How do you make brushes?

[BigShot]

Hey folks.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some "how to" pages or plans to help figure out how to make brushes from wood? (Particularly the smaller kind like nail and tooth brushes but any will do as I'm sure it scales down.)

Thanks!


The post really stops here, but if you're wondering "why?" read on...


After watching this video I've decided to go from my current position of using as little plastic as possible (and certainly not carrier bags) to making a real effort to get down to zero-plastic.

One obvious consideration is toothbrushes (and nailbrushes, but they are easy to get in all-natural materials).

I know you can buy wooden toothbrushes with natural bristles, but being in wood I can't help but think about trying to make my own... hence the question at the top of this post.

 

[woodbloke]

...to making a real effort to get down to zero-plastic.

Commendable, but I think you may be on a hiding to nothing.
Drive a car?...look at the amount of plastic in it :shock: Plenty of other examples...even the 'puter that you're typing at has a vast amount of plastic in it. I agree, it's a sad fact that in this day and age we're so reliant on plastic (and ultimately crude oil) but it's a fact of life at the moment - Rob

 

[kasandrich]

Commendable sentiment but as said you are on a hiding to nothing, cars, computers, clothing, roads/pavement etc. A toothbrush becomes insignificant when you look at the big picture.

I think inserting the bristles in a brush is very specialist machinery.

 

[BigShot]

No point trying then, eh?
I ride a bike - minimal plastic on there (and all of it can be changed for non-plastic if needs be). Computer - true, but I'm not disposing of that on a regular basis.


Re: specialist machinery - I'm pretty sure it is, in industry... how was it done when it was a much more cottage industry though? Surely there's an older skill that the modern machinery has replaced with mechanisation, but it's got to be possible.

 

[BigShot]

Sorry - missed a bit there. I really don't like synthetic fabrics so I'm pretty much entirely down to things like wool, hemp, cotton, rubber (soles of shoes, thanks - nothing kinky! ) and the likes.


As for "insignificant when you look at the big picture"...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/how-ba ... y-one,2892
Have a read, and a chuckle, and then let the sheer scale of the "insignificant" sink in.

Then consider the part we all play in feeding the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" (and almost all of it comes from land, not boats) We're all responsible for it... no exceptions made for anyone that isn't plastic-free. Personally I'd like to cut my contribution out.

I question the sanity in using plastic in the making of roads - more durable maybe but sooner or later it all needs replacing or gets worn/eroded down and all the bits go somewhere.

Anyway - enough of the eco-debate and back to making a brush.

 

[kasandrich]

If you really want to have a go, I would say the best way is to drill a hole, loop the bristles over, something else, (I would normally suggest fishing line, but not on this occassion) maybe cat-gut or something? Then pull the bristles through the hole like that. The loop on the rear will help stop the bristles falling out.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Its on one of the "How do they do that" programs, you need a tube plunger and a wedge, the bristles get folded in half and pushed into the hole in the head and a wedge inserted using the plunger.

Pete

 

[BigShot]

Kasandrich - I certainly want to have a shot at it. I'm not sure about through-holes though, It'd be minor, I know, but it sounds like it could be a recipe for irritation (and subsequent mouth ulcers) where it rubs against the cheeks.

That said - it's more than likely it'll be a one-off just to see if I can do it. Division of labour and capitalism has already answered the question of the best way to do this, and you can buy wooden toothbrushes with natural bristles already.


Pete - I've just watched the "How it's made" episode that includes toothbrushes (the joys of YouTube) and that shows small bits of wire being used to hold the bristles in place. Probably a bit too fiddly for a DIY job though.

I'll have a look for the "How do they do that?" one. Might be a bit more appropriate.

 

[jimi43]

Hi Bigshot....

Are there any badgers in your area?



(Oh boy....I'm sorry...I just couldn't resist that!)

Jim

 

[jimi43]

I really must stop that...now...to be helpful...

The coconut is probably one of the most used organic product in the world.

The husk can be used for brushes...and indeed...it is in the Pacific islands...

Also, in some Caribbean islands where they grow sugar cane...like St Kitts...the locals clean their teeth by chewing on the cane itself. Now this may seem odd since we have all been brought up to believe that sugar is bad for the teeth...but pure sugar in that form isn't...it is easily broken down by the digestive juices within the mouth. It is processed and complex sugar that causes all the problems.

The fibres of the cane are very good at removing plaque....and it is something you don't need a bathroom for...thus saving water!

Jim

 

[milkman]

you can probably get sugar cane from any caribbean supermarket and finding one on Manc must be easier than making your own toothbrushes.

 

[squib]

Love to have a go at making a brush, hope someone can help you.....I made some "everlasting" glue brushes by pulling different size rope through different size copper pipe and slightly squashing the bristle end....use on glue pull a bit more through and cut off the sticky bit,

 

[thomvic]

Sugar cane from the Caribbean has an almighty big carbon footprint. Why not use the shredded end of a stick dipped in a mixture of soot and salt! :lol:

Richard

 

[AndyT]

If you really want to have a go, I would say the best way is to drill a hole, loop the bristles over, something else, (I would normally suggest fishing line, but not on this occassion) maybe cat-gut or something? Then pull the bristles through the hole like that. The loop on the rear will help stop the bristles falling out.

That's the trad method - but for small brushes like toothbrushes it would have been brass wire - drill lots of holes in the head, pass a loop of wire down through each one and draw a bunch of fibres up, folded double.

Afterwards, glue a thin layer over to cover up the holes.

 

[jimi43]

While it is very admirable to have a "zero plastic" lifestyle...I somehow feel that any method you adopt to make your toothbrush is going to use more energy than that used to create a plastic one.

And while you are at it....you may like to consider how you are going to communicate with UKW....um...catch my drift?

I am sure that once we run out of oil in the next century...someone will by then have invented something to replace it...we always do.

Jim

 

[BigShot]

Thanks for all the responses, folks. From serious to silly they've made for some good reading, and to be honest - a far better response than I expected this thread to get! Cheers!


Andy - I hadn't even thought of gluing a cover over the top of the holes to cover the wire. I think that's going to have to be the method. Cheers (and to kasandrich for the initial suggestion of that method).


Thomvic - there's no way I'm using soot on a stick! Haha. I wouldn't mind giving one of those toothbrush-sticks a go though. They are meant to be pretty good. Carbon footprints don't bother me though - I don't believe all that for a minute.


Squib - that's a great idea for the glue brushes. Talk about "eco friendly". Use a natural fibre rope like hemp or something and you're golden on that one. Guess what I'll be trying!


Milkman - I'll probably just buy a wooden toothbrush... and I know that you can. I'd just like to have a crack at making one though - because why not?
Oh and caribbean supermarkets? Yea, I think we've got one or two somewhere.


Jimi - it's nothing to do with the energy. It's unusual from someone who's eco-conscious enough to want to stop using plastic wherever possible - but I really don't see energy as being a major problem. It is in the long term, but by then we will have viable alternatives (and the bulk of it will have nothing to do with wind or the sun)

It's the actual plastic I want to avoid. Plastic itself is an ecological disaster of a monumental scale.

I'd love a badger hair brush (even if only for shaving) - there's the small matter of the arrest and court case that puts me off though!
I hadn't thought about using coir. Nice idea. I wonder though - the fibres are hollow - might be a breeding ground for all sorts of nasty bugs. Hmm - I'll have to ponder that one and maybe a few experiments. Probably something like pig bristle would be more appropriate though.

Maybe for a non-tooth brush though. Sweeping brush? Boot polish brush? There are options there anyway.

 

[jimi43]

I think the thing about plastic is that, in the early days, most of it ended up in landfill and some still does. If it were recycled efficiently then it is quite a good resource.

It is nigh on impossible to try to eliminate it in almost everything today. We can't all live in the woods and whittle chairs to survive anymore...although I think that will be close to what I will be doing when I retire...so I think, for the moment at least, we need to work with it.

Plastic bags should be banned but then, so should supermarkets IMHO...so let's not go down that road!

Good luck with the badgers...but really...try the sugar cane chewing...it really works, your teeth will feel like they have just been scaled and polished!

Jim

 

[BigShot]

The thing is, when recyclable plastic is recycled - it becomes non-recyclable and then ends up either in landfill or blowing around the place until it finds the sea.

I've got no intention of whittling chairs in the woods (well, maybe for fun on a camping trip - or "bushcraft" as my kind of camping seems to be called these days - but not for ever), but by the same token I don't think plastic is a good solution for things like chairs.

I'm with you on both plastic bags and supermarkets (though only ban supermarkets when independents wake up to the reality that there are far fewer houswives than there were when it made sense for shops to open 9-5 donkeys years ago)... so we can leave that one alone in complete agreement!

You can count on me trying the sugar cane thing. I've never even heard it until now and even if it is a joke... it's such a good one pulled off so well I'll be happy to be the butt of it.

 

[jimi43]

Google...first hit:

To keep teeth bright and prevent yellowing, you need to remove the staining bacteria. This is exactly what happens when you chew certain foods that produce a high salivary flow. So, in addition to apples, take a bite out of guavas, pears, celery, carrots, sugar cane, cauliflower, and cucumbers. Another benefit: The fibre in some of these foods physically works to clean teeth and remove bacteria. Two more tips to keep teeth bright:

More details on how to use that or bamboo are described

HERE

Enjoy.

Jim

 

[BigShot]

Thanks for that link Jimi.
I'd got the general gist of how tooth cleaning sticks are used but that one really spells it out.
The one thing I struggle with is understanding how you clean the back for your back teeth when using a stick - there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to reach that spot... but then I've never used one so I could be missing something pretty obvious.