Weapons of choice

Over the years you come across and use various brushes and rollers some you love some you hate but you get a feel for them all. The difference in the cheaper tools is obvious to see from the minute you use them, bristles flying out at crazy angles, rollers holding little to no paint and breaking up after a couple of walls. This why all painters will say if you buy good tools and look after them they will look after you.

My brushes of choice currently are Purdy brushes. Was introduced to them about six years ago, loved them straight away and now is my main brush on site. For years I wouldn't hear a word said against Hamilton perfection brushes, to me they were the dogs and would always be buying a new box set every year. I still do like them, though they don't seem to do the job a Purdy does for me. I've found they are better with some oil based finishes than the Purdy is, yet for water based paints the Purdy is much better.

One thing Hamilton does which I use are their rollers. The 12"superlight sleeves are immense. Excellent application, hold a lot of paint and leave a lovely finish. The rad sleeves as well are quality products. Those are my main sleeves now for all of my emulsioning. Got a couple of new sleeves to try this week, lets see if they live up to the standard. The fat hog excellence 12" sleeves are also good, especially for mist coating and heavy surfaces. Purdy 9" sleeves are very good as well, before I used 12" I would only use Purdy, still have 3 or 4 ready to go.

Those mentioned above though are only my opinions, a lot of painters I've seen talking online are raving about Wooster sliver tips and picasso brushes. Haven't tried them myself so I cannot comment on how good or bad they are but intend to over the year. There are a lot of brands out there and all claim to be superior to everyone else's but it's down to the individual decorator to choose which they feel are the best. Myself I love using a Hamilton dust brush to clean away with, more and more though are using old 3" brushes instead, it's just personal preference. Each decorator is different in how they work and what they use, its what make us all unique.

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