Thread: What do you do to minimise the number of brushes u discard? (finishes, lacquers, etc)

I use soap and water after turps or thinners. Final rinse with just water. Brush stays soft after this treatment.

My non-water based finish brush cleaning regime is as follows.
Before you start painting lightly wet all the bristles right up into the handle with solvent. This reduces the stickiness of the finish on the bristles near the handle and makes it easier to clean.
Now for the brush cleaning.
1. Get as much of the wet finish off the brush by scraping it off with a piece of wood and then squeezing the bristles HARD between multiple folded sheets of toilet paper. Repeat last bit several times till no more finish oozes out.
2. Wash brush in small amount of solvent (2cm deep in glass jar wide enough to insert brush), shake off excess and do the toilet paper thing again. Repeat this several times. Discard this solvent
3. Wash in small amount of fresh solvent and repeat as per step 2. Keep this solvent in sealed jar for use in step 2 next time.
4. Wash in dishwashing liquid and water.
5. Place 2 loose lacky band around bristles.
This way you use less solvent and lots of toilet paper. I buy the cheapest bulk loo rolls available at the time. Good for lots of other work shop cleanups too.

As said by rustynail above wash with warm water and soap after the turps. I actually use dishwashing liquid. If using the same colour paint for a few days then just soak in turps/thinners and when you next use just squeeze out and dry off. Use the brush and back to soak again until next day. The soak method is fine for overnight but wont last more than a couple of days before it evaporates and dries out. A stiff brush or an old comb can be used at the turps stage to get more product out of the paint brush before the soap and water wash.
Regards
John

PS Bobl You posted as I was writing. I like the prewetting with thinners tip. Will give it a try .

If I'm doing a number of coats I'll wrap the brush in gladwrap or plonk it into a ziplock bag after I've used it. This stops the finish from drying out and is good for a week or two. Then I'll clean it.

Cheers

Bryan

One important thing is to buy good brushes unless you plan to only use them a couple of times.

I also wet the bristles up to the handle before using, and use a comb when cleaning.

But on the hair related theme, I do something that drives my family mad.

I have daughters. With long hair. And they love their hair products.

When I'm cleaning brushes, I finish them with conditioner. The most expensive looking one I can find from the collection in their bathroom.

It may be my imagination, or wishful thinking, but I think it helps.

Don't burn the old brushes. This sculpture is by a mate while glass sheathing his wooden yacht.

Paint brush sculpture 2.jpg

Brush combs are great for getting excess finish off the brush before cleaning with solvent. I pretty much do what BobL does, perhaps not as conscientciously though. If you do end up with a stiff brush, Diggers 1L Brush And Roller Restorer - Bunnings Australia this is fantastic. I've decanted it into a large glass jar and just suspend the brush in it for an hour or so. Wash the solvent off, brush with the comb, reshape, and let it dry and it's good as new.

Brush and roller restorer works really well but just be aware that it contains Methylene Chloride and Tetrachloroethylene.
Methylene Chloride is used in ordinary paint stripper
Tetrachloroethylene is used in dry cleaning.
Although both have a low oral toxicity and have relatively high OHS vapour limits, both are also listed as carcinogenic category 3 - means not enough research has been done on these chemicals to know how carcinogenic they are. Best to be safe and carefully follow directions of use.

To be honest I used to clean the brushes as well as I can and keep them for as many uses as practical. Like you I realised, it's often not worth it. Now I have a few good brushes and some cheap ones that I can just use a few times and throw away. I'm much less obsessive about cleaning and keeping them now. As you pointed out, it does depend on what you will stick the brush into.

The single best thing i can recommend is buying good quality brushes. This in turn does/forces the following:

- You to clean them properly otherwise you end up wasting money
- Doing research into what's a good brush for intended application
- Brushes last longer so you're less likely to toss them prematurely
- You get a better finish ie less likely to lose bristles etc.

To help the cleaning process I do the following:
- 1 container to dip/soak brush in
- After initial soak a second container of fresh turps to second dip to remove any residual
- Followed up with soapy water wash to remove anything left, as i find turps is good for removing the bulk of the glues, varnish etc but a good rinse off after does the trick.

Cleanup doesn't take as long as it sounds, prob ten mins or so per brush.

I also have a second set of brushes where recoat time/weather doesn't allow brushes to dry in time.

Having said all that i don't do a whole lot of finishing, as it usually takes me months to finish a project so your mileage may differ.

As above, but i use clothes washing detergent. Mainly because it is there, but sprinkling the powder onto the wet brush and rubbing it in seem to help.

Adding two threads together, I wonder how an ultrasonic cleaner would go cleaning brushes?

Bryan

Cleaning Saw Blades & Router Bits with Ultrasonic Cleaner ?

Fantastic, thanks guys. I will give your recommendations a go

Originally Posted by Tung tied

Adding two threads together, I wonder how an ultrasonic cleaner would go cleaning brushes?

Bryan

Cleaning Saw Blades & Router Bits with Ultrasonic Cleaner ?

I use my ultrasonic cleaner for all of my brushes, spray tips and guards and anything else that will fit in there. I use the correct solvent in a Tupperware vessel weighed down in the tank. The lump you get from using Tupperware goes down after a week or so.