Animals killed for my brush?

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Miss_Biscuit

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Hi all,

Was reading a thread below about a contaminated brush and it went off on a tagent about kolinsky brushes and their origins.. Weasel's bum hair?! Horses tails?!.. The arguement is yet to be settled!!

Then there was a website posted about some animals that are poss the origin of our brush bristles...

Does anyone know where bristles for brushes actually come from for deffo?

I probably sound like a dumb-ass but I do hope that lots of cute fluffy animals are not being killed (Or having their bums shaved?!) to make my brush.

I am assuming our brushes are made from by-products after what ever animal it is that are killed for food etc....

I am assuming and hoping it's the latter, as surely there would be uproar over this... I daren't look on the PETA website for info (If they have any.) but I am getting myself all worried.. Please assure me.. SOMEONE?! ANYONE?!

Miss B. xx :cry:

PS: If I am being melodramatic, then give me a kick up the bum! LOL!
 
i always thought kolinsky hair was horse hair, but hang on a while and someone will let us BOTH know lol. Weasels bum hair? How random, pmsl x
 
I'm off home now, so will have to worry about this one overnight..!
 
http://www.answers.com/topic/sable

http://www.answers.com/kolinsky

http://www.answers.com/topic/kolinsky-sable?hl=kolinsky
the last link basically says....
Kolinsky sable or red sable is the most valuable hair used in artists' brushes.

It is obtained from the tail of the Kolinsky (Mustela siberica), a species of sable. It is pale red in colour with darker tips. The hair has special qualities unmatched by any other: strength, slenderness, and great resiliency.

A Kolinsky hair's diameter is greatest near the middle, tapering off to a fine point at the end. When many of these hairs are set together in the head of a brush, the bulges form a distinctive "belly". Kolinsky-sable brushes take a needle-fine point or knife-like edge, and retain their full elasticity.

p.s. that's just what I found quickly on Google, I don't use Kolinsky brushes yet, I'm sure one of the more experienced L+P techs will be able to put your mind at rest. :hug:
xx
 
Sorry to say, yes a good L&P brush will be made from the hairs of a very cute little animal called a sable... As are almost all art brushs and make up brush's world wide -

Gel brushs tend to be synthetic

Creative uses 100% Red Kolinsky sable a very specific breed of sable - not just any cute fluffly animal will do! They have the finest hairs of all that actually retain a memory or 'snap' to the hair shape.

The animals are harmed in no way to produce brush hairs as the hair is only taken in small amounts from an area on the tail (the best of the best hair)
 
glad this has been straightened out, i will sleep better tonight! lol
 
Just shows what I know then (or dont know) I always thought that the Kolinsky hair was from a squirrel.
 
so Miss.B. was close when she said "bum hair" then? lmao
glad to hear it's all done without harm to the animal :D x
 
I have visions of a little man running round the forest with his nail scissors after Sidney Sable and his bare botty (I hope it's clean!!)
 
Phew! Thank god for that.. Thought I'd had to train in Gel instead for a minute there! Thanks all. x
 
hate to be the bearer of bad news but it looks to me that they are getting killed for their fur!! mink are farmed. plus they're very vicious so fur farmers are not gonna just keep picking them up now and again to pull hairs from their bellies, they'd get their hands ripped to shreds!! they will prob be kept in poor conditions too; small wire cages with no room to exercise, and wire right round, even on the bottom so as not to get poo on their coats and thus spoiling the fur. i feel sick now, been meaning to look this up for ages, think i may start learning gel!! another bad point about mink farms is that every so often they escape and they wreck havoc on local wildlife, i know theres mink farms in ireland and there was talk about them getting shut down i think.
 
I think you may find that the tails of the sable are sold by furriers to the brush makers. So yes the little animals dont just pop in for an haircut, They are killed for their fur and then their tails are sold for brush making.
 
Cameo Val said:
Just shows what I know then (or dont know) I always thought that the Kolinsky hair was from a squirrel.
no, but squirrel hair is used to make artist brushes.so youre on the right track.

there is some interesting info on brush making at www.rosemaryandco.com.
 
All Real Sable comes from an animal called the Marten Weasel. This animal is generally found in the far Northern regions of Russia and China. Nature has given the male Marten Weasel thick protection against the cold. The hair of the male Marten’s tail is thick with a graceful taper to the end. Each hair has delicate scales to hold and release liquid smoothly. The hair of the male is longer and springier than that of the female. This Kolinsky sable is truly the finest fiber available for brush making.

....from a brush making site.

this is what these animals are bred for if it wasn't to make brushes etc they would have never lived in the first place i guess. i mean not many of us in this thread would think twice about the fact that some poor cow had been bred just for our burgers or our shoes!! i know i don't really cos that is why they were here in the first place.

you've just got to remind yourself that yes the animal has been killed but it was killed to make brushes and if no one buys the brushes it was killed for nothing. plus they don't just make 1 brush out of one weasel they make hundreds.

if anyone is really bothered by the fact that kolinsky sable brushes are made from a weasels bum :eek: (she was right!!!!) i bought a brush from hobby craft cos my dog chewed up my acrylic brush and my wholesaler didn't have any in stock. it's synthetic and has a nice point to it, i just looked for a brush that can be used with acrylic paints.......i was desperate!!!!!!!! :o i'm still using it now i figured it works so i'll hang on til i need a new one to get a real acrylic brush lol! anyways it's a daler rowney synthetic brush for acrylic paint.
 
pussycat said:
not many of us in this thread would think twice about the fact that some poor cow had been bred just for our burgers or our shoes!! i know i don't really cos that is why they were here in the first place.

you've just got to remind yourself that yes the animal has been killed but it was killed to make brushes and if no one buys the brushes it was killed for nothing. plus they don't just make 1 brush out of one weasel they make hundreds.
pussycat said:
But I do think twice! I am a vegetarian and have been for 14 years and this sort of thing upsets me, I feel like a traitor now..

I will have to find out if there are any alternatives to my creative pro-styler or start learning gel then I suppose.

:cry: :cry: :cry:
 
Miss_Biscuit said:
pussycat said:
not many of us in this thread would think twice about the fact that some poor cow had been bred just for our burgers or our shoes!! i know i don't really cos that is why they were here in the first place.

you've just got to remind yourself that yes the animal has been killed but it was killed to make brushes and if no one buys the brushes it was killed for nothing. plus they don't just make 1 brush out of one weasel they make hundreds.
But I do think twice! I am a vegetarian and have been for 14 years and this sort of thing upsets me, I feel like a traitor now..

I will have to find out if there are any alternatives to my creative pro-styler or start learning gel then I suppose.

:cry: :cry: :cry:


I totally agree with Miss B. I find it really shocking and very upsetting that a lot of people have this attitude towards fur and animal products.

Yes, the animals were put on this earth for a reason, but in the good old days when cavemen still walked the earth, they only killed for what they needed and used everything from the animal. The animals still ran around freely in their natural habitat and weren't slaughtered and kept in the most inhumane conditions just so that we could have a fancy fur coat or a fancy new leather handbag !

I'm sorry to have gone totally off the topic here, but this is something that really upsets me. Organisations like PETA, WSPA etc. have been trying for years to get the message of these fur farms and the conditions that these animals are kept in and how they are killed across, but somehow people still convince themselves that it's OK with reasoning like the above. It's not OK and I'm sorry if I'm upsetting anybody but this is how I feel and I will never keep quite to people with this attitude.

Pussycat, as for cows, sheep, pigs, chickens etc have you ever seen how these animals are kept and how they are treated !!?? If I was you, I would go have a look at the PETA site and you might feel differently the next time you eat your hamburger and I can assure you, you will definately be thinking about it !


River
 
There has been a thread on here before with the question about the origins of Kolinsky brushes. Geeg answered the question. As far as I remember, the animals are not actually killed. That dosn´t mean, of course, that they don´t live in poor conditions.
 
Here is the post that Lene talk about - Geeg says the animals are not killed to produce the brushes I also remember Geeg posting about how she was concerned about Animal Testing when looking at moving to Creative products and did lots of questioning before making the move.

She may be able to give us a better insight?

http://www.thenailgeek.com/main/2312-primerless-liquid.html?highlight=Kolinsky
 
WEASAL BUM HAIR
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH YOU'VE MADE ME LAUGH!!
 
i think that Geeg must be right. why would you kill something just for a few bum hairs? it would make more sense to let it live and keep giving it a haircut... more for your money.
 

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