Brushes are natural (stiff bristle or soft hair – both of animal origin) or synthetic (non-animal).
Different types of brushes are utilised and found suitable for specific applications like painting and cleaning:
Fine Art
Hobby
Painting
Watercolour
Textile
Acrylic
Wall
Varnishing
Hair Grooming
Cosmetic/Make Up
Cleaning Teeth
Cleaning Body
Cleaning Items
Cleaning Places
Scrubbing Places
Liquid Spreading
Buffing
Dusting
Forensics
Animal Grooming
Natural hair can have been derived from the following animals or may even be human hair:
Badger: mongoose
Camel: ox (hair from ears), pony, bear, sheep, goat, squirrel
Cat: whiskers too
Civet cat
Cow
Deer
Dog
Ermine: red sable
Fitch: weasel
Goat: eyelashes too
Hog/Boar/Pig: China/Chungking bristles, natural and white bristles
Horse
Mongoose: kevrin, Indian sable
Monkey
Ostrich: feathers
Pony: pony, mongoose, squirrel, cow
Rabbit
Racoon
Rat: whiskers too
Sabeline: dyed ox hair
Sable: kolinsky/Chinese mink, red sable, brown sable, weasel, mongoose
Sheep
Skunk
Squirrel: Canadian/golden squirrel, Kazan squirrel, Blue squirrel, Taleutky squirrel, squirrel whiskers too
Tiger
Weasel: fitch
Wolf: sable, weasel
A negligible percentage of non-animal hair brushes are sold world-wide as they do not satisfy users. Hog/pig/boar bristles (also referred to as China or Chungking bristles) are most commonly used, although sable, mongoose, cow, goat and squirrel hair could be utilised in brushes for different applications. “Animal fine hair” is used for making cosmetic brushes. The hair is usually from the tails of squirrels, weasels and civet cats, but the hair of badger, racoon, cattle, dog and deer also falls into this category. In places like Udaipur, squirrel hair brushes are used for miniature art and are said to create lines thinner than those made with an architect’s pencils.
Animal hair brushes used for boot-polishing, painting walls and art-work are made from pig/hog/boar bristles. Nowadays some wall painting brushes are also made of goat hair. Shoe shine brushes made of horse hair are also common. (The boot polish itself could contain beeswax and other animal ingredients.) Bristles are black, white or mixed in colour and depending upon the process of manufacture are called boiled, washed or bleached.
Paint brushes with animal hair used by artists are usually of sable, red sable (red haired weasel – red sable has replaced ermine), wolf (combination of sable and weasel), fitch (polecat of weasel family), sabeline (light coloured ox-hair dyed red), kolinsky (a mink specie of China), badger, pig/hog/boar, kevrin (fine mongoose hair), pony, goat, rabbit, monkey, cat, sheep, horse (most common in Japan), sambar (hair from the back of deer, also common in Japan) or different types of squirrel hair (Kazan, blue, Canadian/golden and Taleutky squirrels). Brushes can contain hair obtained from two or three different animals.
In the Orient, brushes made from tiger hair (very rare nowadays – it is said the best tiger hairs are obtained by plucking from a startled wild animal) goat’s eyelashes, squirrel and rat whiskers, and even human baby hair taken from the first haircut, are considered novelties.
Talking of human hair or “black gold” that India collects mainly for export, is used for wigs and hair extensions, industrial brushes to absorb coastal oil spills or for oil-water remediation in factories, as test swatches for shampoos, conditions, oils and dyes, for cosmetic brushes, to extract amino acid used in cosmetic products, as a binder in plastering house walls due to its tensile strength, as well as for use in Japanese hair embroidery.
Dressed horse tail hair, available in many (natural and dyed) colours and lengths, processed into yarn is used for many things like making horse tail cloth which is a stiff fabric (used for lining, cases and bags, upholstery, etc.), in bow hair, rocking horses, tail extensions, wigs, braiding art, jewellery, and brushes. Horse hair wefting/strip (cloth made from horse hair), curled horse hair (used for padding and filling of mattresses, chair seats, etc.), and hair from other parts of the bodies of horses, like mane, leg, hoof and root tail hair are available for different applications. Yarn made from other animals’ hair is also available and especially exported by China.
The hair used in ‘Camel’ brushes is very misleading since there is not a single hair from a camel in these brushes! (Camel was the name of the man who owned the brand of brushes.) These brushes actually consist of various inexpensive hair types like that of goat, sheep, ox (ear hair), horse, pony, low grade squirrel hair or a blend of them. Fine artwork brushes use hair from the squirrels’ tails for which hundreds of squirrels are killed.
Most brushes in paint boxes used by school children were Indian sable – actually mongoose protected under wildlife laws – till Beauty Without Cruelty repeatedly complained to the Government of India. In 2002 almost simultaneous nationwide raids with the help of the Wildlife Trust of India, yielded hair of at least 50,000 illegally killed animals.
More than a decade later, the trade in mongoose hair for artists’ brushes continues to flourish without buyers being aware of what they are using or how the hair is obtained. The mongooses are mercilessly hunted down, trapped, stoned or beaten to death for their hair in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar. The hair is smuggled out of India to the Middle East, Europe and USA via Nepal and Bangladesh.
It was therefore good that in October 2019 the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Police together with the Wildlife Trust of India cracked down on the illegal acquisition and use of mongoose hair with their Operation ‘Clean Art’. Raids were carried out in Sherkot Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune and in Kerala on the same day. In Sherkot alone 26,000 brushes along with over 100 kgs of mongoose hair was seized and about 26 persons were arrested. It was estimated that for 150 kgs of hair at least 6,000 mongooses were killed.
The figures information released with regard to seizures over three years:
| Year |
Brushes seized |
Cases |
Arrests |
| 2017 |
62,924 |
15 |
23 |
| 2018 |
79,021 |
16 |
19 |
| 2019 |
54,352 |
27 |
49 |
In 2019, 113 kgs of raw mongoose hair was also confiscated. Suppliers of mongoose pelts, the commonly found species being the Indian grey mongoose which is hunted by the Narikuruvas of Tamil Nadu, Hakki Pakki of Karnataka, Gonds of Andhra and Karnataka, Gulias, Seperas and Nath of Central and Northern India who mainly supply to Rajasthan, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The hunters consume the meat and sell the hair for profit.
The WCCB tries to reduce the demand for mongoose hair brushes. They provide alternative sources of livelihood for people form indigenous communities who are involved in the business. They also spread awareness and deter users, whether artists or school students, from purchasing such brushes.
In 2021 a total of 1735 paint brushes made from mongoose hair were seized from 5 manufacturers by the forest officials in Karad, Maharashtra. During the same year in August 2021 a clandestine factory in Delhi that was involved in manufacturing mongoose hair paint brushes was raided and 2025 brushes and 10.5 kgs of loose mongoose hair were seized. It was the 4th such seizure during that year following information received from the Wildlife Trust of India. Earlier two raids were in Sherkot, and one in Dehradun.
About 40 grams of hair is plucked (pulled out with fingers) from the just killed, warm bodies of mongooses. Usually no more than about 50% or 20 grams turns out to be of paint brush quality. Thus, 50 mongooses lose their lives for a kilogram of useable hair. This gave rise to the “Save the Mongoose” campaign led by the Society for Heritage & Ecological Researches and the American Center, Kolkata.
If the hair in a paint brush is that of mongoose it will be stiff and be pointing upwards. The colour will vary from grey, cream, brown and dark brown, with the brush tips and base being darker and cream or greyish in the centre.
For detailed information on Mongooses please read http://bwcindia.org/Web/Awareness/LearnAbout/Mongooses.html
Manufacturers in India sell imported bristle brushes: pony hair, as well as natural and white bristle (hog/pig hair) artists’ brushes. Pony hair is cheap, coarse, and does not perform well. It is some times mixed with squirrel hair. In fact, paint brushes labelled pony hair could actually be the hair of some other animal like mongoose, squirrel or even cow.
Certain artists’ brushes made in India, in addition to having being made from goat hair and imported sable and hog/boar/pig bristles, utilise shellac in their making. Some paints could also be of animal origin.
Synthetic hair brushes are also made here and easily available, so discerning users should opt for them.
If imprecisely labelled, or not labelled at all, do not despair. By looking at, and feeling the texture of the hair, it is easy to make out whether the hair is that of an animal or synthetic. Actually it matters little from which animal the hair is derived. Animal hair will burn separately one hair at a time and smell similar to human hair when burnt; and the hair on the tip of the brush is more likely to be tapered, whereas the synthetic ones will have probably been cut straight across.
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Some other white coloured wall painting brushes available are made of non-animal fibre like a brand called Him. Earlier nylon bristle brushes were ten times more expensive than the pig hair/bristle ones, but this is no longer so. In fact, we are happy that more and more people are demanding non-animal ones and we believe this is due to the factual awareness created by Beauty Without Cruelty.
Rollers and ‘synthetic’ brushes may be expensive compared to pig hair brushes, but then morality does have its price: we have to choose between ill-gotten cheapness and a higher but ethically obtained cost of living. Before the invention of synthetic ones, sponges (animals from the sea) were used as applicators for paints and ceramic glazes, and as scrubbers. ‘Natural’ sponges are still available, but by and large the loofah (dried gourd) has replaced them in the shower and kitchen.
Hair grooming (and other) brushes marked ‘natural’ or ‘pure’ contain boar bristles, whereas ‘synthetic’ ones are of stiff plastic or nylon. Stronger than boar or nylon are wire bristles; moulded quill and wooden bristles are also available.
The most suitable brushes for application of liquid shellac are said to be made of skunk hair with badger hair on the outside rim.
Brushes for applying cosmetics, shaving, brushing clothes, carpets and upholstery and some toothbrushes may or may not contain animal bristles.
In India, toothbrushes and the commonly available cheap brushes used for scrubbing/washing clothes are made of nylon. Pastry/decorator/basting brushes are also usually nylon or silicone.
Brushes marked Taklon are available in India. These brushes are said to be made of thermoplastic polyester, also known as PBT (Poly Butylene Terepithalate) and mimic the characteristics of a sable hair brush in as much as the brush is absorbent, holds its shape well and has a sharp working edge.
‘Synthetic’ or man-made filaments are of either nylon or polyester. They can be easily tapered, tipped, flagged, abraded or etched to increase colour carrying ability. They are nowadays dyed and baked to make them softer and more absorbent, are available in all sizes, have excellent stiffness, snap and hair shape retention for maximum control, plus have the advantage of being cheaper than animal hair brushes. Common synthetic filaments are Toray, Teijin, Taklon and Tynex.
Synthetic brush bristle materials are generally Carbon Fibre, Nylon Abrasive, Nylon-Type6, Nylon-Type6.6, Nylon-Type 6.12, Nylon Conductive, Polyester, Peek, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, PTFE, PVC, Static Dissipative Nylon, Tynex A and Thunderon®.
Whereas wire brush bristles are made from materials such as Aluminium, Brass, Carbon Steel, Nickel Silver and Stainless Steel.
In addition to the ethical aspect of not using animal bristle brushes, the advantages of ‘synthetic’ brushes are that they are less prone to damage from solvents, paints and insects, easier to keep clean, they retain their shape, are more durable and better suited for painting with acrylics. Thunderon is an acrylic fibre which can eliminate and control static electricity like particular nylon anti-static materials used for brushes.
Plant Fibres
A Mexican port from which the best known and most widely used brush fibre from the cactus family is supplied has given its name Tampico to the fibres. Its high absorbency makes it suitable for scrubbing and washing applications.
Palmyra is obtained from the Palmyra palm and is utilized for washing floors, decks and general scrubbing.
Union Fibre is a mixture of Tampico and Palmyra.
Bassine is from the stalks of the faw palm and is mostly used in deck scrubs, conveyor cleaning and garage and street brooms.
Bass or Piassava from the leaves of West African palm trees produces two fibres, Calabar and Sherebro. They are very coarse and primarily utilized in street brooms.
Kittool is extremely tough, dyed black and used in roofing brushes and saturated felt brushes.
Palmetto is from the Florida Palmetto Palm. It is coarse and is oil treated for wet applications.
Rice Root or Zacatan is the roots of Eipcames Macecura found in Central Mexico and Gautemala. The fibre is crinkly yellow and utilized for dairy scrubs and horse grooming brushes.
Non-Animal Hair Paint Brushes
Beauty Without Cruelty distributes free non-animal hair paint brushes (along with stickers and phonetic alphabet bookmarks) to students. An explanatory leaflet which can be viewed here accompanies each brush.
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| Page last updated on 18/09/23 |
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