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Best Paintbrush for Latex Paint

Updated: Sep. 29, 2022

Learn what type of paintbrush spreads paint smoothly and evenly along edges.

Family Handyman

A professional painter with 30-years experience shows you his favorite paintbrush for cutting in smooth, even edges with latex paint—an angled brush with a special blend of high quality synthetic bristles.

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

Video: How to Clean Paintbrushes

The best paintbrush for cutting in edges with latex paint

Sash brush

A sash brush has an angled tip. Synthetic bristles are the best choice for latex paint.

Stiff bristles

Look for stiffer bristles for spreading heavier paint. Store the brush in its paper sleeve to help retain the bristle shape.

Professional painter—and ballroom dancer extraordinaire—Bill Nunn says the clear choice is a high-quality synthetic “sash” paintbrush. (That’s the type with the angled bristles.)

“They can be found in nylon, a nylon and polyester blend, and Chinex. Nylon is a soft and fine filament and feathers paint well. In combination with polyester, it has a firmer feel and can help you spread a heavier paint. The firmness is usually marked on the paper wrapper, to which I always return a brush at day’s end to preserve the shape. Chinex is a trade name for a synthetic bristle designed to help you with cleanup. It sheds paint well, especially the newer acrylics, but also applies oil paint well.”

Meet the Expert

For more than 30 years, Bill Nunn, owner of William Nunn Painting, has specialized in interior and exterior painting, wall-coverings and wood finishing.

Originally Published: June 20, 2017