PDA

View Full Version : Sometimes ignoring advice.......LOL!



Ken Fitzgerald
08-13-2012, 1:39 PM
I don't know how many times I've read articles or seen videos on television where a professional painter/finisher advised soaking a brush in the solvent for the finish BEFORE you use it to aid in easy cleanup.

A few weeks ago I finished a swing for my wife and then I reinforced the header and two rafters on our small covered patio. I hung the swing and it worked well. The next day I realized I should paint the reinforced rafters and header to winterize them. Next year I intend to paint the whole house with the aid of my oldest son.

I bought a brand new Purdy brush and used it without soaking it in water (I'm painting a latex) the first day. I spent quite a period of time cleaning the brush as it was marginally warm outside to paint and it dried very quickly.

The next 3 days when painting, I soaked the brush as advised prior to use, shook out the excess and cleanup was a snap.....just a few minutes.

I wonder how well that will work with finishes like varnish, shellac, brushing lacquer and polyureathane?

Matt Meiser
08-13-2012, 1:42 PM
I've been doing a fair bit of painting lately and have been trying this. Works great.

Rich Engelhardt
08-13-2012, 4:17 PM
I wonder how well that will work with finishes like varnish, shellac, brushing lacquer and polyureathane
FWIW - the pros all used to store their brushes in a brush keeper.
The brush keeper was a galvanized steel box with a hinged lid with a rubber gasket.

The brushes were held in place with the tips of the bristles just slightly submerged in a mix of linseed oil and pure gum spirits of turps.
Prior to each use, the liquid from the brush keeper was cleaned out of the brush - usually with mineral spirits.

So - yes - for anything oil based, pre wetting the brush has the same effect.

To expand on this just a tiny bit more - the oil/turps mix in the brush keeper would eventually become diluted with mineral spirits & contaminated with small traces of paint.
The diluted/contaminated material was poured off, decanted to remove any solids, then beeswax added to it and used as a utility oil finish.

Just in case you ever or never wondered where the old timers came up with the oil/wax finish. It's a throwback to the days when nothing went to waste.