Arc 724 Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) On 9/22/2019 at 3:00 PM, Flash Swaggins said: So, I have used the basic Reaper brushes and some cheap ones from Target. I bought a slightly better set from Amazon. I finally decided to buy a Winsor and Newton #7 now that I feel like I semi know what I am doing. I got it from Amazon. It came in a Winsor tube with a clear cover. I started using it and now I am getting a lot of errant hairs and a split tip. I ordered a replacement, just got it. It's doing the same thing. Does Amazon not sell real Winsor and Newton brushes or am I doing something wrong? The reason I bought one was to get better control and longevity out of my brushes, but both of these are the opposite of quality so far. I have attached a picture for reference. Any help would be appreciated. I'll be completely upfront about this. I will not be buying W&N7 brushes for a while. I bought mine the same why you did after having a 4 months battle with replacement brushes they kept sending me cause mine would split after 3 uses and probably care I just gave up. I email the rep. that was helping me and told her I could not afford to wait time on this issue any more. There are to many other brush companies out there making decent brushes. I now have 3 or 4 of these brushes and all of them are split. I've even tired to condition them and it doesn't work. Something has changed in their manufacturing in the past year or two and it's hot garbage. I've had two previous to this incident that where wonderful and then it all went downhill from there. ---- On 9/22/2019 at 3:29 PM, LittleBluberry said: I had a Windsor and Newton brush that also liked to split. Some brush restorer and conditioner did improve it, but only somewhat. I've heard that they can be hit or miss when you order them from Amazon, a good art supply store will let you test it in water before buying. I've switched to different brushes entirely. You might want to look at Dick Blick instead of Amazon--they are specifically an art store and won't keep trying to resell the same defective brushes, which is what I suspect Amazon does. That is good advise. I need to check that out as well. Thanks Little -------------- And that Jackson Art sounds amazing. I will have to go give them a gander. :) Edited September 25, 2019 by Arc 724 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsgeek Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 I've got several W&NS7 brushes from about 8-10 years ago and they are - by far - the best brushes I've ever owned and used. I've been hearing A LOT of complaints in the past 2 years or so about how their quality has gone down quite a bit. If that's true then it's very sad because these brushes were fantastic. I've tried brushes from many manufacturers since and IMO none compare to the W&NS7 that I have. It's going to be a sad, sad day once these finally give out on me completely. A few are starting to show their age already. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 21 minutes ago, starwarsgeek said: I've got several W&NS7 brushes from about 8-10 years ago and they are - by far - the best brushes I've ever owned and used. I've been hearing A LOT of complaints in the past 2 years or so about how their quality has gone down quite a bit. If that's true then it's very sad because these brushes were fantastic. I've tried brushes from many manufacturers since and IMO none compare to the W&NS7 that I have. It's going to be a sad, sad day once these finally give out on me completely. A few are starting to show their age already. FWIW, I have some recently purchased S7 brushes that are quite good. I don't know whether they fixed their problems fully or it's just that their quality is less consistent than it was and I got lucky. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Swaggins Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 Their rep has been really helpful, but I don't really want to wait to send my brush to New Jersey when I can get a refund from Amazon and go get something now. She did tell me that they are actively discouraging mini painters from using them because the acrylic damages the hairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMandolin Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 On 9/22/2019 at 4:29 PM, LittleBluberry said: I had a Windsor and Newton brush that also liked to split. Some brush restorer and conditioner did improve it, but only somewhat. I've heard that they can be hit or miss when you order them from Amazon, a good art supply store will let you test it in water before buying. I've switched to different brushes entirely. You might want to look at Dick Blick instead of Amazon--they are specifically an art store and won't keep trying to resell the same defective brushes, which is what I suspect Amazon does. I definitely recommend ordering off an actual art store website like Dick Blick, and I like give my brushes a bit of a light wash and precondition with some brush soap. Also, I had trouble with W&N, even though they were highly recommended. I never got a good one. I heard (like people have mentioned) that they changed manufacturing styles or something before I got into painting so maybe all the good ones are now just a memory :( I highly recommend Rosemary and Co, series 33. I only had one come to me with a split tip and they immediately replaced it. Also their Eclipse series is really really awesome for synthetics. I'm trying to switch to purely synthetics, or at least saving my real hair brushes for only the finest of details so that they last longer. I (stupidly) didn't realize that the animals are killed in harvesting and now I have guilt!!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyradis Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 6 hours ago, TheMandolin said: I definitely recommend ordering off an actual art store website like Dick Blick, and I like give my brushes a bit of a light wash and precondition with some brush soap. Also, I had trouble with W&N, even though they were highly recommended. I never got a good one. I heard (like people have mentioned) that they changed manufacturing styles or something before I got into painting so maybe all the good ones are now just a memory :( I highly recommend Rosemary and Co, series 33. I only had one come to me with a split tip and they immediately replaced it. Also their Eclipse series is really really awesome for synthetics. I'm trying to switch to purely synthetics, or at least saving my real hair brushes for only the finest of details so that they last longer. I (stupidly) didn't realize that the animals are killed in harvesting and now I have guilt!!!!! They're not only killed for the brushes; other hairs get used in clothing. I hope that it goes to many uses instead of wasting it. Synthetics have a different set of issues: they don't tend to last as long, and they aren't biodegradable like natural hairs. So you produce more waste that can't break down. Either way, we're screwed with our hobby on that front. I go with the natural, but see why folks would be saddened by it. I'm rather annoyed by the non-reusable bags that the Kickstarter Core sets come in. Really, at least give us zippies! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 For ten years, I’ve been hearing the same story about W&N Series 7 brushes: “They were good up until a couple of years ago.” Again, I’ve heard that exact line... for ten years. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But the timeline does strike me as odd... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 I would say 10 years is accurate based on the last time I got a WnN brush 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanael Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 I got several WNS7 brushes about 12 years ago and still use one of them. There were several years, starting maybe six years ago through maybe a year or two ago, that kolinsky sable was very difficult to get (trade and politics, afaik, not a lack of weasels); the WNS7 brushes I picked up during that time were terrible, many times over. I picked up two about six months ago, and they're working nicely. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Just received my house brand brushes from Jackson's. Packing was impeccable. I'll be interested in seeing how the house brand works and will go to Jackson's for further, higher quality brush orders. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMandolin Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 On 10/7/2019 at 4:40 PM, Cyradis said: Either way, we're screwed with our hobby on that front. I go with the natural, but see why folks would be saddened by it. I'm rather annoyed by the non-reusable bags that the Kickstarter Core sets come in. Really, at least give us zippies! Agreed! little ziplocs would be more useful and reusable. I try to cut off the tops instead of tearing them so they can be sort of little bags, but it's not very successful. Hopefully synthetics will continue to get better and better, and the real artist ones are a worlds away from like the cheap hobby lobby ones which get worn out so quickly. I feel a little better since at least my natural brushes are so tiny, not the like the real watercolor brushes. I just try to take really really good care of them to get the maximum possible use from them 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painting Dog Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 I haven't been painting as long as some (maybe 8 or 10 years), but I have never really like W&N brushes. From the beginning, I've always had the splitting problem, and found it very frustrating. Maybe it's something with the way I use / clean them, I don't know. But I switched over to using Rosemary & Co. a few years ago, and they've been beautiful for me. So I'm sticking with what works. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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