Configurations include twisted-in wire (for example the brushes used to clean baby feeding bottles), cylinders, and disks (with bristles spread in one face or radially).

A common way of setting the bristle in the brush is the staple or anchor set brush, in which the filament is forced with a staple by the middle into a hole with a special driver and held there by the pressure against the walls of the hole and the portions of the staple nailed to the bottom of the hole. The staple can be substituted with a kind of anchor, which is a piece of rectangular profile wire that, instead of nailing itself to the bottom of hole, is anchored to the wall of the hole, like in most toothbrushes. Another way to attach the bristles to the surface can be found in the fused brush, in which instead of being inserted into a hole, a plastic fiber is welded to another plastic surface, giving the additional advantage of optionally using different diameters of tufts in the same brush, and a considerably thinner surface (sometimes the bristles can be set this way to the outer surface of a plastic bottle). Fact: date=February 2007

Brushes for cleaning

Brushes used for cleaning come in various sizes, such as very small brushes for cleaning a fine instrument, toothbrushes, the household version that usually comes with a dustpan, or the broomstick. Hallbrooms are even larger and are used for cleaning large areas. Cleaning brushes also include brushes for cleaning vegetables, cleaning the toilet, washing glass, finishing tiles, and sanding doors.

Paintbrushes

Paintbrushes are used for applying ink or paint. These are usually made by clamping the bristles to a handle with a ferrule.

Short handled brushes are for watercolor or ink painting while the long handled brushes are for oil or acrylic paint. The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are:

• Round: Long closely arranged bristles for detail
• Flat: For spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer hairs than their Bright counterpart.
• Bright: Flat brushes with short stiff bristles, good for driving paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker painting styles like impasto work.
• Filbert: Flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability to perform some detail work.
• Fan: For blending broad areas of paint.
• Angle: Like the Filbert, these are versatile and can be applied in both general painting application as well as some detail work.
• Mop: A larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without damaging lower layers.
• Rigger: Round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both oils and watercolors.