nine years old … there’s that level of comfort, that brand loyalty that builds up,” said Rick Watson, director of product information and technical services for Sherwin-Williams, which also owns Purdy Professional Painting Tools.
Paint pros will feverishly debate which brand or particular style brush holds the most paint and releases better. All are looking for the perfect balance of fewer dips into the paint can, great coverage, and durability as well. And if you ask them, there are many hotly debated answers.
“The key here is, ‘what tool makes you feel more comfortable when you’re using it?’” Watson added.
PURDY POWER
Nearly 100 years old, Purdy is hands-down one of the most popular and widely available brush brands on the market today. For 30 years, it has been a go-to for David Wood, owner of Wood’s Painting and Wallpaper of North Adams, MA.
“I’ve tried all kinds of different brushes, but Purdys last the longest, keep their shape, and allow you to do what you want to do,” he added. “I’ve had some for 10 years. The paint bristles are still as fine as ever.”
Today, Wood primarily uses a 3½” nylon-polyester-blend angled-sash brush for most of his trim work, but one of his workhorse brushes is a now-discontinued model called the ‘Wobbler,’ he says. The 3½” brush’s ability to load plenty of paint while cutting clean lines is the reason the pro went on a quest to find as many as possible once he learned they were discontinued. He called hardware stores throughout the region to find them.
“I found a place in Connecticut and I bought the last of what they had. I got those about 10 years ago and I still have them,” he said. Movie maker for mac.
While many pros prefer longer handles, Wood gravitates toward shorter Purdys. “Some guys like more reach but I just like that shorter, thicker handle. … I’m kind of self-taught and that type just works for me,” he explained.
DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS
A few years back, Mike Shaffer, owner of Five Star Painting in Temecula, CA, was at a conference where he saw a Wooster brush demo. He had never tried Wooster before but found the demonstration convincing enough to give the brand a try.
“I found the Wooster holds a lot more paint and releases a lot easier,” he said. “That’s a whole lot less of dropping it in the bucket and more laying down without a reload.”
The pro also said because he is 6’4″ tall, he prefers to get as much extension to his left and right before moving over to the next section of a job, and a brush that holds more paint allows him to do that.
Shaffer is also a fan of the 3″ oval-brush style, known as the ‘Pippin.’ “That style holds so much more paint than other brushes,” he added.
SILVER TIP, MORE WOOSTER
Kevin Kees, the paint and hardware manager at Curtis Lumber in Hoosick, NY, has painted for more than 10 years. His loyalty also lies with Wooster, and two particular brushes, the ‘Silver Tip’ and ‘Shortcut’ models are the most popular at his store.
Pros like the ergonomically designed handle of the Shortcut, and the nylon-polyester-blended Silver Tip models because the chemically treated tips, “just lay out better, and after you use them, the surface looks like it has been sprayed.”
Pros also prefer the hardy steel ferrule on Wooster, as well as the variety of thin and thick handles that can be found with the brand, Kees said.
Best Trim Paint Brush
Sergio San Roman, with SR Maintenance & Management Services, Inc., in Downey, CA said he uses angled and straight 1½” to 3″ Woosters. San Roman admits to not always having a lot of time to clean properly and will often soak his brushes at night. The Woosters have stood up to the test for a long time without fraying, he added.
San Roman works with a lot of complex cutting situations on exterior trim, he says. He likes to slow down on the job to get his cuts right and the Wooster handles and bristles feel right for his technique.
“If you just take your time, stay patient, and have a steady hand, that’s important. … You can have the best brush in the world, but if you don’t have the integrity and value in the job, your work is still going to look terrible,” he said.
PRICING FACTORS, CORONA
Autumn Bucchieri, manager of Different Strokes Paints & Decorating, in Bennington, VT, said the Wooster-made Benjamin Moore’s 2½” angled-sash nylon-polyester-blend brushes have been a hit for years at her store.
Pricing is a key driver, the longtime painter also says, as the brushes are sometimes up to $10 less than competing styles. “They’re equally durable and work just as well. It’s really a no-brainer,” she said.
Chisel Trim Paint Brush
To get more out of the Benjamin Moore brushes, she uses a brush comb instead of a wire brush to strip out old paint. It’s something she encourages other pros to do as well. “It really helps any brush last a lot longer,” she added.
Trim Paint Brush Reviews
For Robson Portes, a crew leader for Five Star Painting of Boston North Shore, MA, price is less of a factor.
Portes, who has worked predominantly on high-end custom homes for more than a decade, is happy to pay an extra $7 or $8 over the competing Wooster or Purdy brush for his Corona brushes.
Chisel Trim Paint Brush
Portes’ go-to is the 2½” angled ‘Cortez’ model, with its hardwood handle and stainless steel ferrule. “It’s a lot more than the Purdy, but I can cut a nice line no matter how much I wash it and use it,” he explained. “And the Corona can hold so much paint, and it doesn’t splatter. You don’t get those drips on the floor. It just holds that paint in the bristles better. It’s really amazing how it does that.”
The paint pro said many painters shy away from Corona partly because of price, but also because the brand is harder to find. “There are only a couple of stores around where I can find them, but the Purdys you can find everywhere. That’s why, I think, a lot of people stick with them.”
Portes also finds that Picasso brushes bring a similar quality to Corona when it comes to paint hold and release, but says he finds the Corona to be more durable. “The Picassos are similar in price to Purdy,” he added. “They are very good. I just know my Corona can last a lot longer.”