Thread: Cleaning brushes with turps

Originally Posted by qwertyu

After you guys clean brushes/rollers with turps, what do you do? Leave it to evaporate?
Ive been then cleaning the turps with alcohol and then washing it with soapy water and letting that dry but I'm lazy and want to know if there is a better way!

This is how I do it.
1) get as much paint as possible off the brush by wiping the brush against the edge of the paint can or a narrow piece of wood laid across the top of the can and another piece of wood on top of the brush bristles and pull teh brush through between the pieces of wood.

2) get as much of the remaining paint as possible out of the brush by squeezing the brush between multiple ( ~8/10) sheets of toilet paper. Fold the paper over the end of the brush and squeeze down on the paper.

3) repeat 2) until no more paint comes out - usually twice is enough.

4) Pour ~100mL of appropriate solvent (turps, enamel thinners etc) into a container just wide enough to fit the brush. Very lightly and dunk and squish the brush in the solvent, (don't wipe the excess solvent back into the container!) but remove the paint/solvent from the brush by again squeezing between multiple sheets of toilet paper.

5) repeat step 4) until there's is no colour coming out of the brush - add a little more solvent to the container if needed. 2-3 times is usually enough

6) repeat steps 4/5 in a new container with minimal amount of fresh/new solvent. If you did a good job in the previous steps you should see little or no colour in the solvent at this stage. The remaining solvent from this step should be relatively uncontaminated and can be used in step 4) next time.

When you have finished the brush should be clean and almost dry and you should have very little or no dirty solvent from step 4) left to deal with. I may go through a whole roll of toilet paper just to clean one brush (just buy the cheapest toilet rolls you can) but this method works really well once you have practiced it a few times.

The most important thing is to get as much paint as you can off the brush in steps 1 and 2 before the brush goes anywhere near solvent.
Then the trick is is to get as much of the remaining paint from the brush onto the toilet paper rather than back into the solvent containers.

Wash in turps until all the paint is gone then warm to hot water liquid soap and this is the tricky bit, pinch some fabric softener from the laundry and rinse it in that but don't get caught unless you can point out that it was a job for her.

I leave my turps to decant before reusing the clear layer. During the decanting the paint particles settle at the bottom of the container and, if left long enough, forms a gooey layer which separates quite easily. My problem is how to dispose of the container after decanting. Any suggestion(s) gratefully received.

Yvan

I don't use oil based paints very often, and when I do I use cheap brushes and just throw them away after use.

Cleaning brushes is just too much of a hassle for me.

My problem is how to dispose of the container after decanting. Any suggestion(s) gratefully received.

Wipe the sedimented paint out with toilet paper and put the toilet paper into the bin and the container into recycling. The container does not need to be pristine to put into recycling.

I'm in the same boat as Cava, using cheap throw away brushes. With cold-gal paint I leave the uncleaned brush with the can of paint and when I go to use it again give the end of the brush a fizz on the rotary wire brush. That dislodges the hardened paint and gives a fairly rough semblance of a paint brush.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Wash in turps until all the paint is gone then warm to hot water liquid soap and this is the tricky bit, pinch some fabric softener from the laundry and rinse it in that but don't get caught unless you can point out that it was a job for her.

Hi,
Hair conditioner does the same job, just make sure it has not got silicon additives.
Regards

I use mostly water based paints but others occasionally. Have had the same brushes for some years now and they are still very good.After getting the majority of paint out of the brush with whatever solvent I scrub them in the palm of my hand with 'Allback Linseed Soap', rinse that out in water then with a small amount of the Linseed Soap give the bristles another scrub in my hand, making sure the soap is right through all the bristles, give a wipe on a paper towel, then hang on the hook till next time.I can leave them like this for six months and then with a gentle dry rub on your hand they are soft and ready to go again.It is marvelous stuff and also great as hand wash soap.Allback Linseed Soap/Sydney Paint Warehouse I have no affiliation with these people, just use their products.Cheers, Fred

I must be the laziest here... I drill a hole through the base of the brush handle.

If I'm only stopping work because it's the end of the working day, I won't bother cleaning it at all. I'll just wrap it up in Glad-wrap, paint and all, then throw it in the freezer overnight.

Many's the time when one of my transient work-mates have opened the workplace freezer and exclaimed "What the ...?" The old hands just roll their eyes...

When a job is finished, I squeeze out the excess paint, wash fairly well in turps (usually decanted from prior use) and then slip a nail through the hole so I can suspend the tip of the bristles in a small jar full of turps. Slip a rubber glove over the top and secure with a rubber band. Good for up to a month.

I'm definitely not averse to throwing a brush away altogether if I don't expect to use it within a week or three.

(Have I mentioned that I hate painting and will do almost anything to make it less painful? Including saying "That's not what you pay me for." Wish it worked as well at home...)

Paint rollers have to be the worst thing.
Takes so much turps and time to clean them properly, it just does not seem worth the effort.
It's ok if it is water based paint but oil based stuff is too much to bother about.
As for brushes and the original question. Once brushes are cleaned with turps a good flick or two outside to get rid of the excess and just let them evaporate dry.

The finish is not paint but hardwax oil, osmo and whittle waxes. I dont really want to keep throwing out brushes/rollers cause they're not THAT cheap. I tried using cheap brushes/rollers with them and its no good - fibres breaking off which is really annoying

I should really start cleaning them before solvents - didnt even think of that.

I saw this gizmo when cycling through utub crud , called 'dandy pro' ( sold on amazooon). A plastic tube that fits to a drill chuck one end, stick the semi-cleaned paint brush/roller in the other; put the brush end in a cardboard box and hit the drill speed; residual solvent/paint flies out and supposedly a clean brush results.

Me, I am not about to buy one. Looks a bit like something the Dodgey Brothers would flog (those from Oz will understand the context).

dodgey_brothers.jpg

If you are using the brush again in the same paint within a few days ,leave it in cold water -it doesn't form a skin ,doesn't dry and doesn't need cleaning .Cheap brushes are cheap for a reason the time taken removing the bristles is not worth it for me and never use a cheap brush in varnish as there are lots of bits in the stock that come loose .

Use this and then just wash off the turps in strong soapy water (eg, laundry detergent). https://www.bunnings.com.au/diggers-...ne-4l_p1563007