Thread: Paint Brush maintenance - wire brush and flea comb and a gong for Minwax Lacquer

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

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Since then I have used the same brush for applying Sikkens Exterior Oil to the few boards that are being used externally, and the brush still looks fantastic (for me - and that's a bit of a record ).

If brushes are looked after properly they should last a very long time. I have ones that my father was using some 30-40 years ago but I don't think all are made to that standard anymore. It can be a little bit of a lottery to get a really good brush.

But if you find one look after it.

Spray gun thinners is also very good for removing obstinate paint (also includes paint - deliberate or accidental - on the handle) from brushes.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Recently I had to lacquer several hundred boards, and I was using Minwax Oil Modified PU lacquer (Satin) which is about $55 for 4 litres locally. It says on the can that it is superfast drying - they're not wrong about that. The weather was pretty warm and the boards were mostly touch dry in just a few minutes.

That's great for handling, but it leads to another problem - the lacquer also dries on the outside brush bristles very quickly, and in about 30-45 minutes there was a build up of lacquer on the bristles which was starting to affect the finish. As an aside, the rapid drying also restricted the self levelling properties of the lacquer.

The answer was to use a wire brush on the paint brush, in the same way as a hair brush is used. That separated the coarser bits that were stuck together, and then by following up with a flea comb the brush comes up nearly as good as new (probably would have been like new had I adopted this procedure from the start). In the countless times that I did this I think only about 6 bristles were removed (prolly had to much dried lacquer to get through the comb).

A quick rapid-roll between the palms to expel any loose particles and I was off again. Very very few left over particles got put back onto the job.



And as for the Minwax lacquer - very happy with the result. These are boards to line the shed walls with so finish standard was not crucially important. I had previously used this product on the Yellow tongue floor and found it to be pretty durable. Sanded the wall boards (Cypress) to 150 grit, two coats of lacquer (rollered on with brush finish), sanded to 220 grit and vacced off, final coat, and they are very smooth indeed.

Since then I have used the same brush for applying Sikkens Exterior Oil to the few boards that are being used externally, and the brush still looks fantastic (for me - and that's a bit of a record ).

I had a professional painter pass on a trick to me this summer about keeping brushes supple. If using oil paints take a rag, soak with water, wring it out thoroughly and then soak it with mineral spirits/paint thinner or lacquer thinner. Wrap the rag around the bristles. Apparently the water in the rag helps slow down the evaporation rate of the organic solvents helping to keep your brush from drying out in the heat. I tried it and it seems to work.

Originally Posted by rob streeper

I had a professional painter pass on a trick to me this summer about keeping brushes supple. If using oil paints take a rag, soak with water, wring it out thoroughly and then soak it with mineral spirits/paint thinner or lacquer thinner. Wrap the rag around the bristles. Apparently the water in the rag helps slow down the evaporation rate of the organic solvents helping to keep your brush from drying out in the heat. I tried it and it seems to work.

A similar trick is to wrap the brush in plastic food wrap.

A similar trick is to wrap the brush in plastic food wrap

and place it in the fridge
The plastic food wrap works quite well
I've tried it with and with out the fridge
And could not notice any difference