Thread: Hairy Paint Brushes

I can see myself getting thrown out of town for this post but I always buy cheap brushes and just throw them away , espescially when using 7008 or oil based paints . I mostly try to buy water based finishes and then spend a few cents more on brushes and a bit more effort keeping them clean but still I regard them as a disposable item .

Blame me for global warming and the extinction of the Thylacide

I'm not an expert but I was given good advice by a a painter years ago.

Before you use the brush soak it in linseed oil to soften the bristles. Brushes with synthetic bristles probably don't require this treatment.This is just an initial treatment and not required each time you use it.

To clean the brush use two containers of appropriate solvent. First one to dilute the paint and then the second one to complete the cleaning. If you have been painting for a while on a hot day then leave it a while to soak.

Discard the contents of the first container and the second container becomes the first container next time. The container only needs to be big enough for the brush and with recycling the second container all the time you will find it quite economical. The trick is to only be left with solvent in the bristles so that there is no paint left to harden.

To clear the brush of solvent roll the handle of the brush between both palms and the bristles will fan out like a helicopter blade. Angle it so as not to get any solvent on yourself or anything important.
After cleaning stroke the bristles back into shape and hang vertically bristles down or if you are really keen wrap the bristles in brown paper.

I have used this technique (with the exception of the paper wrap) for years and it has worked for me. If you do it properly you won't get that hard area of bristles near the handle.

Originally Posted by Andrew from AWC

I use paint brushes, wash them with turps and then soapy water however alot of the time they end up all shaggy even the more expensive ones.

I find if I leave them wet to let the bristles dry naturally I have better results with the individual hairs sticking together and keeping the brushes original shape and form. Sometimes however they have a mind of thier own.

I would like any members to give thier advice on the best way to keep brushes in tip top shape.

I do the same as you, only I wrap the wet brush on newpaper when wet and let it dry in it.

You have to wrap the bristles in a mummy like fashion.

Al

Once apon a time in a life far far away, every time we went to store brushes for an extended period, we would soak them in linseed oil, I dont remember ever wrapping them in anything, but it could not hurt.

Hi Kev!

Wasn't that when most finishes were oil-based anyway? What would happen if one did that, and then tried to use the brush with a water-based finish?

Cheers!

What ever you do don't store your brushes soaked in linseed oil.
I made that mistake.
I used to store my brushes soaked in engine oil & that worked fine. wash out the brush, dip in light engine oil & lay flat in a tray.
When you want to use wash well in turps,much of the remaining paint residue will come out with the oil. I got this one from a sign writer.
Linseed oil
In a fit of doing the right thing, I washed the engine oil out of a bunch of brushes and soake in raw linseed oil, prpmptly forgot about them for a while.
Went to get one to use. Stif as a board and hard as a rock. The linseed had gone off.
I'm still working a multi solvent & wire brush cleaning programe to try to save them. :mad: either that or I throw about $150 worth of mud range brushes away.

I would probaly refine the mineral oil method to a finer oil like air tool oil or baby oil.
Of course none of this applies to brushes used for water based paint.

cheers

Originally Posted by rodm

I'm not an expert but I was given good advice by a a painter years ago.

Before you use the brush soak it in linseed oil to soften the bristles. Brushes with synthetic bristles probably don't require this treatment.This is just an initial treatment and not required each time you use it.

To clean the brush use two containers of appropriate solvent. First one to dilute the paint and then the second one to complete the cleaning. If you have been painting for a while on a hot day then leave it a while to soak.

Discard the contents of the first container and the second container becomes the first container next time. The container only needs to be big enough for the brush and with recycling the second container all the time you will find it quite economical. The trick is to only be left with solvent in the bristles so that there is no paint left to harden.

To clear the brush of solvent roll the handle of the brush between both palms and the bristles will fan out like a helicopter blade. Angle it so as not to get any solvent on yourself or anything important.
After cleaning stroke the bristles back into shape and hang vertically bristles down or if you are really keen wrap the bristles in brown paper.

I have used this technique (with the exception of the paper wrap) for years and it has worked for me. If you do it properly you won't get that hard area of bristles near the handle.

Excellent advice. I do exactly the same, except once immersed in the appropriate clean solvent for the second time, I use compressed air to blow the brush dry, and then comb the bristle's back in to shape.

Originally Posted by Andrew from AWC

I use paint brushes, wash them with turps and then soapy water however alot of the time they end up all shaggy even the more expensive ones.

I find if I leave them wet to let the bristles dry naturally I have better results with the individual hairs sticking together and keeping the brushes original shape and form. Sometimes however they have a mind of thier own.

I would like any members to give thier advice on the best way to keep brushes in tip top shape.

I get so anoyed when u have spent a lot of money on a brush and then the &*(*&^% thing starts misbehavig after one use

ive properly cleaned it and then put it back in its cover and then u will go to use it again and it will start dropping hairs in the estapol and i start cabbage cabbage cabbage and everyone steers clear of me I cant work out why ...

So like you andrew im convinced brushes have a life of their own and have been put on this earth to torement us at times hehhe cheers all jules

I have a top quality brush for oil finishes and when the job is complete I rinse it with turps then suspend it in a can of turps (drill a hole through the brush and put a skewer through the hole to keep the bristles up off the bottom of the can) until I need it next. The brus is alway "clean", with no hairy bristles, and ready to use.

Remember seeing an article in "house & home" (I think) a while back about this topic, this bloke used half & half turps & metho I think to clean & revive old & dirty brushes.

There were pics of a typical old 3" brush that was hard as a rock with old paint, and using his mix & technique, a wire brush I think, and plenty of effort it came up good & clean and back in shape.

I've wrapped brushes in paper towel for keeping the shape, as oz said let it dry in the paper.

Cheers..................Sean, dry & crusty

Originally Posted by custos

I have a top quality brush for oil finishes and when the job is complete I rinse it with turps then suspend it in a can of turps (drill a hole through the brush and put a skewer through the hole to keep the bristles up off the bottom of the can) until I need it next. The brus is alway "clean", with no hairy bristles, and ready to use.

I do the same with my french polishing mops, suspend them with the tips in the metho and they will always be ready for use.

Don't forget to keep topping up with metho so it doesn't evaporate and let the brushes get hard.

Peter.

I do painting with acrylic and oil paints (art paints)
and they way to clean water based is you take a cheap bar of soap (I have a preferance for stuff like imperial lather or some such) I hold the bar of soap in the land hand and the brush in the right, using the bristles I do circles all over the bar of soap untill a lather is formed, then I keep doing circles in my bare hand, making sure to work the soap up into the feral (or what ever the hell its called) then I rinse and reapet untill the water is running clear, I then clean off the soap and do one last lather up but not rinse it and form the brush into its original shape and leave to dry hanging up or on its side. When you go to use it again the soap just runs away in water (hell I don't even bother rinsing before I use them anymore

For oil paints I first clean them of all oil paints and then do the same thing as for water based.

I have extreamly expensive brushes ($300+) that have lasted many many many years and still in excelent condition.

Oh and to the fellow who had the linseed dry on him, there isn't much you can do unfortunatly, I have had this happen twice, never found a way to remove dried linseed.

I'm not beaten on the dried linseed oil yet
First I gave a soak in GP thinners, this softened the gunk which I scrubbed out with a wire brush.
second was a vigorus wash in fresh thinner.
then a soak in motor oil for a few days
rinsed in turps
currently soaking in turps.


I have a look in a while.
worst comes to worst I'll either use paint stripper or my old stand by,



use them to apply contact cement then clean. Its surprising what contact cement will shift. I happened on this one when I thaught a good brush had had it. Used it for applying contact cement & it started to come good before my eyes. Rinsed with turps and almost as good as new.

cheers

I'm another "brush suspended in a jar of turps" user and it works for me.

Except for when I forget about 'em for a couple of months... but then the whole lot hits the bin and I buy another. Either way, hairy brushes aren't my problem!