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I bought a whole slew of new brushes last year, and they've almost all gone to pot. The only one that hasn't is a Citadel Layer brush. I can't be sure, but I may just not have used it as much as some of the similar brushes. I've done some research, and although the Citadel site says their synthetics are supposed to be more resilient, mine have all gotten ratched. The layer brush that I've got that's still good is supposed to be sable.

The Citadel brushes seem a bit pricey, so I will likely go to the art store to replace the sizes and shapes that have crapped out on me. If I want brushes that will keep their shape, and not curl at the end, is it good enough to just get real sable, or do I have to look for the highest quality sable? Or is there something else out there that's better and or cheaper?

Rosemary and Co, Raphael, Winsor and Newton

Least expensive to most expensive.

Synthetic brushes are terrible, ignore the GW site for anything to do with brushes - their artificer brushes are the only decent ones they have, and they are 2x the price that they should be.

In general, brushes from a proper art store will be better than Citadel and much better priced. But there are always exceptions of course...

One thing though, are you cleaning and storing your brushes properly? This seems to be the most common reason to why brushes have a very short lifespan.

And in what way are they spent? Bristles bent? pointing all over the place? Or some other reason?

If the problem is in handling, buying better brushes will not help you much.

As Granander says above, look into your whole routine with regards to your brushes. A tiny bit of paint that is allowed to dry in the ferrule will cause the bristles to splay.
I now use The Masters brush cleaner and find it perfect for not only cleaning but also maintaining brushes.
And on the brushes front, buy the best you can afford. I used to use a mixture of synthetics and cheapish sable brushes. I now use Windsor & Newton series 7 and wish I'd bought them sooner.
Don't buy Games Workshop tools, they'll be expensive and inferior to items you can buy else where.

Take Granderer's advice about cleaning to heart =) When you're done with a brush, it should look just like it was when it was brand new, without a speck of paint on it, not discolored, and with the bristles all coming to a point (not splayed), if your goal is to have your brushes last.

As they age, natural hair brushes should lose bristles. Making the point less sharp and reducing the amount of paint they hold. Synthetic brushes should kink at the tips. But neither should ever become splayed or badly discolored.

Regarding GW tools: for sure, there are some tools that are superior or cheaper in some categories, but in others, GW is as good or better than the competition. As an example, all of the drybrushes, mold line remover, and diagonal cutters are top notch tools for certain cases.

Spend $6 on some brush cleaner. It will work wonders. It's the best investment I've ever made for my hobby. The cleaner breathed new life into some of my dirty brushes that I thought were done. I take great care of my Windsor & Newtons, and they've been holding up well. If you are unable to get brush cleaner you can use hair shampoo in a pinch, but the brush cleaner works better.

I must admit, I do have a bad habit of letting paint get into the ferrule. I have some brushes that have kept perfect shape in spite of this for years, and many that have not. I'm going to have to look into the cleaner.

For the most part, I have issues with individual or very limited strands of hairs going rogue. not usually a big deal to cut thos out, although the brushes do tend to get smaller that way... The most annoying thing is the tips curling. Only synthetics do this?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is this the stuff?

https://www.amazon.ca/Masters-Brush-Cleaner-Preserver-1-Ounce/dp/B001TNR7VM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462749615&sr=8-1&keywords=master+brush+cleaner

 Weboflies wrote:
I must admit, I do have a bad habit of letting paint get into the ferrule. I have some brushes that have kept perfect shape in spite of this for years, and many that have not. I'm going to have to look into the cleaner.

For the most part, I have issues with individual or very limited strands of hairs going rogue. not usually a big deal to cut thos out, although the brushes do tend to get smaller that way... The most annoying thing is the tips curling. Only synthetics do this?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is this the stuff?

https://www.amazon.ca/Masters-Brush-Cleaner-Preserver-1-Ounce/dp/B001TNR7VM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462749615&sr=8-1&keywords=master+brush+cleaner

Yes, but go buy it at Deserres locally. They also sell Winsor and Newton brushes.

http://www.deserres.ca/en-ca/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwx7u5BRC1lePz2biJpIYBEiQA-ZeDmkyrKM5nFcg8_IH27C5ap-cj3yRVk5bh5-EE_b8Tn40aAkzt8P8HAQ

A local art store had a sale on Windsor and Newton Series 7 highest quality sable brushes over the weekend, and I acquired 3 of them. I'm very impressed, although the points on them are in a sense too fine. I'm having to either do my edging with a lighter color ( a lot of the colour variations for my main army are pre-mixed, and kind of set in stone), or try to be just sloppy enough to blow the line out and go just the right amount wider. I think I might actually buy another Citadel Layer Brush and take really good care of it for this specific purpose...

If you're in Australia, don't buy W&N brushes from art stores, there are numerous online hobby stores in the country that sell for less than the exclusive distributor sells for.

2 more tips in addition to whats been said already.

Dont clean them with hot water. It makes bristles curl.

Leave some masters brush soap holding the shape of the tip, and rinse this off just before you start painting again.

That's handy info, thanks.