Having the right tools for painting your furniture can make your job easier and more fun as opposed to frustrating. When it comes to paint brushes there are so many options out there. So I thought I would share with you my favorite paint brushes I use and tips for choosing the best paint brush for the job. I’m going to focus on choosing the best paint brush for painting furniture with chalk type paint since that is my expertise.

One of the first questions you may be asking yourself is whether you need a natural or synthetic bristle brush. I can tell you from experience that synthetic bristles will give you the smoothest finish. That doesn’t mean a natural bristle brush won’t work. If you don’t mind some texture or if that’s the look you’re going for then by all means, pick up a natural bristle brush. I prefer synthetic bristles though and I’ll be sharing several options for a good synthetic bristle brush with you.

The Difference Between Natural VS Synthetic Bristles

It’s not difficult to tell the difference between a synthetic or natural bristle paint brush once you figure out what you’re looking for. But until you do know what you’re looking for it can be very frustrating. One reason is because I have found that the packaging for the paint brush typically won’t use the words “synthetic” or “natural” to describe the type of bristles on the brush. Instead they say things like “good for all paints and stains” or “for oil-based paints and stains.”

This is helpful if you know all about the type of product you’re using. But if you’re new to it all and someone tells you to get a synthetic bristle brush – not helpful.

Anyone else been frustrated by this?? Raise your hand if you’ve gone to the hardware store to find a synthetic or natural bristle brush and ended up having to ask someone or google how to tell the difference between a synthetic bristle brush and a natural bristle brush. Well, I have.

So before I tell you about my favorite synthetic bristle brushes, here are a few tips to hopefully help you know which is which.

A natural bristle paint brush is going to have more coarse bristles. The bristles may appear to be a little thicker and they may resemble a straw broom in color, kind of a camel color.

A synthetic bristle paint brush will have bristles that are much softer, smoother, and almost have a slick feel to them. The bristles may vary in color, but will often have either white bristles or a white tip on the bristles. The bristles will be very fine compared to the coarseness of natural bristles.

Synthetic Bristle Brush

This is a synthetic bristle brush. It has been used quite a bit so the bristles are stained, but they were solid white when I purchased the brush.

Natural Bristle Brush

This is a natural bristle brush. You can see the camel color of the bristles and how they look coarse compared to those of the synthetic bristle brush.

NaturalBristle2

This is a natural bristle brush. You can see the camel color of the bristles and how they look coarse compared to those of the synthetic bristle brush.

Now that you know the difference between a natural bristle paint brush and a synthetic bristle paint brush, I’ll show you some of my favorite synthetic bristle paint brushes that I use on a daily basis.

There are two brands I mostly stick to for my paint brush tool kit. They are Zibra and Cling On. I like them both for different reasons and I don’t think I could choose one over the other because the brushes serve different purposes.

Cling On Paint Brushes

I’ll start with the Cling On brushes. These paint brushes are in high demand amongst furniture painters and are actually difficult to find because they sell out so quickly. For that reason the only style of Cling On paint brush I have tried so far is the O style – O stands for Oval and reflects the shape of the bristles portion of the brush.

Other styles within Cling On paint brushes are R, F, P, B and there is one brush labeled S which stands for Shorty and it is a short handle version of the Oval brush. R = Round, F = Flat, P = Angled, and B = Block.

Within each of the styles of Cling On paint brushes there are different sizes. The larger the number, the larger the paint brush. So for example, I have used both the O40 and O45. Both are oval paint brushes, but one is a tad larger than the other.

What I love about the Cling On paint brushes is they cover a large area in short time because of the density of the bristles. I can get a great smooth finish with my Cling On oval paint brush.

Also, the bristles do not shed. I have not once had a bristle come off in my paint job since I started using the oval Cling On paint brush months ago. And I can tell you that my previous paint brush of a similar style would lose multiple bristles in one paint job and I would find myself picking them out of my paint constantly.

Another really great thing about the Cling On paint brushes is they are self cleaning. Not in the sense that you don’t have to do anything to clean them, but they do make it a lot easier.

I wash my Cling On with soap and water just like every other brush. The difference is I don’t have to fret over making sure I remove every last particle of paint to keep my brush from getting stiff. I just gently wash most of the paint from the brush, then I hang the brush from a nail on the wall and suspend it in water. Just the tips of the brush have to be touching the water and all the remaining paint will be pulled out of your Cling On paint brush until it’s totally clean and ready for the next job. So amazing!!

Zibra Paint Brushes

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As much as I love using the Cling On paint brushes, there are just some jobs my Cling On isn’t the best for. And that’s where my other favorite brushes come in made by Zibra.

I have actually used Zibra paint brushes longer than I have used Cling On brushes. There are many shapes and styles of Zibra brushes available and I use almost every style that is available. And I use at least one Zibra brush for every single furniture painting job I complete.

All Zibra paint brushes are synthetic bristle brushes. The style I use the most is the 2″ angled short handle paint brush.

This style brush is available from many other paint brush companies including ones you may have heard of such as Wooster and Purdy. However, I have found that my Zibra brush gives me the smoothest finish and so I almost never use those other brands any more. That doesn’t mean those brushes aren’t great. I have just learned that for my painting jobs I much prefer the Zibra paint brush bristles. I use this brush for every single job to apply Wise Owl matte varnish to seal my painted finishes.

Another style of Zibra paint brush I use often is the triangle brush. This brush makes getting into corners SUPER easy!

If you’ve ever tried to paint a corner with a regular 2″ angled brush you know that it can take a couple of passes to get the job done. You have to take your angled brush first on one side of the corner, then on the other side. And you may need to reload your paint brush with paint before you do the other side. And sometimes it looks streaky compared to the middle of your painted area.

Kind of like when you are doing cut-ins when you paint a wall. Those cut-in areas may need an extra coat to hide the streaks.

Not with the triangle brush. You load up your brush one time with paint, position the tip in the top of your corner, and with one swipe you have excellent coverage in your entire corner and are ready to roll or paint the inner areas just like that! This one is seriously such a time saver!

Next up in my arsenal of Zibra paint brushes is the round brush.

This is not just your typical round brush. The bristles are nice and long, and they are not super stiff or super soft. They are made for those hard-to-reach areas around pesky spindles!! (Which if you have a large number of spindles I totally recommend just spraying those puppies. Painting spindles is not for the faint of heart.) But if you just have a few in a detailed area of say a china cabinet, this round brush makes it easy to get the paint in the recessed details of those spindles and get ALL the way around them.

The other style of Zibra paint brush I use is the square brush.

When you are painting a dresser and you need to paint or touch up that trim area between drawers or down the front side of the dresser, guess what the square brush is perfect for…yep, the trim!

It’s just the right size for most dressers to get your paint straight onto that trim area. AND just like the triangle brush gives you good coverage for your corners as opposed to an awkward streaky finish with a flat brush, the square brush does that for your trim areas! You have all your bristles right where you need them to get the best coverage in the right areas without wasting a lot of time or paint.

Zibra also makes a style called the fan brush and a chiseled wedge brush. I have not tried these two styles of brushes yet, but I plan to in the future and I know other furniture painters who really love the fan brush.

I hope this was helpful to give you a better description of some great paint brush options out there that can make painting furniture easier and more efficient for you.

I am so happy to be an affiliate for Zibra paint brushes because I truly believe in their products. And I would be so honored if you choose to use any of the links in this blog post to purchase them and try them for yourself. Doing so helps to support my blog and I so appreciate all of my readers. Thanks for reading!

If you have used either of the these brands of brushes before tell me in the comments which one is your favorite!

And if you decide to try them for the first time I would love to know what you think!

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2 Comments

Michelle on March 24, 2019 at 11:48 am
Can you clean the Zibra paintbrushes the same as the ClingOn? Bristles just slightly dipped in water after washing? Seems so clever…
Thank you in advance.
Michelle
- April Hyde on April 9, 2019 at 1:43 pm
  Hi Michelle, I have never tried that with Zibra brushes. What I know is that Cling On brushes were designed to be stored wet (with the bristles slightly submerged in water.) Other brushes may not be able to withstand being stored wet like that. It may cause the bristles to come loose from the brush over time or damage the part of the brush that holds the bristles together. I do love Zibra brushes as well though and use them often. They clean up nicely with soap and water.

Choosing The Best Paint Brush For The Job