EZ paintbrush cleaning

[JB4310]

I only buy top quality brushes, the good paint costs $50.-60. gallon, why cheap out on the brush. So of course I try to keep them as long as I can, but eventually they get so stiff, even with the super duper cleaner.

Never thought about the pressure washer, I'll have to give it a try.

JB.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. 5 hours of my time cleaning a handfull of brushes. HMM..

for the money i'm loosing with that time.. I can simply repalce the brushes, and if I 'cut' that with some cheap brushes here and there and a good one when needed.. I figure I'm actually ahead of the curve.

some things I don't mind giving away labor for free on.. like refurbing my old tractors. if Isold them.. to come out I'd have to consider my labor at cheap or free.

for anything else.. i don't feel like grabbing the ankles.... i got plenty of other tasks for my time..

at work we did a cost/benefit analysys on some renewable consumables vs straight disposables. surprisingly, and somewhat sadly.. it's generally cheaper to use a disposable consumable, vs a renewable consumable that taes man hours to renew.. sad fact...

soudnguy

Sounds like a clash between labor and management here. :laughing:

My folks were artists. We were taught a LOT regarding how to treat your brushes. From the finest tiniest sable fur brushes to the big old stain brushes my dad used on the house. We cleaned a LOT of brushes! :laughing:

That being said, I now buy a brush for each project and toss it at the end. I figure its cost into the project as disposables. And that's what's happening in America and the rest of the world today!!! (queue the pfife and drum music ). You have true craftsmen who were tought the proper way to do something and then someone comes along and offers you NEARLY the same thing for much less money. Its the "just good enough" factor. Kinda like Harbor Freight tools. They stink but they are "just good enough" to get the job done. There isn't an emiticon for "indifferent" here, is there?

 

[LWG]

For latex paint, I take some dish washing liquid and rub it into the top of the bristles, by the ferrule. That makes cleaning the brush much easier if you have to use it for an hour or two. This works best if the brush is thoroughly dry, so the soap doesn't migrate towards the tip of the bristles.

 

[Pete Judd]

I have a fine woodworking shop, and buy a lot of my brushes at HF by the box when they go on sale. Just toss them, but I flex and comb them before use. Of coarse on a lot of my finishes I just use cloth to apply the finish.

 

[MossRoad]

yep.. 5 hours of my time cleaning a handfull of brushes. HMM..

for the money i'm loosing with that time.. I can simply repalce the brushes, and if I 'cut' that with some cheap brushes here and there and a good one when needed.. I figure I'm actually ahead of the curve.

some things I don't mind giving away labor for free on.. like refurbing my old tractors. if Isold them.. to come out I'd have to consider my labor at cheap or free.

for anything else.. i don't feel like grabbing the ankles.... i got plenty of other tasks for my time..

at work we did a cost/benefit analysys on some renewable consumables vs straight disposables. surprisingly, and somewhat sadly.. it's generally cheaper to use a disposable consumable, vs a renewable consumable that taes man hours to renew.. sad fact...

soudnguy

Yeah. When I first started at my employer 25 years ago we actually disassembled and cleaned computer keyboards. Popped off every key, washed them inside and out. Cleaned the switches with contact cleaner. Blew them out with air, etc... took two-three hours of labor! I ended up fabricating a key cap washing machine out of a pickle jar and regulated air hose. Put in keys and soapy water then adjust air hose for fine bubbling action. A half hour or so later they were clean. :laughing: Anyhow, now we can buy a keyboard for one hour of minimum wage labor. Mouse is even less. Just not cost effective to clean them. Toss them out and swap in a new one in two minutes. A sad waste of equipment, but cost effective.

 

[JDgreen227]

Yeah. When I first started at my employer 25 years ago we actually disassembled and cleaned computer keyboards. Popped off every key, washed them inside and out. Cleaned the switches with contact cleaner. Blew them out with air, etc... took two-three hours of labor! I ended up fabricating a key cap washing machine out of a pickle jar and regulated air hose. Put in keys and soapy water then adjust air hose for fine bubbling action. A half hour or so later they were clean. :laughing: Anyhow, now we can buy a keyboard for one hour of minimum wage labor. Mouse is even less. Just not cost effective to clean them. Toss them out and swap in a new one in two minutes. A sad waste of equipment, but cost effective.

The three year old Toshiba L-355 I am using right now has several keys where the letters are worn down and now blank. Went to Ebay and priced replacment key caps, not the whole key, just the plastic cap. $4-5 per cap. Inane.

 

[JimRB]

The three year old Toshiba L-355 I am using right now has several keys where the letters are worn down and now blank. Went to Ebay and priced replacment key caps, not the whole key, just the plastic cap. $4-5 per cap. Inane.

If you bought a nice sable brush and some white oil based or lead based paint you could paint new letters on that keyboard after you ran the keyboard through the dishwasher. Or just get a new keyboard. It is a delight getting the keyboard off some laptops.

 

[scott_vt]

, I would just wrap the brush tightly in a freezer bag when I was done for the day.

Good Mornin JDgreen227,
Yep thats also a great tip and one that I have used successfully in the past also !

 

[Bird]

Yeah. When I first started at my employer 25 years ago we actually disassembled and cleaned computer keyboards. Popped off every key, washed them inside and out. Cleaned the switches with contact cleaner. Blew them out with air, etc... took two-three hours of labor! I ended up fabricating a key cap washing machine out of a pickle jar and regulated air hose. Put in keys and soapy water then adjust air hose for fine bubbling action. A half hour or so later they were clean. :laughing: Anyhow, now we can buy a keyboard for one hour of minimum wage labor. Mouse is even less. Just not cost effective to clean them. Toss them out and swap in a new one in two minutes. A sad waste of equipment, but cost effective.

Well, we're taking the thread off topic, but . . .. I'll bet a lot of folks have never seen the interior of a keyboard or know how many little springs are in there. I bought a new IBM computer in March, 1993, and in July I knocked over a glass of wine, right into the keyboard. I'd never taken one apart so I gave it a try. 101 little springs went every direction. After I found them all, cleaned everything, and put it back together, it didn't work. I called IBM, told the guy what I'd done and I wanted to buy a new keyboard. He just laughed and said to not do that again and he'd send me a new one under warranty. Before the new one arrived, I figured out what I'd done wrong, and fixed the original one.:laughing: But I haven't spilled tea, coffee, soft drinks, or wine into a keyboard since.

 

[DAY]

A quality brush will last for decades. Ask any old timer, who paints for a living. Use bristle brushes for oil based paints. Work some linseed oil up into the ferrule before first use.