Brush School

Visually impaired craftsmen have been manufacturing brushes at SRF Hantverk using traditional Swedish methods for more than a hundred years. Most of the brushes are produced entirely from natural materials. Birch or beech wood is used for handles and the wooden grips, and horsehair, white fibre or piassava is used for bristles, depending on what the brush is to be used for. Bath brushes, pastry brushes, brooms - you will find brushes for every conceivable use in our showrooms. The brushes are designed and manufactured in Sweden, and have undergone thorough quality control.


Artificial fibres
Nylon perlon, habofalith, shalon,
etc are artificial fibres which exist
in various thicknesses and types.
Most of these materials have poor
brushing characteristics and are
not suitable for brooms. Artificial
fibre is appropriate for products
which do not absorb water, such
as washing-up and toilet brushes.

Bassine
Borassus Flabellimormis or the sago
palm grows in the East Indies as
well as in Sri Lanka. The process
of threshing the dried palm leaves
releases the leaf fibres. These are
a brownish colour and charac-
teristically the bassine is softer
and more fragile than other
piassavas. The Colombo bassine
from Sri Lanka is a more rigid
type of bassine.

African piassava
(Riphia Renefern), is not extracted
from the leaf casing but from the
stalks of palm species which grow
in the swamp areas of West Africa.
During preparation, the stalks are
steeped in water where they rot
after which fleshy parts of the
leaves are removed. After the
stalks are dried in the sun, they
are threshed by hand with flails
and flax-combs. The African
piassava is light brown or reddish
brown in colour. The length of the
stalks vary, as does their stiffness
and elasticity. The Africa piassava
is used mainly for brooms, brushes
on road sweepers and brushes used
for raking athletics tracks.

Bahia piassava
Bahia is obtained from the leaf
casing of the AttalČa palm. The
leaf of the AttalČa palm is enclosed
in a casing which separates when
the leaf is fully developed.
The casing is left hanging on the
trunk and after some time only the
dark brown fibres remain. The
fibres are allowed to rot after
which the 1-4 metre long fibre
stalks are dried in the sun and
sorted. The Bahia piassava grows
in the Brazilian province Bahia.
The Bahia piassava is an excellent
material for road brushes as it is
tough and elastic.

White fibres
Mexican fibre or Tampico is
extracted from the leaves of
certain species of Agave
(Agaves Sisalana, Agave
Foreyodes) which grow mainly in
Mexico. The fleshy leaf of the
Agave plant is cut off and threshed,
after which it is beaten with thick
sticks so that the fibres are
released. On large plan-tations,
threshing machines are used. The
fibres are then dried in the sun and
sorted according to size, length
and colour. The natural colour
varies from green to yellowish-
white although the fibre can also
be black or brown as well as grey.
The material is used extensively for
making yard brooms, panel brushes,
deck brushes, nail brushes and
bath brushes.The fibre is also used
mixed together with other material,
for example, coconut, bassine or
horsehair.

Pig bristle
is plucked bristle for bristle directly
from the animal. For fine brushes,
bristle from the neck is used, for
paint brushes the bristle from the
animal's flank suffices. European
pigs are bred and fattened up in
such a way that their bristle is not
suitable for brushes. Pig bristle is
characterised by its stiffness and
elasticity. The bristle is imported
from China and is used exclusively
for hair, nail and clothes brushes.
 

Goat hair
is clipped from the breast of the
animal, where soft and springy hair
is found. Preparation involves
washing and combing. This soft hair
is used for face brushes, dusting
brushes and certain types of
cleaners. Goat hair is imported.

Horsehair
is divided into different categories:
hair from the tail, which is strong
and elastic; hair from the mane,
which is soft but has poor elasticity;
tail hair from cattle, which is soft
but lacks elasticity. In order to
obtain satisfactory material, the
hair is cut directly from the animal.
Hair from dead animals lacks lustre
and elasticity. Horsehair must
undergo preparation before it is
ready to be used as a material for
brushes. Briefly, the process
involves the following: washing,
combing, boiling,drying, making into
trusses and, usually, dyeing. From
one horse, approximately 5-6
hectograms of hair per year can be
obtained. Horsehair is imported from
Argentina and Russia among other
places. Horsehair is used for yard
brooms, bath brushes, washing-up
brushes, pastry brushes and shoe
brushes.

Broom corn
is the name given to the flexible
stalks of a species of sockerdurra
or Sorghum, which grows mainly in
Italy and Hungary. After the grain
has been removed with the help of
metal combs, the flexible stalks,
"the straw", is used for various
types of hand whisks and brooms
The best quality cereal grass comes
from Italy. 		 

Coconut fibre
The tough fibre ropes of the
coconut (Cocos Nusifera) beard is
soaked in water for a month. In
order to hasten the process of
exposing the bare fibre, the ropes
are beaten. After drying, the fibre
is dressed and sorted.
Coconut fibre is produced in India.
The material is soft and not
particularly elastic. Its most
common use is for yard brooms and
in mixtures with other plant fibres.
 

Union mixture
A mixture of white fibre and bassine
Union mixture is a strong and
waterresistant mixture which is
used for vegetable brushes, deck
brushes and scrubbing brushes.
 

Madagascar
is a leaf fibre from the Bonitra palm,
Raphia Pendunenlata. The name of
this raw material indicates its place
of growth, i.e. Madagascar which
lies off the east coast of South
Africa. The fibres are extracted by
rotting. The raw material is dark
brown in colour and is character-
ised by its elasticity and
durability. Madagascar is used for
yard brooms,mattresses and
upholstery brushes.
 

Broom root
is the root of a species of grass,
the Zacaton plant, which grows on
the high plateaux of Mexico.
The roots of the Zacaton are cut
from the plant, washed clean from
soil and transported to a
preparation factory. Broom root is
a tough, elastic and waterresistant
material which is used for vegetable
brushes and washing-up brushes.

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