Friday, June 6, 2014

Exploring Natural Brush Filaments for Custom Brushes

When it comes to choosing the right brush materials, there is certainly not a one size fits all answer. Every task has its own unique set of challenges that the brush must respond to. That’s why TOD Thin Brushes, Inc., offers customers the ability to create their own custom brushes using a variety of industry standard materials. Some of the oldest materials include the natural brush filaments that people have trusted for hundreds of years. Today we will take a look at the different custom filament options that are available for custom brushes.

Goat Hair
If you need a great fiber for a short soft bristle brush, goat hair is a great choice. It is very fine with a limited elasticity and comes in black, white or dyed blue, brown, gold, green grey and purple.

Hog Bristle
This fiber is especially durable and water resistant, and features a natural taper that runs the whole length of the fiber. These hairs are naturally stiff and can even be used in antistatic applications.

Horse Hair
These hairs are primarily used for buffing, cleaning, dusting and finishing applications. The soft and stiff texture provides a scratch free brushing. This fiber is not resistant to acids or alkalis, so considerations should be made for your application.

Ox Hair 
The hair fiber from an ox is perhaps the stiffest of all soft hairs. These fibers are generally used in artist brushes for fine detail work like lettering or pin striping. They are also used in dental brushes.

Red Sable
This is easily the most valuable of the soft hair fibers. In addition to being extremely fine, it has strong points that carry color well. Sable is used in the finest art brushes.

Skunk or Fitch
Typically this fiber is combined with hog bristle. It is rare to find it used by itself. It can be found in sturdy sign maker’s brushes.

Squirrel
The fine quality of this hair makes it an ideal choice for lacquers and varnishes, as well as general artork. This soft hair fiber has even made its way into some cosmetic brushes. 

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