Stanley - Quality?

I have been coerced into decorating our lounge, I detest decorating with a vengeance but had to succumb to the lounge redecoration because we had a wall replastered and it left me with no real argument. Anyway I recently purchased a set of paint brushes, they carry the name STANLEY so I thought that used to be a trademark for quality so they should be reasonable. Wrong, the quality was very poor, as soon as I started painting with one of the set it shed multiple hairs and I was forever chasing hairs and picking them out of the paint. The brushes will be consigned to brushing swarf off the machines in the workshop, I won’t attempt painting with them again. I think I have learnt my lesson in trusting the old tradenames which were synonymous with quality.

Dave W

I've been using the Hamilton" Prestige" ones for the last couple of years and very happy with them, mind you one brush will cost the same as a 10 set of Stanley brushes.

Hardly ever shed a hair, clean out well with both solvent and water based paints, don't splay out and hardly wear.

Yes, just last weekend I bought a set of Stanley brushes at B&M for not much money. I only intended to use them as swarf brushes and also to finish touching-up some redec we'd just done on the missus' workroom.

I had the same experience as you - I was chasing a stray hair within a minute of starting the touch-up. Fortunately there wasn't much to do. The rest have been relegated to workshop duty.

I've considered Stanley a tricky brand for years now. Some of their goods is still made to traditional designs and standards (I think I bought a good jack plane not too long ago), but anything of new design is likely to be of minimalistic quality.

Edited By Mick B1 on 02/08/2018 16:18:32

Their latest power tools, hammer corded/ battery screwdriver drills are now made in China, quality is questionable.

Originally an American company I believe, they used the name Stanley with Bridges power tools to make Stanley Bridges. Bridges was originally a British company based in London, but the later amalgamation took production up North to Cramlington in the late 70's until the factory closed years later.

+1 for Hamilton, you cannot compromise on quality if you need to do a "proper job" with least hassle.

+1 for hating decorating. I now only use white paint (help it's a farmhouse) so no cutting in and everything gets masked with low tack tape.. brush in the edges and roller the rest -even gloss rollers. It's speeded the process up no end. I'm happy enough with my screwfix 'trade' brushes they rarely shed hairs and after they've been used and washed any initial minor shedding stops.

If I was varnishing a boat again or decorating professionally then top quality brushes would be used.

pgk

I am with Dave that Stanley was once a decent brand, now it seems to have been hijacked and appears on what I would call budget equipment, Bahco seem to have been sucked into the same sort of trap, some of their stuff is excellent and some seems to have their great name applied to far eastern manufactured gear which may be very good but the source raises doubts. Britool seem to have also suffered a similar fate.

Mike

Don't get me started on why you shouldn't trust brand-names without a recent check. And even when they're kosher, it's never wise to pay big money for a Rolex at a Car Boot Sale!

Not a new phenomenon ; brand-names have a long history of rising, falling, imploding and rising from the ashes. Caveat emptor said the Romans, who knew a thing or two.

As for people paying through the nose for designer labels, could it be they've been fooled into paying over the odds? I find it hard to believe that 'reassuringly expensive' guarantees 'quality'.

Dave

Many thanks for your responses, lesson learned it pays to go for known quality, have used Hamilton brushes in the past and agree with the comments. Like your solution pgk, paint everything white, problem is wife wouldn’t go for it, she likes colours, I learnt a long time ago not to choose any colours, just stand back and let her choose then I can’t get it wrong. Oh how I hate decorating.

Dave W

I use the cheapo brushes from Wilko, don’t shed hairs and just throw them away at the end of the job, cheaper than buying paint brush cleaner and a lot more convenient.

Whats the saying "you get what you pay for" and unfortunately Stanley and a number of other well know brand names are just supplying items they bring in from China, the price reflects it.

I use Purdy brushes, not cheap but superb quality, a decorating pro told me about them. They last a long time if well looked after, they dont shed bristles and they keep their shape.

Absolutely, that is the way I'm going to go now.....

I bought a set of Stanley brushes from one of the trade outlets, needed to do some painting in my new house, ( would ya believe it?) got some white spirit to clean the brush only later to find the gloss paint is water based! Argghhhh... So to recover the brush, a 2" stanley job, I bought some brush cleaner, "suitable for all types of paint, water or oil based" ......thought I'm on a winner here.... Let it soak....didnt even touch the paint....ended up in the bin...What a waste of money!

Like others I hate decorating, but my solution is to let my daughter do it

Mick

Majority of my paintbrushes are Hamilton, and I must say they have lasted well, I bought them when I first started work at a discount from my new employer. As I retired last year that was a day or two ago!

Edited By Adrian Giles on 02/08/2018 18:26:01

Sorry to hear that Britool have gone the way of all flesh.

Once they were by word for Quality. (Have just donated my late father's 7/16" hexagon drive Britool socket set to The WaterWorks Museum. Bought in the early 1930s, Dad earned his living with them in his garage business, and eventually, I earned my first money with them. Only one need to be replaced and that was in the late 60s, after which they saw little use.

All the Britool stuff that I bought in those days was excellent. We used Britool torque wrenches at Perkins, they were better than the Snap On offering, better made, and more accurate.

Thought that Britool had been bought out by FACOM, who were at least as good as, if not better, than Snap On, extending their lifetime guarantee to the Britool brand.

How sad!

howard

I recall <C.K> as a decent brand "Made in Germany". How are they doing?

I think there are many people who buy cheapo brushes and then throw them away at the end of the job, but a cheap brush will never give you as good a job as a top quality brush. The cheapies dont come anywhere close to the finish from a quality brush.

At the risk of repeating myself,I say again, "What,s in a name? " The answer these days seems to be CRAP !

Stanley,Britool,how many other makes have gone the same road ?

The bottom line is that the name means NOTHING !! I have bought stuff in Aldi,s which was just as good as any brand name,at a fraction of the cost,so,work it out for yourself. Dont mind the name,ask around !

It,s said that every man has his price,it seems that every company has too !

You might ask yourself,who owns who ? Good question !!

Sometimes it,s a question of "Our Chinese junk is better than the other guy,s Chinese junk " [but not much ]

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