Brushes losing shape

[Guest]

Hi all,

bit of advice needed, my brushes have started to splay outwards and have lost shape making painting more difficult.

Do any of you guys have a tip or trick to get them back in shape.

Regards

Antony

[Guest]

When cleaning them dont brush them around the bottom of your water/thinner jar, just dip and swill aorund, once clean wipe them gently on a peice of kitchen towel and once thats done, lick two fingers and form the ends into the proper brush tip shape. I ve got some pretty nice brushes and using this technique they all still look like new, one of them ive had for over 4 years.

[stona]

I've always had the same problem so I'll be taking Paul's advice too (I never do rub them around the bottom of the jar anyway). I've been told to store brushes with the brushes down but I've never got around to constructing something to suspend them this way!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

sounds awful but a little spit on you fingers then re-shape the brushes - job done , works for me .

Richy

[Guest]

This is usually as a result of paint particles being stuck right down in the root of the brush from either not being cleaned properly or picking particles up in the jar. Although wetting usually helps I find the brustle will stick out at just the wrong moment while I'm painting so I tend to keep them for weathering or glue!

As has been said cleaning them correctly is the key and I roll mine around the side of the jar and keep wiping them out on a peice of kitchen roll until there is no sign of colour on the paper.

[Guest]

To keep brushes in tip top nick I have always done the following:

2 Jars of water, one for getting rid of the paint and the second to wash the dirty water from the first.

At the end of every paint session after you have washed the brushes, I dip them in hair conditioner and rub around the palm of my hand, then wash the conditioner out in clean water.

Followed by a reshape with a bit of spit between the fingers.

Then about once a month I dip them in Bicarbonate of soda solution, then repeat the above.

Not the quickest method but will keep your sable brushes in top shape.

[Guest]

I always get my sable brushes as clean as possible using white spirit (when using enamels of course) then after a session use washing up liquid and hot water to really wash all the spirit out. To shape them after washing I put the bristles in my mouth to form the shape. All mine are stored laying flat and I have some that are easily 20 years old, still perfect!

By the way, quite by accident I found that MEK really cleans brushes! I picked up the wrong brush yesterday that I'd been painting with instead of the glue brush, on wiping it immediately on some kitchen paper, all manner of muck came out and the bristles were spotless after!

[AlanG]

MEK isn't kind to non-natural fibres. So be careful what type of brush you use it on. It also isn't kind to the body and i have first hand experience of that. So if you do use it and then place the brush into your mouth to shape the tip then make sure you have all the MEK off the brush first.

[Guest]

100% what Allyne said...

[Guest]

MEK isn't kind to non-natural fibres. So be careful what type of brush you use it on. It also isn't kind to the body and i have first hand experience of that. So if you do use it and then place the brush into your mouth to shape the tip then make sure you have all the MEK off the brush first.

I guess it's really unpleasant stuff just from the smell! Of course with regards to brushes I guess it will ruin any synthetic ones - didn't even consider that.......I've definitely not put any in my mouth. Can you say what happened flounder_al? Any warnings are useful, I've only become cautious with 'nasty' substances as I've got older.

[AlanG]

I was in the RAF and we used MEK as a degreaser to clean metal surfaces before we spread a synthetic sealant called PRC over rivets, panel joints, bolts etc etc. Because the fumes from MEK are heavier than air they obviously sink. I was working in the lower section of a VC10 torque box (where the wings meets) and someone above me was using MEK without telling me. I initially smelled the MEK but took no notice (my first mistake and the joys of no experience). After about 5 mins i couldn't smell the MEK so i thought it was stopped being used. That was my second mistake. MEK will actually stop your nose from smelling it after a while (i can't remember the medical term). I unknowingly continued to breathe the fumes. Luckily my Sgt came up to the aircraft to look for me to tell me it was tea break. He found me trying to claw my way out of the torque box in only what i can describe as being very very drunk. When stood up i promptly collapsed and was taken to our medical center and giving oxygen for a short while to help flush my lungs.

The doctor also told me that like trichloromethane, MEK can 'pool' in your lungs and is hard to get rid of but can damage the kidneys whilst being removed from the body.

I was a very lucky young lad who since that day has been very very careful of solvents, glues etc etc. The fumes are horrible and the vapours are very flammable. Be very careful using MEK

[Guest]

Eeek! Very scary. Thank goodness you were due a tea break! My own solvent scare came from making custom dry transfers at work in the mid '80s. I worked in a graphic studio that made a lot of mock-ups for TV and promotional work. The solvents I used to dilute and clean the inks made me jolly high very quickly. After finding out that they were carcinogenic I caused such a fuss that a proper ventilated room and suitable masks were provided. Now I take much care over what I'm breathing in.

[Guest]

When cleaning just dip and swill aorund, once clean wipe them gently on a peice of kitchen towel and once thats done, lick two fingers and form the ends into the proper brush tip shape.Digital scales...