Drain holes in paint brushes?

[Stephen Tashiro]

I often do some combination of painting and carpentry so the painting gets interrupted. To deal with the interruption, I either clean the brush properly or stick it in water. Before I resume painting, I fling the water out of the bristles. However, as I began to paint again, I usually find drops of water coming out of the brush. I think they come from the area under the metal band around the top of the bristles. I wonder if drilling drain holes in the metal band would alleviate this problem. Anybody tried that?

[curtis rosche]

wouldnt that make the bristles come out?

[Jamie Buxton]

What I do to remove solvent from brushes (and water for waterborne finishes) is to use centrifugal force. I have a string that's about three feet long, with a hook made from a nail on one end. I hook the brush on the thing, and whirl it around my head for ten seconds or so. Voila -- dry brush!

[John Lanciani]

http://www.amazon.com/SHUR-LINE-5200-Professional-Roller-Cleaner/dp/B00004Z4HL/ref=sr_1_2/192-9862225-5990319?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1255827503&sr=8-2

I use a 5 gallon pail with a hole cut in the lid big enough to fit a 4" brush. Stick the brush through the hole and spin away. Makes cleaning or drying a brush indoors a snap.

[James Jaragosky]

What I do to remove solvent from brushes (and water for waterborne finishes) is to use centrifugal force. I have a string that's about three feet long, with a hook made from a nail on one end. I hook the brush on the thing, and whirl it around my head for ten seconds or so. Voila -- dry brush!
If it is going to be only a few hours or less I just store the brush in a sandwich baggie. I but the bristles in the bag and tape the open end to the handle.
This will keep the brush and paint in workable condition for quite some time.
Jim J.

[Rick Moyer]

I drill a hole thru the brush so that a wire thru the hole supports the metal area above the level of the water/solvent.

[David G Baker]

I use gallon freezer bags for rollers and brushes. I make sure that I can get as much air out of the bag as possible then roll the baggie up tight and seal it. I have stored rollers like this for several days, they last even longer if you put them in the refrigerator.
Before starting to paint with your brush wet the bristles, for latex use clean water and for oil base use mineral spirits. By wetting the brush the wet bristles up near the handle keep the paint from accumulating in that area and makes the brush much easier to clean. Remove the excess wetness prior to dipping the brush in the paint.

[Stephen Tashiro]

The bristles wouldn't come out if you drilled small holes in the metal band and staggered them - I think.

Spinning a brush around with a string is an interesting idea. But I might have to take a walk to get to a place where I didn't want drops of paint flung.

The Shur-line 5200 is highly recommended on that link. But I don't understand exactly how it works. Couldn't find a video of it.

I think the other ways mentioned amount to solving my problem by not immersing the upper part of the brush in water. Hmm.... am I that disciplined?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
+1 pn the Shur- Line spinner. Jam the bush handle into the spring steel jaws & pump the handle up and down.
Take a run to the borg or a paint store to check out how it works.

As for drilling weep holes in the ferrel - the metal band.
That will break the seal the epoxy holding the bristles in creates. That seal is important to keeping water out of the wood handle. If water migrates into the wood handle, it will split in short order as the wood swells.

Next time you visit the borg or buy a new brush, spread the bristles apart and look at how they are bedded in the epoxy under the ferrel & you'll see what I'm referring to.

Water running down the handle of a fairly freshly cleaned brush indicates an excessive aount of water still remains under the ferrel.
The Shur- Line spinner will eliminate 99% of that.
Wrapping the brush in newspaper after spinning it will also wick out any water that remains.

My usual routine is to run with one brush until the latex starts to gum up - usually a few hours - then clean, sping wrap that brush and set it aside until the next day.
Any time I'm going to be setting a brush down for more time than a bathroom break, I clean, spin and wrap it.

BTW- the spring steel jaws of the spinner hold a brush on the inside and a roller fits over the outside of them.
Use a 5 in 1 on the roller to remove the excess paint, then spin the roller the same way as the brush.
Spin the roller under a few rinses of water and you'll wonder why it took you so long to get around to buying a spinner.
You'll find that, all of a sudden, rollers last for a long, long, long time.

[David G Baker]

I spin my brushes and rollers in a 5 gallon bucket using the Shur Line spinner. It is similar to a child's spinning top that has the handle that is pushed down while holding the main body of the spinner. Awesome invention, I am still using rollers that are around 20 years old thanks to the spinner.

[Jason Roehl]

I don't spin my brushes--that wrecks the bristles. What is important is to thoroughly clean the brush--so clean that if you were to dunk it in fresh water, you would be comfortable drinking that water. Then, instead of spinning it, I hold it above my head, by the handle, bristles up, and whip it out with a sharp, downward stroke and a snap of the wrist. 3-4 of those, and it's dry enough that I can paint without water running back down the ferrule.

Should you happen to get water between the ferrule and the handle, just grab the (clean) brush by the bristle and whip it out like I described above.

I still spin rollers, too, but I took apart a brush extender that has the same dual fitting that the spinners do, and chuck it into my cordless drill. For cleaning 18" rollers, I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Products-284112-Multi-Use-Cleaner/dp/B000FFVC02/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1255889344&sr=8-12

For cleaning 9" (and smaller) rollers, I just leave the cover on the frame, and use a trigger nozzle on a short length of garden hose. I aim it so that it just hits the edge of the cover, which will spin it up to high speed, then run the water jet up and down the roller (with the cover vertical). Once it's clean, if you quickly remove the water jet, the roller will also be basically dry and fluffed. With good water pressure, the roller will be spun faster than the spinner can get it, and cleaner, too.

[Stephen Tashiro]

OK, now I understand what David meant in his first post. (I was visualizing him slinging a bucket around and getting dizzy. I see that he refers to spinning the brush within a stationary bucket!)

I like Jason's idea of slinging the brush when you have grasped it by the bristles. Sounds simple. I'll try it.

[David G Baker]

Jason,
I just stopped spinning my good brushes due to the bristle damage caused by the spin method but rollers still get the spin. I have started using your method of removing the water from the brush after rinsing.