The Brushmate is as simple as it is effective: a sealable vapour box containing a pad impregnated with a clever proprietary fluid; it means you don’t need to clean your brushes after using them.

Finish using your oil paint brushes, store them for days — or even months — and when you come back to them, they’ll be ready to use.

Highly recommended.

There isn’t any way of dodging this ironclad rule: buy the best brushes and rollers you can afford.

Granted, buying professional quality paint brushes and rollers won’t suddenly and miraculously transform you into a professional decorator — but good equipment will maximise what ability you do possess. Or, to put it another way: it’s impossible to do a good job with poor quality equipment. 

Let trusted brands, pricing and specialist shops be your guide:

1. Never buy cheap-as-chips packs of own-brand brushes from B&Q, Wickes or Homebase, such as these. Never buy brushes from Poundland. 
2. The names to look out for, and which are pretty much a guarantee of quality, are Purdy, Wooster and Corona. Start viewing £25-£30 — not £3-£5 — for three brushes as the going rate. 
3. Specialist decorators’ merchants are a better bet than the big all-round DIY shops. B&Q do sell Purdy brushes, but much more expensively than elsewhere. The following outlets are all worth checking out: Whites Trade Paints in Honor Oak, south London .. Decorating Direct .. My Paint Brush

The closest we can offer to a sure-fire tip is to buy Purdy’s XL Elite 3-pack from My Paint Brush, which contains a 2″, 1.5″ and 1″ brush. If you’ve been toiling away with B&Q multi-pack brushes, these are going to be a revelation…