Any experience with these brushes?

[abelp01]

I found these and was hoping someone here would've had some insight into them. I've asked at another forum, but the responses were unhelpful(to say the least). I have a very limited budget for my hobby and if I can possibly get good results without spending a fortune on brushes it'll be a GREAT help!! Thanks!

http://www.dickblick.com/products/dynasty-faux-kolinsky-round-series-1114/

[Heldrak]

Dick Blick has good prices on real Kolinsky brushes (W & N Series 7, etc.) but I found that I was running through them too quickly (apparently I'm hard on my brushes). That being the case, I started looking for a cheaper alternative and I found the Utrecht Sablette:

http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_products.cfm?classID=1211&subclassID=121110&brandname=Utrecht%20Series%20225

I use the Utrecht series 225 Sablette size 0 & 1 almost exclusively. While they don't last a terribly long time, they are dirt cheap for the results I get (comparable to a high-quality Kolinsky sable until the hairs start to go).

[Grimmnar]

I use the Utrecht series 225 Sablette size 0 & 1 almost exclusively. While they don't last a terribly long time, they are dirt cheap for the results I get (comparable to a high-quality Kolinsky sable until the hairs start to go).

I am curious. What do you mean by "they dont last a terribly long time"??
What in the hell you doing with your brushes? Dispatching Zeds in between paint jobs?  :-)

Grimm

[Heldrak]

I think the problem that I have is in the way that I'm cleaning them. I clean them with brush soap in between colors and that tends to shorten the brush life. I also try to clean deep in the ferrule so the brush retains its snap. All that cleaning tends to make the bristles brittle and they tend to break at the ferrule after a while (thus a 1 becomes an 0, an 0 becomes an 00, etc.).