What is the best paintbrush brand and type for cutting in around trim in a New Brunswick home?

For cutting in around trim, the best brushes available in New Brunswick are Purdy XL Glide (2.5 inch angled sash) and Wooster Shortcut — both are professional-grade brushes that give clean, sharp lines and hold an edge beautifully with latex paint. The right brush makes the single biggest difference in cut-in quality, and it is the one place in a painting project where spending $20-30 on a quality brush versus $8 on a discount brush is completely worth it.

The key is an angled sash brush, also called a cutting brush or trim brush, with a chiselled tip. The angled bristle end allows you to ride the edge of trim with precision, feather the paint smoothly into the wall, and see exactly where the paint is landing. A 2.5 inch angled sash is the most versatile size for cutting in along baseboards, door casings, window trim, and crown moulding in a typical NB home. Go down to a 2 inch brush for detailed trim work or narrow casings, and up to a 3 inch if you are cutting in along large flat surfaces like above wide baseboards.

Synthetic bristles are the right choice for modern latex and acrylic paints, which is what almost every NB homeowner is using today. Natural bristle brushes (China bristle) are for oil-based paints only — water makes natural bristles swell and go limp, ruining the tip. Look for nylon-polyester blend bristles — Purdy uses their own proprietary Chinex material, and Wooster uses Nylox blends. Both hold a razor-sharp edge, carry enough paint to cut several feet of line without dipping, and release paint smoothly without dragging.

Purdy XL Glide is the go-to brush for many NB professional painters cutting in with premium latex paints. The Glide series has a very fine-tipped angled end that makes clean lines almost effortless once you develop your technique. Wooster Shortcut is a curved-handle angled brush that some painters swear by for ceiling cuts and overhead trim because the handle angle reduces wrist fatigue on long cutting sessions. Both brands are available at paint specialty stores in Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John, and at most hardware stores.

For cutting in, how you load the brush matters as much as the brush itself. Dip about one-third of the bristle length into the paint — not half, not all the way to the ferrule. Tap the brush gently against the inside of the can (do not wipe on the rim, which removes too much paint). Then use the tips of the bristles to ride lightly along the trim edge, maintaining consistent pressure. The paint should flow off the tip, not be pressed on with the body of the brush.

Clean your brush properly after every use. Rinse thoroughly with warm water until the water runs completely clear — this takes longer than most people expect, often 5-10 minutes of steady rinsing. Reshape the bristles with your fingers and hang the brush bristle-down to dry, or lay flat. A well-maintained Purdy or Wooster brush will last years and pay for itself many times over in clean lines and time saved.

When to hire a pro: Cutting in is a skill that takes practice. If you are uncomfortable with a steady hand around freshly painted trim, consider hiring a professional painter to do the cut-in work while you handle rolling — many NB painters will do partial-day work for specific rooms or tasks.

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