Thread: Mop brushes

Kazan squirrel mops are excellent for applying shellac and once experienced, you won't want for anything else. The most useful sizes are 8, 10 and 12 and expect to pay around $90-$140 (they last a life time if well cared for). Most artist's supply shops stock them. Graeme Brown in Malvern Rd in Melbourne stocks a good range and offers mail order. http://www.gbrownantiques.com.au/

http://www.google.com.au/search?num=...ir+mop&spell=1

A tip if you do get one and use it regularly; get yourself a plastic pot or Tupperware container with a snap-on lid (I found the Jalna yoghurt pots to be ideal) and drill a hole through both sides, just below the fitted lid.

Hold your new mop vertically in the pot, with the bristles about 15mm from the bottom. Eyeball the hole through the pot and drill a hole through the mop handle corresponding with the height of the hole in the pot.

Fill the pot with meths and suspend the brush in the meths by passing a suitable nail right through the pot and the brush.

Cut or punch a hole with a wad punch in the pot lid, the same diameter as the mop handle and snap it onto the pot over the mop handle.

Any time you use the mop, rather than using litres of meths to clean it (the merest trace of shellac remaining in the hairs will render it rock solid), just suspend it in the pot of meths. You don't even need to agitate it or wipe it clean.

The brushes can be left in the meths virtually indefinitely without detriment; in fact, it preserves the shape of the mop head beautifully.

When you go to use the mop, wipe the majority of meths off on the lip of the pot and 'skite' the residue out with a few deft flicks of the wrist. You may need to change the meths in the pot periodically.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Cheers, John.