Cleaning your brushes

[transatlantic]

How do you guys keep your brushes useable? (both foam and bristle).

After you have used the brush with an oil or varnish, do you leave it in white spirit until next use? or do you just swill it in the spirit and then dry it out?

Same with water based finishes. I find that even after washing with soap and water, it's not as flexible as when I first got it.

 

[NazNomad]

I use it until it's rock-hard, remind myself that I should have cleaned it, then throw it out.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Paintin ... e+4/p94343

There are other sizes, but they cannot be beaten. They save a fortune in time, brushes and white spirit. I'm using brushes in mine from before we moved - nearly two and a half years. Just take the brush out and you're away. Lift the top, put it away and you're finished. For oil based paints only, I can't speak for varnish, but I seen to remember its not working for Danish.

They are a must for small builders, kitchen fitters and so on - you can use a brush for a two minute touch up, and it doesn't take longer to clean the brush than to do the job (most touch ups being white, normally).

 

[AndyT]

If it's a short break eg for lunch I wrap a wet brush in cling film.
But I expect the thing Phil linked to is better and on his recommendation I shall probably get one.

When I do come to cleaning brushes that need white spirit, I have an assortment of wide mouthed jam jars with screw top lids. Having wiped off as much paint as I can I wash the brushes in several jars of white spirit, getting cleaner each time, then finish off with hot soapy water.

I don't pour the painty white spirit down the drain, I leave it to settle. After a week or two I can pour off clean spirit into another jar ready to use again, leaving behind a sticky paint mess on the bottom of the jar. I let that dry off and then bin it.

This method also means I've not needed to buy a new bottle of white spirit for ages.

I'm not saying this is the best way but it works for me.

 

[ED65]

After decades of following the traditional instructions and washing my brushes after a good rinse I now do it by very thorough rinsing only, same as I've done for years with the paintbrushes I use with water-soluble paints.

A swish in one jar of white spirit doesn't cut it! You have to rinse in more than one container, preferably three or more. The final rise can be in brush cleaner or cellulose thinners instead of white spirit for a little extra oomph. So wipe the brush well, rinse drain rinse drain rinse drain in container #1, dry off, rinse in #2, dry, then rinse in #3, dry, reshape bristles and put brush aside to dry. The solvent in the last container should stay clean for ages if you do the preceding steps properly.

The above works equally well with natural bristle (hog bristle and softer like badger and goat hair) and synthetics.

Foam brushes are widely considered completely disposable in the US, often used once and tossed in the bin, but that's only reasonable for pros I think. Foam brushes can be washed out and kept going same as foam rollers can, but don't expect them to last ages. And you have to be careful about rinsing them in brush cleaners as some solvents in the mix can dissolve foam.

Same with water based finishes. I find that even after washing with soap and water, it's not as flexible as when I first got it.

Sorry, probably obvious but you're not washing out long enough or thoroughly enough. This usually takes at least three latherings IME with paint brushes of the type I assume you're using because they have large internal reservoirs.

Best way to see just how well these reservoirs can hold on to traces of finish is after applying white paint, 10 minutes stood at the sink and you can still be seeing milky swirls come out of the brush when you fan out the bristles Any wonder why some prefer to keep their brushes wet constantly!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, cling film works as does putting the brush in a jar of water, although if you leave the brush in cheap film for a few days they go hard. Polythene sandwich bags are good as well - even if you only wish to drop the brush for a few minutes. I found one beauty of the box is that I finish jobs properly because of not thinking about the cleaning of the brush. If I think actually that would benefit from a second undercoat, I whip the brush out for ten minutes and put it away again, rather than thinking yeah, it should really have another undercoat - but I can't be arrsed with cleaning a two or three inch brush for a ten minute job. You can buy a refill pad, but I bought the bottle of top up liquid so after a year or whatever - it depends how often it's opened - you just drop a few drops in. I await the decorators here telling you how brilliant they are.

 

[bugbear]

If it's a short break eg for lunch I wrap a wet brush in cling film.
But I expect the thing Phil linked to is better and on his recommendation I shall probably get one.

When I do come to cleaning brushes that need white spirit, I have an assortment of wide mouthed jam jars with screw top lids. Having wiped off as much paint as I can I wash the brushes in several jars of white spirit, getting cleaner each time, then finish off with hot soapy water.

I don't pour the painty white spirit down the drain, I leave it to settle. After a week or two I can pour off clean spirit into another jar ready to use again, leaving behind a sticky paint mess on the bottom of the jar. I let that dry off and then bin it.

This method also means I've not needed to buy a new bottle of white spirit for ages.

I'm not saying this is the best way but it works for me.

Me too! I would add that as much paint/white spirit as possible should be squeezed out at each stage. Each stage of white spirit is the contaminant that the next stage has to remove.

BugBear

 

[thetyreman]

I prefer using pure turpentine for cleaning oil based paints, it's a lot more expensive, but white spirit makes me feel extremely ill and horrible, I can cope with the smell of turps better with no noticable side effects, oh and I always use a natural bristle brush for oil based paints or varnishes. With water based paints it easily washes out, with no problems, usually using washing up liquid and hot water.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I find synthetic bristle far better. Hamilton or Purdy, or even Harris are good.

 

[Jacob]

One of the big plusses of linseed oil is you don't need to wash your brushes you leave them suspended in linseed oil in a semi sealed container. I use jam jars or milk bottles with holes in the top and a hole in the handle for a nail to keep in place. They keep like this for months or longer then you just pull them out and carry on using the oil in the container as primer. Zero waste.
But if you do want to clean them dry you use any of the normal oil paint methods and finish off washing in warm water and detergent

 

[Phil Pascoe]

How did I know what you were going to say? Spooky.

 

[sunnybob]

Me and Naz. we're a lot alike.
Use it and lose it.

 

[Doug71]

+1 for the brush mate here. I have the Trade 20 that can hold 20 brushes, it is fantastic. I have brushes in it for all the different paints I use (oil based), you just take the brush out, use it and put it back in, no messing.

You have to use unfinished wooden handle brushes though, the paint starts to go tacky on the handle if painted and plastic handled brushes just melt! I hate to think what is in the little bottle of fluid that lives in the box, can't be good for the environment.

Doug

 

[twodoctors]

If you are doing smaller project (bandsaw boxes), I can recommend the paintbursh pack in Wilko (in the stationary section) I think it was just over £1-ish.

For water-based, just rinse thoroughly with water. For oil-based, dissolve most of it in white spirit or similar, then rinse it all off with water. If you don't, the spirit on the brush will eventually evapourate, and the remnant dissolved paint (or whatever you use) will stay on the brush and make the bristle rock hard. Rinsing it with water afterwards will ensure everything is gone. I tend to wipe it dry afterwards (with J cloth) afterwards as well. Works for me so far.

 

[sunnybob]

i always wipe on oil based poly with a small piece of rag, zero cost, zero maintenance.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

How do you guys keep your brushes useable? (both foam and bristle).

After you have used the brush with an oil or varnish, do you leave it in white spirit until next use? or do you just swill it in the spirit and then dry it out?

Same with water based finishes. I find that even after washing with soap and water, it's not as flexible as when I first got it.

I buy foam brushes as cheap as possible and plan the finishing session, then chuck em. No matter what I did, I could never get them anywhere near their original condition and I'd rather being doing something else than faffing about in the sink. It's not that expensive overall. Not very environmentally friendly though so I'm considering alternatives to the "chuck em" approach.

I also use rags too (throw away after use) and for glue, a mini roller or kids art brush, both of which wash fine when used with Titebond.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

I use it until it's rock-hard, remind myself that I should have cleaned it, then throw it out.

What does your missus think about this approach? :lol:

 

[Limey Lurker]

Don't buy the refill pads, though; buy the bottle and, when the star fades, pour about a dessert-spoon full into the vapour pad bag. Also, if you've got a brush that has started to harden at the roots of the bristles, leaving it in the box will soon soften it.

 

[ED65]

i always wipe on oil based poly with a small piece of rag, zero cost, zero maintenance.

Best way to apply it anyway

 

[ColeyS1]

Don't buy the refill pads, though; buy the bottle and, when the star fades, pour about a dessert-spoon full into the vapour pad bag. Also, if you've got a brush that has started to harden at the roots of the bristles, leaving it in the box will soon soften it.

I'll have to try that. Does the star reappear when it's been re-juiced ? The box's are really good, your suggestion would make the running cost even cheaper !!
Thanks
Coley

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