Bristle Brush Material Descriptions

Our thanks to Gordon Brush for allowing us to reprint the following article.

ANIMAL HAIR Red Sable: The hair of the red sable is the most valuable
of all soft hairs. It is very fine, has strong, sharp points and
great elasticity and carries color well. Red sable hair
makes the finest artists’ brushes, being particularly suited
for use with Japan colors, oil colors and heavy- bodied
sign- writing materials, and is best for fine lettering. Pure
red sable hair has a perpetual taper, creating the finest
point possible on a bristle brush.

Goat Hair: A very fine hair with limited elasticity. It has a Skunk or Fitch: This hair is rarely used alone. Combined
natural kink that cannot be straightened. Used for short, with Chinese hog bristle, it makes excellent sign writer’s
soft bristle brushes like cosmetic brushes. Available in brushes. Grey skunk hair from eastern and western
natural black and white, and dyed in blue, brown, gold, Europe has been found to be ideal for bristle brushes
green, gray, and purple. used in the manufacture of shade cloth.

Hog Bristle: Relatively scarce and expensive. This Squirrel: This hair is divided into blue squirrel and
material has characteristics that set it apart as the best Canadian squirrel. A very fine hair used for applying thin
natural filling material for a wide variety of bristle brushes. lacquers, Japan colors, light- bodied varnishes, and for
Each strand of bristle has a natural taper from the butt or general artwork, lettering and striping, as well as, cosmetic
flesh end to the tip, giving it resilience not found in other brushes.
hairs. In addition, the tip end of each bristle is naturally
split into two or more branches called the flag. Hog bristle
VEGETABLE FIBER
has a slightly stiff to very stiff texture and is brown or black
in color excellent for ESD applications. It has excellent
durability and water resistance.

Horsehair: Horsehair is a medium to high cost material.

Tail hair is stiffer than mane hair. Its soft to slightly stiff
texture gives a scratch- free dry cleaning and has very
good durability. Not resistant to acids or alkalis. Used for
buffing, cleaning, dusting, and finishing in a variety of
bristle brush styles: floor sweeps, shoe shine brushes, tin
handle acid brushes, counter dusters, and window Bass or Piassava: Obtained from the leaves of palm
brushes, excellent for ESD applications. Heat distortion trees grown in West Africa. Two varieties of this fiber are
temperature is 370o F. available: Calabar Fiber, which is very coarse and brittle
and Sherebro Fiber which is very stiff and pliable. This
Camel Hair: Camel Hair brushes are not usually made fiber is light brownish red and very coarse. It is used
from camel hair. Rather, “camel hair” is a more generic primarily in street brooms.
term used for lower priced, soft hair that is commonly used
for artist brushes. Bassine: A select grade of Palmyra fiber, stiffer, more
durable and more resistant to water. A very dark brown in
Ox Hair: In proportion to its diameter, ox hair is perhaps color. Its coarseness and good water resistance make it
the stiffest of all soft hairs. Ox hair is particularly sought ideal for stiff scrub brushes and is widely used in conveyor
after in artist or dental brushes for fine lettering, striping cleaning brushes.
and marking brushes.

1547 N. Trooper Road • P. O. Box 1117 • Worcester, PA 19490-1117 USA

Corporate Phone: 610-825-4990 • Sales: 800-832-4866 or 610-941-2400
Fax: 800-854-8665 or 610-828-5623 • Web: www.techni-tool.com
Kittool: Extremely tough, dyed glossy black for the brush Nylon - Type 6: Provides a good durable nylon with good
industry. Used in roofing brushes and saturated felt recovery, temperature stability and abrasion resistance at
brushes. a low cost.

Palmetto: Produced from the Florida Palmetto Palm. It is Nylon - Type 6.6: Top quality, medium- priced with higher
coarse, reddish in color and oil treated for wet stiffness, recovery, and abrasion resistance than type 6. It
applications. Palmetto is a quality bristle brush fiber, has the highest heat distortion temperature of the three
widely used in deck and can scrubs, garage sweeps, nylons at 300o F.
whisk brooms, etc.
Nylon - Type 6.12: Superior type nylon used in
Palmyra: A cinnamon colored fiber produced from the applications calling for low water absorption. It has
base of the leaf stalks of the India Palmyra palm. It has a excellent bend recovery, and abrasion resistance. This is
medium stiff to stiff texture and is light to dark brown in the highest-grade nylon and they resist rot and mildew
color. It is finer, less stiff, more brittle, and of lower quality and discourage bacterial growth. Type 6.12
than bassine. Used in garage floor brushes, fender Nylon bristles are FDA approved and widely used in
washing brushes, deck brushes, and scrub brushes. medical brushes, pharmaceutical brushes and food
service brushes.
Rice Root: Made from the roots of Eipcames Macecura
found in central Mexico and Guatemala. This is a crinkly, Nylon - Conductive: A type 6.6 nylon with an electrically
yellow, fibrous root called Zacatan or rice root. This fiber conductive coating suffused onto the surface for antistatic
finds limited use in dairy scrubs and horse grooming bristle brush applications.
brushes.
Polyester: A polymer that replaces horsehair. Its features
Tampico: Produced in Mexico from the stalk of the Agave of toughness and high temperature resistance resembles
plant. Has a soft to medium texture and is off white in those of Nylon, but Polyester is noted for its ability to
color. It is often dyed and blended to give the desired recover without whip or slapping action – it will not mat.
effects to a bristle brush. It is heat, alkali, and acid Polyester has excellent resistance to all acids, alkalis,
resistant. The porous fibers absorb water and work wet or alcohols, gasoline, benzene and most cleaning solvents. It
dry. More aggressive than nylon or horsehair. Used for is a medium- priced filament that resists mildew, bacteria
removing surface particles and tool marks, dusting, wet and fungus growth.
scrubbing, cleaning, and spreading liquids. Excellent for
removing light feather burrs and for light edge blending Peek: A durable thermoplastic that offers good chemical
when used with a compound. Heat distortion temperature resistance and is ideal for high heat and corrosive
is 283o F. environments. Peek provides excellent flexural and tensile
strength up to 480o F and is a great alternative to .
Union Fiber: A mixture of two or more materials – usually
tampico and palmyra. It has a medium stiff texture. Polyethylene: a soft durable material suitable for
applications where abrasion is to be avoided. These
flexible bristles are very efficient for thorough washing and
SYNTHETIC polishing of delicate fruits and vegetables. Polyethylene is
ideal for soft wiping instead of a brushing action.

Polypropylene: A versatile low cost filament used for a

wide variety of applications. Polypropylene will not absorb
moisture or odors and sheds dirt easily. It has excellent
wet stiffness, abrasive tip cleaning action, non- brittle, and
is inert to most solvents, oil, acids, and chemicals. It is, in
fact, one of the most chemically resistant synthetic
filament materials.
Carbon Fiber: A very fine [ .0003O ] fiber of 94% pure
carbon. Fiber has a tensile strength of 525 Ksi, a tensile Polystyrene: This material has replaced natural bristles
modulus of 33 Msi, and an electrical resistivity of .00055 for use where chemical resistance is needed. Its stiff
Ohms- in. aggressive properties make it ideal for utility brushes,
coffee urn brushes, deck scrub brushes, floor and garage
Nylon Abrasive: A long wearing abrasive nylon filament brushes. Polystyrene bristles wear longer, perform better,
impregnated with silicone carbide particles. We stock and yet carry a comparable price tag to natural bristles.
several filament diameters and silicone carbide particle
sizes.

1547 N. Trooper Road • P. O. Box 1117 • Worcester, PA 19490-1117 USA

Corporate Phone: 610-825-4990 • Sales: 800-832-4866 or 610-941-2400
Fax: 800-854-8665 or 610-828-5623 • Web: www.techni-tool.com
PTFE: A Polymer that is inert to most chemicals, resistant Brass: 360 alloy. The softest metal fiber available.
to strong mineral and oxidizing acids, along with alcohols, Straight or crimped. Used for light to medium cleaning and
ketones, ethers, amines, esters, chlorinated compounds luster finishing.
and common cleaning solvents. PTFE has excellent
property resilience up to 500o F. Carbon Steel: Available both tempered and untempered,
in a variety of sizes, straight or crimped. This is a widely
PVC: An economical material with a reasonable flex life, used metal fill material. It has excellent cutting ability and
low friction resistance and no loss of stiffness in water. fatigue resistance for long brush life at a low cost. It is
used for general- purpose cleaning, rust removal,
Static Dissipative Nylon: A type 6.12 Nylon with a deburring, edge blending, and roughing for adhesion.
surface resistivity of 109 that does not shed or slough and
is cleanroom compatible. Nickel Silver: This alloy nominally contains 65% copper
and 18% nickel. The alloy’s electrical conductivity is about
Statigo 9: A static dissipative Nylon that is thick enough to 6% that of copper. Very resistant to most chemicals, this
do mechanical work, does not shed or slough and is alloy is used in staple wires as well as fill material.
cleanroom compatible.
Phosphor Bronze: C51000, phosphor bronze B, is non-
Thunderon®: An acrylic fiber that has been chemically sparking and about 1/5 as conductive as copper. Stronger
bonded with a layer of copper sulfide. This outer layer than brass [F73 Rockwell] and lasts longer. Resists
becomes a part of the host fiber itself, which precludes the corrosion and fatigue due to flexing.
'flaking' problem experienced by other conductive fibers.
The fiber diameter is as fine as .004 cm (.0015") and its Stainless Steel: Type 302 stainless for wet and no rust
conductive layer is a super thin 300-1,000A (angstroms). It applications in a variety of sizes, straight or crimped.
has electrical specific resistance of 101 - 102 Ω / Highly corrosion and heat resistant and unlike carbon
cm.Thunderon®. steel, stainless steel does not leave after- rust deposits
when used on stainless steel, aluminum, and other high-
Tynex A: A long wearing abrasive nylon filament strength alloys. However, once used on carbon steel it
impregnated with silicone carbide particles. We stock cannot be used on stainless steel or rusting can occur.
several filament diameters and silicone carbide particle Used in corrosive environments for general purpose
sizes. cleaning, rust removal, deburring, edge blending, and
roughing for adhesion. Stainless Steel is FDA approved
and widely used in medical brushes, pharmaceutical
WIRE brushes and food service brushes.

Note: The austenitic 302 steel used in our brushes is cold worked
[drawn] to achieve the desired tensile strength. This results in the
steel becoming somewhat magnetic. This magnetism is normal and
is not an indication that the wire is not stainless.

Aluminum: Soft and non- corrosive. Bends easily and

takes a set. Recommended for special applications only.

1547 N. Trooper Road • P. O. Box 1117 • Worcester, PA 19490-1117 USA

Corporate Phone: 610-825-4990 • Sales: 800-832-4866 or 610-941-2400
Fax: 800-854-8665 or 610-828-5623 • Web: www.techni-tool.com