paint brush, cow's hair, flat tip

The classic Waldorf school brush with a natural handle and soft cow hair.  With proper care these brushes will last for a long time.

For the lower grades, we recommend sizes 16, 18, or 20 and for kindergarten, sizes 20 or 22.  The size refers to the width of the brush bristles at the ferrule.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) birch wood handle.  This wood is obtained from responsible and controlled forestry in Germany and the Baltic States.  The wax used to seal the wood is entirely from natural ingredients.  The big advantage of this 'coating' is that water and paint do not adversely affect the handle and damage it.  The handle has a nice natural 'look' and feels somewhat rougher than if it was lacquered.  This improves the grip.  The bristles are soft, flexible, and retain their shape, have a high uptake capacity and are ideally suited for all techniques of watercolour painting. 

Guide to choosing a painbrush: The brush is the painter's most important tool.  Polecat tail hairs offer the finest natural bristle paintbrushes for ever artistic need.  Polecat tail hairs make perfect watercolour brushes, boar bristle is used for robust brushes (affordable and not needing as much vigilant TLC in washing, yet stiffer and doesn't bend as nicely for finer strokes), and cow's hair is used for quality school classroom environment brushes (due to softness and length of time they'll keep their integrity).  Lastly, the 'kindergarten' brushes in our range, sold separately, have shorter handles and these classic Waldorf brushes have natural waxed handles with soft cow's hair bristles.

Care of brushes: If these quality brushes are used, cleaned, and stored properly, they last for years without loss of hair and/or form.  Do not use synthetic chemical products when painting or cleaning.  Just rinse under the tap with lukewarm (not hot) water.  It is most important to let the brushes hang to dry, with the bristles down.  In this way, you give the water time to drain out of the brush so that the glue that binds the bristles at the base is not dissolved in the ferrule, which attaches to the bristles to the handle.  If this is not possible to dry the brushes upside down, they will still last well for many years of moderate use, but it is the ideal situation if one can manage this set-up at home.  The brush holder we sell is ideal for this task, and geared towards classrooms, but for a more makeshift home upside-down painting brush, there are some great DIY options.

Made in Germany.