WoosterBrush F5116-4 Stainer Stain Brush, 4-Inch

The item in the listing clearly showed "Made in Italy" on the handle but the item received did not have any writing on the handle. The stamping on the metal around the bristles was clearly not the same and the wrapper said "Manufactured in Turkey". The reason that this is important to me is that several years ago I purchased a similar brush that was made in Italy and it performed great for many years. It was starting to load up a bit and I wanted a replacement and found the Wooster brush in a paint store. It looked somewhat like my old one but it was made in Turkey and I didn't buy it and started looking on Ebay and Amazon for one made in Italy. I found one on each site that showed one and pretty quickly realized what was going on: the brush made in Italy was sold in stores several years ago under a different brand; some time later Wooster started selling it under their name; then, probably to reduce costs, had a similar brush made in Turkey (the one that is now widely sold). I contacted Wooster and they verified this and said that the bristles and metal ferrule design had changed. I figured that the "Made in Italy" brushes on Amazon and Ebay were probably the (desirable) discontinued ones that were bought up to resale. So, I ordered one from Amazon, saw that it wasn't, and returned it. Then I contacted the Ebay seller to verify that his brush was one of the ones "Made in Italy" and he said yes but it turned out it was the same as the Amazon one from Turkey. He had some lame excuse, but to his credit he realized the mistake and refunded my money, letting me keep the brush. I haven't yet used the brush so it may perform well. The reason that I am making such a big deal about this is, unlike almost everyone that uses this brush for staining, I am using it to apply a high quality ($75/gal.) Sikkens varnish and it does a beautiful job, due to the soft bristles that don't shed. I know that Italian brushes are typically high quality and I will probably just continue using the 15 year old brush for future applications.

I use this brush every time that I stain my cedar deck. I like how you can unscrew the handle and thread in a Broom handle. I have a bad back and knees. So, the brush with the Broom handle allows me to get the job done.

This is a high quality brush that has served me well with both outdoor staining on imperfect wood surfaces and smoothly and uniformly applying thick spar polyurethane without shedding its bristles. Unfortunately, with experience comes the knowledge that if you want a paintbrush that's up to the task of applying a sharp and professional appearance with your finishes without leaving behind its remnants, you are going to overpay. Sadly, I don't condone the price tag but, I will continue to use these brushes because they haven't let me down and I just can't stand having sand over and touch up my work due to a poor brush .

Excellent brush for deck staining. I have twice used this brand of brush to stain my deck (fairly good size deck, about 700 sq feet). This particular brush soaks up an incredible amount of stain and holds on to it, allowing you to apply quite a lot, very evenly across the boards. I used this with a TWP old based stain this last season and it performed great. Handle is removable so you can just grab it by the stock for the tight spots or you can screw in a regular broom handle if you want to save your back from all the bending. I ended up using it to do the horizontal and vertical surfaces, I have in the past used a rail stain pad but this year was just not working for me (slopped too much stain on). I usually end up buying a new brush every couple years when I need to do this job (if anyone has a sure fire way to save an oil stain brush for 2 years without drying out let me know). Its not the cheapest brush out there but the amount of effort involved in restaining a deck, it is worth the extra money to make sure it turns out perfect.

I chose this brush for my deck stain/sealer project based on its flexibility for using the comfortable wooden handle or with an extension handle. I rebuilt my 600 sq ft pressure treated deck a year ago and let it season before applying stain/sealer this spring. After seeing a UTube showing a deck professional using a brush with extension handle for the sealing job, I had to have one. I've gone the painting pad and roller route before, and I'm convinced that a good brush (along with proper wood prep) yields the best result. This brush worked perfectly to apply an even coat of stain on standard width deck boards and get between the board gaps too! I was overjoyed with the result despite the extra time required for a brush application. I had originally thought I would use the brush once and throw it away, but after a thorough cleaning with mineral spirits, this brush is good to go again! I'm convinced that investing in a good brush is the way to go.

I just finished staining my log home last year with Sashco Transformation redwood stain. The stain was sprayed on with an airless sprayer then back brushed vigorously using these brushes. This brush is very good at holding a large amount of stain (1 inch thickness) and the bristles are flexible enough to get into small spaces. It picks up stain nicely and distributes the stain across the log in an even layer. Bristles stay on the brush, I didn't find one bristle on my stained surface throughout this two week project.The handle unscrews so you can attach a broom handle if you need extra length. The brush also has a metal tab that you use to hook the brush on the side of your pail. I went through two 4" brushes and one 5.5" brush spraying a total of 25 gallons of stain.My stain was an oil base and the brushes cleaned up nicely with mineral spirits and kept their suppleness after cleaning. You get what you pay for and these are top notch staining brushes.

This brush made quick work of staining a cedar deck due to the width of the brush covering an entire board. Soaks up quite a bit of stain. As long as you're careful not to soak the brush right up to the hilt if you're using an oil stain it'll clean ok after the job. Used the brush to restain the deck twice and it's still in great shape.

Picks up a load of stain at a time and made short work of covering my 400sf deck evenly. The little metal hook is a convenient feature.