I have been painting now for over 25 years and have been able to try out a wide variety of paint brushes for interior and exterior painting and staining.  I have come up with a short list of brushes that perform well for me using our methods of painting and straining.  When you walk into a paint store, the wall of brushes can be a little overwhelming.  Hopefully a discussion of the brushes I use will help your decision making process.

Paint brushes come in a variety of bristle, filaments, and handle types.  Bristle (natural) and or filament (synthetic) types include but are not limited to Chinex, Tynex, Orel, Nylon, Polyester, Natural Bristle, China Bristle, to name a few.  Some are even blends of different types.  Handles come in different styles (Glide, Beaver Tail, Rat Tail) and names vary but all it comes down to is what style feels best in your hand.

If I had only one choice for flaments it would be Dupont Chinex.  This filament type cleans up far faster than any other bristle type and will last longer then any I have ever tested.  Chinex is the best filament for us on all exterior painting and does work for interior painting too.  Dried paint cleans off easy the Chinex filament with just warm soapy water.  

Polyester filament does not clean up nearly as fast but holds a little more paint.  Polyester also absorbs water and looses its stiffness a little to fast for me.  If I had only one choice for a Chinex brush for exteriors it would be the Premier Riverdale 3” angled bristle brush.  Flat or angle is simple preference for most.  I like how the angled bristle brush gets in corners easier.  A 3” brush is my choice cause it cover more area faster.  Faster means more money but it is personal preference like most brush choices.

My second choice would be the Premier Brooke Tynex / Orel blend 3” angled filament.  Tynex, Dupont's proprietary version of Nylon, and Orel polyester.  These superior filaments, absorb less water, hold their stiffness longer, and clean up easier.

When applying primers like PeelBond or Triple Thick, we use the 4” flat filament Premier Riverdale cause of it’s stiffness and the wider brush makes priming faster.  Primers have a hard time sticking to Chinex filaments so the brushes clean up and last longer. 

If we have any touchups on doors, trim, gutters, etc we keep the 1.5” angled filament Premier Hampton Tynex brush cause the soft bristles leave little brush stokes.  Great for all interior and exterior touch ups in various conditions. Tynex is Dupont's version of nylon so the brush is nice and soft, just what you need when painting trim. 

For interior painting I still stick with the Premier Brooke which is a blended Dupont filament brush. This blend is Tynex / Orel and is the right blend for getting perfect cutins.  No other brush I have ever tested will give you better cut in results.  This paint brush was designed for cut ins and I still stick with the 3” angled bristle brush. 

On all the brushes I use I prefer the the glide style handles.  Just personal preference.   With perfect cut ins you will sacrifice layout and brush strokes in fine trim work so I switch to a Premier Hampton for fine trim and woodwork painting.  This is a Tynex brush that leave little roping or brush strokes.  

For stain brushes on exterior decks and siding, nothing beats the Fence Armor blended stain brush.  This brush is large, flat, and durable.  This is a high quality brush built to last and will attach to most extension poles.  It has the right angle for back brushing high siding and decks.  I cannot say enough about this stain brush.  For smaller jobs I turn to the Wooster Bravo stainer brush.  Stain brushes perform better then any paint brush cause they have natural bristles which are better for oil based products and they hold significantly more products and drip way less.  With this list of brushes you can tackle any paint job that comes your way and achieve professional results.