Product spotlight

What a Legend: PAL paintbrushes are changing for the better

PAL's popular Legend paintbrushes have had a recent refresh, but continue to deliver top-notch results. PAL Managing Director Richard Percy explains the change.

After 34 years manufacturing its iconic Legend paintbrush in New Zealand, Paint Aids Limited (PAL) have come to the decision to move the process offshore. The good news is that the new incarnation is better than before and will be more affordable.

After 34 years manufacturing its iconic Legend paintbrush in New Zealand, Paint Aids Limited (PAL) have come to the decision to move the process offshore. The good news is that the new incarnation is better than before and will be more affordable.

Richard Percy, PAL’s Managing Director, says that due to tariffs, duties and complicated supply chains, the premium brushes were going to become very expensive, so they had to rethink things.

“While we’re not keen to give up brush manufacturing, the reality is it’s a bit of a skill and we’re probably the last guys making brushes in Australasia,” Richard explains. “The market has moved to be more value-oriented, so essentially we’ve redesigned and recreated the brush – still keeping the name Legend – and slightly different packaging.”

They put the samples to the ultimate test: passing them to Resene MD Nick Nightingale.

“He’s very passionate about paintbrushes and rollers, so we sent him some samples, which he trialled before passing onto a bunch of painters. The feedback is that they’re better than the original.”

Stroke of genius

While they’re still manufacturing paint rollers and other products here in New Zealand, PAL have developed what they’re trademarking as Palex – a blend of premium synthetic filament. “It’s blended to our recipe, coloured in the original Legend colour, processed, heat treated, tipped and flagged in a specific way to give us and professional painters the perfect finish.”

Richard says one of the major industry changes has been paint formulation, with bristle brushes being the preferred choice for traditional oil based enamels. “Now close to 90% of paint is waterborne, and synthetic material used in our brushes handles those types of paints better than bristles.”

Quality control

The reasoning behind buying quality paintbrushes is simple. “They hold the paint and release it effectively. The analogy we use is to think of it like the tyres on your car,” says Richard. “They’re all black and round, but obviously the price varies a lot. If you’ve got a crappy car, there’s little point in spending a lot of money on tyres; if you’ve got a good car, you want to spend a decent amount of money on good tyres.”

So if you’re after a good finish and you want your brush to last a long time, buying quality is a no-brainer. “It’ll hold more paint, it releases it without brush marks as it essentially has more filament in it,” Richard continues. “Whereas cheaper products – use hollow bristle and polyester – and are not treated as much. They will have a large wedge in the brush and will drop the product on the surface.

“Painters spend a lot of time prepping, so they want a good paintbrush and roller sleeve to get the best finish. Our byline for the company is: PAL for the perfect finish.”

Paint partners

Like Resene, PAL is a proudly New Zealand-owned and operated business, with many long-standing employees. “We employ about 32 people and we’ve got 20-odd in the factory. The majority of those have been there for 25-plus years.”

Their relationship with Resene is an enduring one too. “I bought the business 25 years ago and we had one paintbrush in Resene out of six – now we’ve got all six, which is nice.

“Resene is an incredible partner for us and their product is now in Mitre 10, and they’re probably our biggest customer. So we’ve got some commonality to try and make things big!” says Richard. “We also make specific paintbrushes for Resene – the MacGyver MasterFlow Trade – and exclusive roller sleeves for them as well.”

The great news is the new Legend Range is available now in all Resene Stores!