Tasks such as working with acids and other aggressive liquids require brushes without a metal ferrule. We have several purpose made brushes which are not "throwaway" brushes but intended for constant use.

Series 2482 is a square shaped black goat hair brush and Series 2483 is white synthetic both with wooden handles and no metal ferrule.

For lacquering we have Series 2011 in black Chinese bristle for extra resistance.

Watching an expert gilder at work is fascinating. Before lifting the gold leaf they sweep the brush or "tip" over their hair or hand to oil the brush and create static to hold the leaf to the brush. They then "dust" it to the prepared base with a soft squirrel or goat hair mop.

Our gilder's tips are made of finest blue squirrel in cardboard holders. Series 500 is a single thickness and Series 502 is double thickness. We have two dusting brushes, Series 450 is a black goat hair gilder's duster on a traditional plainwood handle whilst Series 710 is a squirrel mop on a shorter green coloured natural quill.

(For information on gold leaf and our other gilding materials look in our Pigments and Gold section of PAINT)

For achieving the many different special "faux" paint finishes such as marbling, stippling and scumbling appropriate brushes are needed. Badger blenders or "softeners" with their slightly wavy hairs are some of the most useful.

Series 96 is a classic square shaped softener, which we stock in 70mm wide but can obtain in larger sizes to order. Series 408 is fan shaped. We also have fan softeners in bristle, Series 404, which are firmer and squirrel, Series 407, which are softer than badger.

Amongst the more unusual looking brushes we have Wavy mottlers, Series 2468, which are used in imitating birch and other fine woods and for marbling and fantasy finishes. Pencil overgrainers, Series 2466, are wide ferruled brushes dividing into a number of individual fine "pencils" for imitating wood grain effects. The Series 2490 Floggers are made of long "Calcutta Bristle" which has superior elasticity for striping and glazing effects.The Sword Striper, Series 700, so called because of its shape is a traditional brush for drawing free hand lines. It is also used for drawing the veins in faux marble.

For varnishing it is best to have light coloured bristle. They are wide and flat and should, ideally, be kept for varnishing.

We have Whistler Lily Varnish s40 with short green handles from 20-100m, Whistler Sax Varnish s57 with a fuller head and a longer more painterly handle (much too useful to keep for varnishing) and a variety of cheaper varnish brushes which will not last as long.

Stencil brushes have very short handles and short stiff hog bristles which are used end on for stencilling and stippling techniques.

Our series 65 Whistler Stencil brush is a robust all purpose stippler with an unvarnished handle and a big range of sizes. Alternatively, for big areas we stock a rectangular stippler 100x25mm and can obtain many larger sizes to order.

Used for painted lettering a typical signwriters brush is a round soft haired brush with a chisel tip. We stock a good value hardwearing prolene version.

We also stock Sword Liners which are dagger shaped brushes for freehand lettering but also popular for veining marbled paint finishes.