I recently read a post by another blogger who stated she only uses disposable rollers and foam brushes. She admitted it wasn’t “green”, but it was easy.

While I agree (and love) the ease, there are overriding issues with these two brush types.

Why I hate bristle brushes

When I was a little girl my skills were not deemed good enough to paint, but they were deemed good enough for clean up. So while the big people painted, the pans, rollers, and brushes were handed to me to clean. And the big people were picky. Needless to say I got really good at cleaning.

The funny thing is how the nasty tasks you’re stuck with as a child become the tasks you absolutely abhor as an adult. I can get through the biggest painting project without batting an eye, but I totally blanch at the clean up that inevitably follows. If I felt okay with it, throwing it all away would be absolute bliss for me. Unfortunately I still have those brushes of incredible quality that my dad used to paint with so I am forced to care for them.

Forced isn’t really an accurate term — I lovingly care for those brushes because in doing so I remember the man who used them and taught me how to use them with skill. Still hate the whole brush cleaning process. Sorry daddy.

Why I love (quality) bristle brushes

There’s more to foam brushes vs. brushes you clean and keep than “easy” or “green”  — there’s quality of application.

I’m not buying that anyone can cut in along the ceiling with a foam brush. I also don’t believe anyone can get paint up into tight corners with a foam brush. Top this off with the fact that they quickly break down and don’t last long enough to complete a big project.

Case in point: I’ve been painting kitchen cabinets for the first time in my life. I bought high quality mohair rollers (which I would want to clean) and tried to get by with foam brushes for all the corners, etc.

There were several problems with the foam brush. It didn’t apply a nice coat of paint to the cabinets where I used it. When I was working on the bottom of the cabinets (the most dreaded part of this operation) I could not, for the life of me, force paint up into the corners. Wouldn’t you think foam would do a better job than bristle? Wrong. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get paint up there.

On the second coat of paint for the cabinets I switched to a quality bristly brush. Where I had been totally unable to fill paint into the corners, it flowed in with no problem. Where the foam brush provided smeared coverage of boards that couldn’t be rolled, the brush flowed paint on with smooth coverage.

One the baseboards (where I was trying to cover black with snow white) the brush flowed paint on with thorough coverage.

It was a thing of beauty.

Final analysis

While I absolutely detest cleaning brushes after a paint job, I have such good results when cutting in around ceilings, windows, doors, and baseboards, filling paint into corners that I will suffer the pain of cleaning brushes for the outstanding application.

Where do I think foam brushes are perfect? I always keep a stash of touch up paint (in old peanut butter jars that have rubber seals) and a good quantity of foam brushes for touching up spots on the walls to keep them looking perfect. That way me and the dogs don’t have to be perfect. Accidentally slam a chair into the wall? Throw a dog toy that marks the wall? No worries — take a few minutes every once in a while to touch up the marks.

Big project? Use a high quality brush that’s appropriate for the type of paint you’re going to use. Personally, I love Purdy brushes, but I suspect Wooster and others are also good.

And be patient with yourself. Learning to cut in is a skill that includes knowing what side of the brush to load the paint on, how much paint to load, and how to angle the brush. It takes practice, but once learned provides beautiful results. And painting can become fun. I’m not sure the clean up can ever be fun…