W&N series 7 fraying

[silver ocean]

Bought a few wn brushes because sergio calvo recommended them because of their great tip. All of the brushes had great tips at the start but now a few months later this is my size 2 after cleaning and conditioning. I maintaim my brushes well and clean them regularly with artis opus soap and conditioner and raphael soap. I can shape the tip sharp in my mouth and after soaping but its not as easy as it used to be and after rinsing the tip separates immediately. Ive used this brush maybe on 1 project and in my books its still brand new. This is a 30-40 euro brush. Any similiar experiences or tips how to combat this? Am i cleaning my brushes too much with soap or what?

[sly willow]

Is this picture when it is wet or dry? I have found that when dry mine will puff out like that, but once it is damp and I start painting it sharpens right up and stays like that as long as it is a little damp.

[silver ocean]

Its wet in the pic. I actually got it to a more manageable state by going real hard at it and combing it with the pliers. I managed to remove quite a bit of sticky furry susbstance from it. No idea what that was, feared it would be the glue from the ferrule. Still removing it made the tip hold its shape better .

[steady imp]

https://youtu.be/WCWd1TPHZOw?si=ZSO-ouXnNDWxY11t

Was the best i found on general advice.

• dont overload

• dont let paint dry

• dont get in the ferrule

• do clean with soap

Etc etc. he explains it better

[soft anchor]

I've never had luck with series 7. Ordered three and all three are trash.
Huge waste of money in my experience.
I think as the international fur trade cracks down, the quality will continue to drop. At least that is my theory.

All the same advice about not getting paint in the ferrule or letting it dry, etc., won't save or fix a shoddily made brush.

Hopefully you can make it work, just tossing in my experience that series 7 aren't the holy relics they are made out to be.

[silver ocean]

I bought 2 1s that have maintained that excellent tip. I've had problems with most boutique -brands as my Raphaels didnt maintain a tip either. Seems to be a luck of the draw kind of deal.

In fairness i must admit that this size 2 got way better again after removing the gunk inside.

[crude blaze]

I’ve heard that rubbing alcohol might help to restore it, never tried with sables

[inner wave]

I’ve had this issue with series 7 recently. Generally if it’s wet it’s usable enough, and I’ve found it better than non sable brushes. Still I’m going to shoot for a different brand next time I go down with brush acquisition syndrome.

It also gets better over time. Wash it after every use. And maybe when you don’t use it, it doesn’t take very long. Leave a bit of the brush soap on the brush.

[sick harbor]

100% of the W&N brushes I've owned did this. Every single one. To be fair, I've only ever had the 1.
And it actually came like that.

So I decided to a) not buy W&N anymore, and b) only buy them in stores.

[dense pollen]

Every single one I owned... Owned 1

I've never had these issues, but have heard the quality complaints recently from others. The OP removed goop from the brush which was probably the issue.

[sick harbor]

I was trying to be cheeky. I thought it was obvious, not trying to shit on a brand. my bad

[dense pollen]

Sorry lol Ive seen this so much with no irony

[tribal vault]

Winsors suck

That's the only advice I have

Used to be decent, but became incredibly bad within past 2 years

Just buy something else

[silver ocean]

I have not enough experience on the to pass judgement. Their tips are incredible but the size 2 is accumulating weird gunk inside it which seems to be glue and fur. I fear its breaking from the ferrule

[maiden basin]

I've had problems with my size 2s for WN (I have 3). My smaller ones are good and going strong. But what others have said: clean with brush soap, condition, let dry with conditioner in shape.

I do have a soaking cleanser aside from my brush soap/ conditioner. It's incredible at loosening up and removing dried acrylic. I do a quick dip every few sessions and it seems to always get some dried paint that I didn't know was there off. I haven't yet needed to soak with it

[drifting coral]

That isn't advice man.

If you and @soft anchor are just gonna say "buy something else" it doesn't speak to the question OP is posing, and really doesn't contribute to a help thread, so please knock it off.

[soft anchor]

If multiple people have quality issues with something that I am having problems with, I would find it very helpful indeed to know that I'm not alone or going crazy or missing something.
Especially when it comes to something that is held up as the "best" of whatever it is.

[drifting coral]

It might be helpful to actually describe what issue(s) you encountered rather than just saying something is "trash".