100% pure bristle?

[sabinoerc]

What would be a non-pure bristle?

 

[marak]

Synthetic: nylon or polyester.

 

[neophyte]

Synthetic, or a mix of synthetic and bristle.
pure bristle is usually preferred for oil and alkyd paints, and dome specialty applications, and also shellac.
Synthetic is usually preferred gor water based finishes.
A large amount of the bristle hair used for brushes comes from China, however, in my experience, most Chinese made brushes are sort of ****.
US and European made brushes are usually better, but can sometimes be pricey.

 

[sabinoerc]

I’ve seen plenty of brushes with synthetic bristles. Some brushes with hair bristles. Seems all brushes have bristles of one kind or another and all are 100% ”bristle”

 

[four.cycle]

Nomenclature on paint brushes has always been a bit sketchy.
The "camel hair" brush was not invented by a Mr. Camel, and it does not use hairs from camels. The bristles are squirrel hair.
Long ago you could buy "sable" brushes that actually used hairs from the sable, but the Soviet Government put a stop to that in the early 1970s. (Glad I was able to get mine while they were still available. No comparison to current production stuff.) No idea what they're made of now, but they still call them "sable brushes".

Any brush from China would be strictly a one-use deal, and only used on a "quick and dirty" job. I have a bird feeder and an old folding deck chair that got a coat of stain last night with a cheapo Chinese "chip brush" (as they are called.) Use 'em once and toss 'em.

Real paint brushes are made by companies like Purdy. Worth every penny.

 

[Under_Pressure]

I think when they say that, they are implying a very specific (and perhaps archaic) definition of bristle, that being natural bristle from an animal (likely a pig). As opposed to common usage which means any fibers on a brush or broom, regardless of origin. One might think of that as a premium feature, but based on the price and origin of those kinds of brushes, boar bristle might be the cheapest thing to use in China, since they go through a lot of pigs.

 

[RTM]

Little bit of definition. Bristle implies animal product, and not to be used for water based paints, unless you want to ruin them. I think 100% bristle, and a correctly labeled brush, should be 100% animal product.

Black China vs. White China Bristle Brush: What’s Better?

The more paint your brush can hold, the less time it will take for you to complete your project. You increase your productivity because you have to dip your brush in the paint fewer times. This is where a China bristle brush can help. But what are these brushes made up, what can you use

repaintnow.com

 

[four.cycle]

^ I've been painting for well over half a century and I've never heard the term "China bristle" anywhere.

 

[jsmeece]

^ I've been painting for well over half a century and I've never heard the term "China bristle" anywhere.

WOOSTER PRO WHITE CHINA BRISTLE ANGLE SASH • Wooster Brush

With the right tools, you can accomplish anything.

www.woosterbrush.com

 

[RTM]

Funny, I was just at Wooster's site prior to posting, but they didn't have the clear definition I was looking for.

I've only seen China Bristle showing up lately. Boar Bristle was a term I recall seeing in the past.

 

[jsmeece]

I am not a big fan or Wooster I prefer Purdy brushes. But Purdy doesn't seem to use the term "china bristle" on their website or on their current product packaging, but I know Wooster still does. Not sure why Purdy chose not to, maybe political reasons, not sure. I think boar and pig bristle are likely synonymous in this case. I have a brush at home I use for shellac that is ox hair. Think my dad still has an old sable hair brush.

I was always under the impression that bristle meant boar/pig hair when referring to paint brushes. So a 100% bristle brush contain 100% boar/pig hair, could be black or white or a combination of both.

Here is a pretty good explanation on this website they may help the OP. https://www.lumberjocks.com/stevenhsieh/blog/23829

 

[neophyte]

Nomenclature on paint brushes has always been a bit sketchy.
The "camel hair" brush was not invented by a Mr. Camel, and it does not use hairs from camels. The bristles are squirrel hair.
Long ago you could buy "sable" brushes that actually used hairs from the sable, but the Soviet Government put a stop to that in the early 1970s. (Glad I was able to get mine while they were still available. No comparison to current production stuff.) No idea what they're made of now, but they still call them "sable brushes".

Any brush from China would be strictly a one-use deal, and only used on a "quick and dirty" job. I have a bird feeder and an old folding deck chair that got a coat of stain last night with a cheapo Chinese "chip brush" (as they are called.) Use 'em once and toss 'em.

Real paint brushes are made by companies like Purdy. Worth every penny.

You can still purchase brushes made with genuine Sable hair, from high end art material suppliers.
“kolinsky” Sable, is usually a higher quality preferred variant.
The brushes are usually very expensive though, and usually used for watercolor, and sometimes fine oil painting.
By “very expensive” I mean that a single small Sable brush will cost the same as a top of the line large pure bristle painters brush by a manufacturer like Corona.

As far as brush bristle materials go, there’s pig and boar bristle, which is separate into Noack and White( black is sometimes more expensive, but I don’t know if it’s actually any better)
Squirrel hair is sometimes used as a replacement for sable, as is Ox hair.
Goat hair, horse hair, etc. are also used for different types of brushes.
Badger hair is preferred for certain uses like thin washes of color, as well as fine shellac finishes over large areas, but genuine badge hair brushes are very expensive, and not easily available.
There are Badger hair brushes that are more readily available, but these are usually a mix of badger hair and boar bristle.
Nowadays there are plenty of brushes that are a mix of natural boarvor other hair, and synthetic, with the natural hair providing smooth covering, while the synthetic provides springiness which would be lost with pure natural bristle when using modern water based finishes.

Part of the issue with brushes, is they need to be chosen for the paint or finish being used, for not only things like oil or water based, but also for the viscosity of the finish, and where the finish is being applied.

 

[sabinoerc]

I think when they say that, they are implying a very specific (and perhaps archaic) definition of bristle, that being natural bristle from an animal (likely a pig). As opposed to common usage which means any fibers on a brush or broom, regardless of origin. One might think of that as a premium feature, but based on the price and origin of those kinds of brushes, boar bristle might be the cheapest thing to use in China, since they go through a lot of pigs.

I think you're probably right. I just assumed bristle meant the bristley things in a brush and all brushes were 100% bristle. As mentioned, there are many synthetic bristle brushes, etc.

I also assumed that for a brush that retails for about a buck, it'd be coming off some big, mass produced line where plastic goes in one end and brushes out the other. I expected the bristles on this brush to be some cheap synthetic extruded something.

However, it appears the bristles on that brush are actually some animal hair. Looking close there are different color bristles, different stiffness bristles and they appear to burn and not just melt.
I guess somewhere in China they have cheap labor collecting hair from slaughtered pigs or whatever and ending up in really cheap brushes....

 

[four.cycle]

@neophyte

here's a few of mine. (more out in the garage and other places}


most of these are pretty old.... earliest would be ... mid-1960s....
the stuff with russian sable and badger is in another place in the garage.
other stuff jammed into other places here and there.