How would you trace these brush combs?

[Askh]

I'm currently in a pickle to remove the objects out of their native grey background in order to have them added to a cosmetic catalogue, I'm having trouble with the tiny hairlike spikes coming out of the brush (esp. the "green" one). What would be the quickest way to do it, how about the cleanest? So far I've been using pen tool to trace everything but it's taking me a long time, quick selection tool and magic wand tool do not behave properly and select a lot of background, magic eraser tool leaves behind a lot of "grunge" and jagged edges that are noticeable. Can't seem to get the hang of the Magnetic Lasso Tool, but it's detection radius is similar to how quick selection tool works and it's not being helpful with the spiky hairs of the brush comb.

 

[Eggy]

The only way to tackle this is using the quick selection tool and the 'select and mask option'.
Since there are several ways to use this have a look at those:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=photoshop+cc+new+select+and+mask
You still will have to do a lot of post processing work, ie using the mask that comes with it to remove unwanted parts and that can be a tedious work.

 

[Eggy]

When using the above method you usely encounter a problem fairly common, a white halo around your selection.
You can check this by adding a black layer below the 'cut-out'.
Activate your cut-out layer, press and hold ctrl and click on the new layer icon in the layer panel. This will create a new layer below your cut-out layer.
Fill it with black to check for the white halo. If present use the folowing technique to get rid of it:

Never use it with a hair or fur selection since the hair/fur will disappear.

 

[Askh]

Thank you for the guides! I've upgraded to CC2018 and the Select and Mask does it's job well, although with a lot of manual processing added afterwards.