I don't trust the ethics of natural hair brushes what are good alternatives?

[stone sinew]

As I've said in the title I went down the rabbit hole of good paint brushes and I've figured out that my personal ethics don't see the "We use the bits the fur industry would toss out" as a valid excuse without seeing the actual numbers behind it.
Similarly I cannot find enough on the kolinsky sable brushes and how the animal is hunted if it is mainly as pest control or brush demand so I do not feel comfortable purchasing these either.

So does anyone know what are actual solid synthetic brushes or if possible natural hair that do not come from said source of purely killing for fur?

[raven grove]

Synthetics are never going to be as good as sables so you just have to make peace with that if you don't want to use natural hair brushes. If chewing through petroleum products is more ethical to you, have at it!

[mossy pawn]

For whatever it's worth, the animals are going to get killed either way. Absent the brush market, true and proper kolinsky sable is going to die either way. They're pests; a great deal of their fur goes towards coats or other clothing, and only a small portion of the animal goes to brushes; and as far as ethics go, the fact that they're wild-caught means that they live much more comfortably and pleasantly than most animals in agriculture in the west.

Like Nan said, synthetic brushes are petroleum products. They're all plastic. Completely ignoring quality (I can say that my experience with cheap says-sable-and-is-definitely-real-hair-but-probably-not-kolinsky-sable brushes has been better than synthetics, and i'm using the bare minimum), they just last a lot longer. With proper care and keeping I don't see why a high quality natural hair paintbrush couldn't last you well over a decade.

We're comparing two issues, basically: the use of petroleum products in brush production, which need to be replaced relatively frequently, shed microplastics in the water, etc. vs. sable hunting, which involves the death of an animal, but a single death can result in a set of brushes which will each last a very long time. Plastic use vs hunting. I can assure you that one of them poses a much greater risk to the environment; if you consider the ethics of the environment as important as the ethics of the creature, that is important to consider imo.

[raven grove]

A brush will not last you a decade unless you don't use it, just fwiw

[mossy pawn]

decade is an overestimation im sure lol but the idea still stands i think. they last way longer than synthetics do, at least as far as holding tips and general quality goes

[raven grove]

Yes, for sure. I would measure it more like, a week with a synthetic (or less) and several months with a sable.

[mossy pawn]

I think of it a little like buying a real leather jacket vs a faux leather jacket. One of them was created as a byproduct of the meat industry, ensuring that all of an animal was utilized and that none was wasted, and creating a product that with care can last a lifetime; the other was created without killing any animals, but results in a product that sheds microplastics and almost certainly will not last NEARLY as long. I'm a big subscriber to the "waste no parts" approach to animal usage and fur products fall into that- including brushes.

If you really wanna make sure that it's as ethical and actually sable as possible, I suggest investing in a high-quality trusted brand. my opinion, at least, is that using natural products wherever possible (and taking the time to choose brands that are dedicated to sustainable and ethical practices in doing so) is more ethical than choosing a plastic alternative

fwiw as well- and i dont think this is common practice, but some people definitely do it- i've seen some synthetic brush users buy bulk packages of brushes on amazon and only use them like. 1-4 times each. because anything after that loses the tip. if generating a pile of plastic is preferable to you over the death of an animal, more power to ya, maybe that'll work for you.

the brand i preferred before i made the switch was princeton select but even my cheapy cheap natural hair brushes are preferable

[drifting obsidian]

My experience has been that paying more for a synthetic doesn't usually get it to last that much longer to justify the cost or the replacement frequency. Some people who use more synthetics than me might chime in with their bulk order of choice, but we would have to know what country you are in if you want specific recommendations.

[drifting obsidian]

There's all kinds of reasons people are ethically against animal products. If you are concerned about over harvesting implications, the Siberian weasel is governed under the CITES international agreement even though it is a species of 'least concern'. A government can say they don't want their Siberian weasel fur exported, for any reason, and this has happened (India). There are documentation requirements for the raw material country of origin, though we as the consumer will never get to know what the country of origin is for the fur in our brushes. This is relevant if say, you don't think a major exporter is actually interested in responsible harvesting and more into eradication (as happens with pest species).

I understand there's other reasons to not like using fur too though, but I just wanted to share that side