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Paint Brushes for painting dollhouse?


pumkinpie

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I was wondering what type/size of brushes are good for painting a dollhouse exterior and interior? I am going to be using satin interior latex paint for the exterior of the dollhouse. I will use flat interior latex paint for priming the inside of the dollhouse.

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I guess you could use any size brush that you are comfortable with. For large areas I like to use about a 1" brush. Also, I like a soft brush. I have good quality brushes & cheap Dollar Store brushes. For priming large areas I like to use a little roller & pan that I got at Lowe's. Everyone has their favorite, so try several & go with whatever suits you.

Steve in PA

PS... I have also used spray paint !

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I guess you could use any size brush that you are comfortable with. For large areas I like to use about a 1" brush. Also, I like a soft brush. I have good quality brushes & cheap Dollar Store brushes. For priming large areas I like to use a little roller & pan that I got at Lowe's. Everyone has their favorite, so try several & go with whatever suits you.

Steve in PA

PS... I have also used spray paint !

i use spray paint to prime the walls and to paint the trim. If i have detail work i spray heavily in a small area on a paper plate but beware, using this method, dont plan on keeping the brush afterward its pretty much gets ruined extremely cheap ones are recommended.

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I'm rough on brushes, so I have about a dozen unopened packages of new brushes. I love 1" naturaly bristle paint brushes from the hardware store for priming and painting larger surfaces like walls & ceilings, and various artists' brushes for detail work. I use a soft rag (DH's old teeshirts) for applying stain, also for tack cloths.

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My ACE hardward had a dollar sale last summer, where a batch of 1" and 1/2" artist brushes were on sale. They are wonderful and such a bargain and perfect for painting dollhouses! The bristles were medium soft which stands up well to heavy usage!

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I have a favorite 1 and 1/2 inch angled Martha Steward brush that I love to paint exteriors with. I treat it like a queen, clean it and use it every time. I have a poney hair 1 inch brush and tons of various size interior brushes. The ones I use depend on the job at hand. I have liners and dotters, and blobbers, and even some foam throwout brushes(for ceilings) I don't think it matters much, so long as the brush is giving you the desired effect, and isn't too big to accidently spread paint where you don't want it.

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I'm working on my first house. I had no previous experience at painting at all. I suck at working with brushes, so I use rollers. I have some very small brushes (originally for applying eye make up :lol: ) that I use for touch ups.

I'm using a water based primer and acrylic paints.

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I have just never liked foam brushes, maybe because I'm so used to the other and too old to change? I use artist brushes for everything because I have lots of them. 3/4 inch for painting the exterior and walls, and a wonderful angle brush for cut in work. I have some old ones that are all splayed out and stiff at the base that I use for stippling, and el cheapo's that I use if it's not paint I can clean up with water. I use them once and throw them away because I'm lazy! I even save the handles off ruined brushes as the base is perfectly round for making dots, and the tip is tiny enough for eyes or poking holes in things!

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I even save the handles off ruined brushes as the base is perfectly round for making dots, and the tip is tiny enough for eyes or poking holes in things!

They'd make neat bedposts, too.

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I go to walmart in the craft section and pick up a package of the triangular shaped handle brushes that come in assorted sizes. I use the red triangular-shaped handle brush for exterior house work on a house the size of the Arthur, Orchid, etc., and for interior work. I use the smaller brushes for more detailed work. For a bigger house, I use a 1" brush, but being careful not to go too large otherwise you get brush strokes.

Christine

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I don't like the foam brushes except for applying stain.

I use a meduim quality 1" paint brush that I bought in the paint section for larger areas. I do have a 1-1/2" brush but I don't use it because it seems to big for me. For small areas and trim I use medium quality artist brushes of which I have varing sizes.

I have found that the trick to making them last longer is to clean them regularly, not to push down on the bristles while painting, to store them bristles up and not to mix type of paints used. I have found that cheap craft paints are much harder on the bristles than higher quality paints because of all the fillers in them.

I like the medium quality brushes because they last much longer than the cheap ones so they are cheaper due to not having to replace brushes all the time. While they don't last as long as the expensive ones they last long enough that the expensive brushes are not a good value for me.

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I watch for 1/2 off sales on nice artist brushes at AC Moore or Michaels. I've thrown out so many of the cheaper craft brushes because of paint flaking from the handles, the brush caps falling off and bristles that shed or splay out after a few uses. I have some less expensive hardware store ones that are good for big areas and undercoat layers.

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I haven't gotten to the priming/painting yet (just opened my dollhouse box this week!) but I am planning on using some small artist brushes for trim (I have a couple dozen to choose from) and then a 1" foam brush on the exterior. We'll see how it goes...

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I use a 1" brush for large areas, and smaller brushes for smaller areas. I suggest getting a large pack of assorted brushed from Walmart or Hobby Lobby. You can get a huge pack for about $5 that has several sizes and types. They are actually really good brushed too. I would only use foam brushes for stain, but if you want to reuse the foam brushes, get a good brand because those black foam things leave little black balls of foam behind, which is very noticeable on dollhouse trim and such. You can find the brush set in the craft section at walmart. The ones in the home improvement section are more expensive, and not as good.

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I just don't like foam at all, for anything. I don't think they spread evenly, or they get so heavy with paint that they don't work right, or soggy and nasty. I like a brush where I can see how much paint is on the brush, how evenly spread, etc.

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I liked using the foam brushes for siding on my house. I found it useful to get the blobbed paint out of the cracks in the laps. They worked terribly everywhere else except the stain on the floor. The foam brushes tend to get all ripped up on the wood. I used a chip brush for most of the other places. I wouldn't suggest that, that is just what I used. I've done A LOT of painting in my life and just went what I am familiar with. The chip brush worked pretty well except on the trim pieces, I tended to get too much paint on them. Lesson learned.

S

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