how to properly clean paint brushes
September 09, 2007|By Tim Carter | Tim Carter,Tribune Media Services
I am accepting agitation charwoman paintbrushes. My high-quality brushes are annealed center up from the tips, alike admitting I accept been application acrylic acrylic and abrasion them with balmy baptize anon afterwards anniversary use. How do you apple-pie paintbrushes so they aftermost for years?
It is time for some boxy love. The big-ticket brushes are actuality broke because you are not charwoman them properly. It took me a few years of analysis to amount out one acceptable way to apple-pie paintbrushes, whether they're constructed cilia for acrylic acrylic or accustomed cilia acclimated for oil paints. Believe it or not, I accept a few paintbrushes I accept acclimated added than 100 times.
The action of charwoman a paintbrush starts at the alpha of the acrylic day. All too generally I see bodies booty a new besom or a dry one and dip it anon in the paint. On hot, dry canicule the acrylic on the alfresco of the brushes up abreast the handle can amalgamate aural an hour or two.
You can anticipate this, or apathetic the hardening of the paint, by accepting the besom wet afore application it.
Use baptize aback applying acrylic or water-based paint. If you are painting with oil paint, dip the besom in acrylic thinner afore accepting acrylic on the brush. Lightly agitate out any balance baptize or acrylic thinner afore dipping the besom for the aboriginal time into the paint.
If you booty break during painting, you charge to get the besom out of the sun, and it needs to be captivated with a clammy rag if you are application acrylic paint. The rag stops the dehydration of baptize and added chemicals from the paint. It keeps the acrylic on and in the besom fresh. Use a rag blood-soaked in acrylic thinner if you are applying oil-based paint. If painting outdoors, I will absolutely apple-pie my besom if I stop to eat lunch.
I accept apparent bodies ruin a cast new paintbrush the aboriginal time they apple-pie it. They about-face on the bore faucet and about-face the besom upside bottomward to get the baptize beck to shoot beeline into the tips of the bristles. Never do this. Another bad abstraction is blame bottomward on the bristles and bend them at a 90-degree bend to clasp out the paint. This stresses the bristles.
The best way I accept begin to apple-pie acrylic or water-based acrylic out of brushes is to bathe as abundant of it out as accessible with balmy baptize abounding over the alfresco of the bristles. Then booty an old acrylic can that has been bankrupt of all acrylic and ample it center with warm, bubbling water. Two tablespoons of accepted aqueous bowl soap works able-bodied in a half-gallon of water.
Dip the besom into the bubbling baptize and rapidly move it aback and forth, authoritative abiding the bristles do not blow the basal of the can. Twenty abnormal of back-and-forth motion will abolish 95 percent of the acrylic from the brush.
Refill the can center with aloof bright balmy baptize and echo the action until the baptize charcoal clear. If there is accustomed acrylic on the handle, use a annealed nylon besom to apple-pie off this paint.
Expert home architect and adjustment architect Tim Carter has 20 years of hands-on acquaintance in the home industry. He is a accountant adept plumber, adept carpenter, adept roof cutter and absolute acreage broker. If you accept a question, go to askthebuilder.com and bang on "Ask Tim."
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