brush care for brightwork

[Old Salt]

I am nearing the stage in my building project where I need to do some varnish work. I ordered a brush keeper and spinner from Jamestown, along with some good quality brushes. My question is if the brush keeper with kerosene is used for short term or long term brush storage or both? Also do you clean and spin the brushes prior to hanging in the kerosene keeper? Then what is necessary to prepare the brushes for use in varnish again after removing from the kerosene?

Thanks,

Joe

[Bob Cleek]

I'd hang the brush in kerosene between uses if you are working with it the next day. Otherwise, I'd clean it well and wrap it in paper, or the cover it came in. BTW, those brush spinners are great, but they do have a tendency to splay the bristles (centrifugal force) and so I don't use mine on really good brushes. Also, the instructions didn't mention it, but stick the brush in a paper shopping bag or a five gallon mud bucket before you give it a spin or you'll have solvent all over the place! :eek:

Also, sorry to tell you this after you bought the fancy badger brushes and all, but a lot of us use nothing but JEN brand (not the plastic handled cheapos) foam brushes for brightwork. They are disposable and at thirty-nine cents for a two incher, they are cheaper than the thinner to clean a bristle brush and work as well, perhaps better in inexperienced hands.

[Jay Greer]

I, for one, prefer bristle brushesl over those foam thingys. The bristle brush carries the material within the body of the brush. The foam brush carries it on the surface and is prone to dripping as well as not being as accurate as the hairy kind.

One of the beauties of varnish brushes is that they don't wear out when taken care of. My Russian Boar hair Linzers are 45 years old and still in use, doing commercial work. Varnish is laid on and so there is little abrasion to wear out the bristles as happens with paint that is brushed on.

I never spin a brush as it splays the body. I use three rinses of thinner that is stored in three 5 gal buckets. The brush is wrung out several times in each rinse. The fourth rinse is always done in new thinner, the brush again being gently wrung out several times. The used thinner goes back into the can containing the third rinse.

The reason for all this rinsing is that, it prevents a film of varnish from solidifying on the individual hairs which will flake off and leave nerds in the next varnish job.
I wrap my brushes in the porous paper that is used for foto albums. This keeps the chisel edge. They are stored in a plastic one gallon salad dressing jar under thinner. Kerosine will leave a residue.
Eventualy varnish will build up in the heels of the brushes and they begin to loose flexability. An over night soak in liquid sandpaper or Star Ten (Phase #2)
Stripper will soften the brush so that a steel painter's brush comb can be gently worked between the hairs to break up the hard heel. Once soft, more agressive brushing will further soften the brush. By this time the brush is nearly dry and can be flipped to a final
dryness against the fingers of one hand. I do this in a beam of sunlight that comes through a crack in the shop door. This allows me to see the flakes of old varnish as they are beat out of the bristles. Sometimes it takes more than one soak in the Star Ten #2 (no jell in this remover. Just a super thinner) to get all the flakes out. When no floating flakes are seen da brush is kleen. This is how a quality brush can be made to last a lifetime.
JG

[JimConlin]

Cleek said: ... a lot of us use nothing but JEN brand (not the plastic handled cheapos) foam brushes It's worse than that. Some of use use rollers for varnish. I like the 1" dia. foam kind and i tip off with the ever-popular Jen foam brush.

[Old Salt]

I use so many chip brushes for epoxy work. I have recently bought a good quality brush for tipping off topcoat paint and have renewed my appreciation for quality brushes. I am enjoying the discussion so far on life long brush care.

Thanks

[Bruce Hooke]

I sometimes use foam brushes for varnish but my experience has been that bristle brushes do better on rounded or otherwise complicated surfaces.

I have never had a problem with the bristles splaying as a result of using a roller, but I am always careful to wrap the brush in something (paper towel or newspaper) that will hold it's shape while the bristles dry. For this reason I probably would not put the brush into the soup until it has had a chance to "set" in the proper shape after being spun.

The soup in which you store the brush should NOT be kerosene, it should be a 50/50 mix of turpentine and raw linseed oil. The idea is to keep the bristles from getting dry by keeping them well supplied with oil. Kerosene may keep any residual varnish from drying on the brush but it won't help keep the bristles supple. The brush should be given a quick cleaning before you use it.

If you are using the brush regularly then store it in the soup all the time. However, since most amatuers can go for months without using a varnish brush I would store the brush dry for the most part and just put it in the soup a couple days before you want to use it.

[Bruce Hooke]

P.S., I've seen more beginners ruin good brushes by not cleaning them sufficiently than by splaying caused by spinning them and not wrapping them afterwards, so I stand very much in the camp that says DO use a brush spinner, even on your good brushes.

[Jay Greer]

With all due respect, I can see no reason to use a spinner when cleaning brushes. Besides splaying the bristles, it throws thinner, every where, including on your legs. That is unless you have the brush in a bucket or bag. Since I always store my irreplacible vintage brushes wrapped in porous paper and under thinner, why would I want to spin them to rid of what they are stored in before they are stored. Incidenty, turps and linseed oil will add to heel solidification faster.
JG

[Lew Barrett]

You can spin the brush into a cleaned half gallon milk carton, which catches the gunk that's centrifuged off. You need to do it many times....seven is a good number. If any varnish dries on the brush, the brush becomes dirty and leaves chunks behind. You can't clean the brush too much, (My spinner broke years ago and i never replaced it, if that says anything though). I've never stored brushes in oil, and would like to hear more success stories from those who have. Just clean the hell out of them first, put them in a baggie and hope for the best when I come back to them.
Cleaning brushes is one of the most annoying chores of varnishing, but good brushes are worth it....sort of. Also, used brushes properly cleaned and stored seem superior to new ones in my view.
Rather than clean every time, I'll sometimes store a brush (packed in baggies) in the freezer between build coats, but this is really a cheat, and it requires that the brush not pick up any dirt along the way. Eventually, you have to clean the thing thoroughly. Alot of times I use good chip brushes (Fisheries Supply has China bristle chip brushes that pass muster but require fanatical teasing before the first use) for build and toss them after each coat, then move to the good ones for the final coats. Cleaning brushes...a struggle and guilt trip for the ecologically minded.
Also, if you read Rebecca's book, she uses foam for the simple reason that she dislikes cleaning good brushes...but I don't like foam except for use on rollers.
Edited to add: It occurs to me that varnishing technique is like religion and politics. Everybody has their own ideas of what works but nobody can really tell you why tongue.gif
For sure, after you get some brush time in, I think the hardest part is keeping everything clean....including the brushes. Actually laying down varnish would be a breeze if it weren't for dirt and hair and advancing old age that costs you your eyesight.
Lew

Originally posted by Bob Cleek:
I'd hang the brush in kerosene between uses if you are working with it the next day. Otherwise, I'd clean it well and wrap it in paper, or the cover it came in. BTW, those brush spinners are great, but they do have a tendency to splay the bristles (centrifugal force) and so I don't use mine on really good brushes. Also, the instructions didn't mention it, but stick the brush in a paper shopping bag or a five gallon mud bucket before you give it a spin or you'll have solvent all over the place! :eek:

Also, sorry to tell you this after you bought the fancy badger brushes and all, but a lot of us use nothing but JEN brand (not the plastic handled cheapos) foam brushes for brightwork. They are disposable and at thirty-nine cents for a two incher, they are cheaper than the thinner to clean a bristle brush and work as well, perhaps better in inexperienced hands.tongue.gif

[ 01-12-2006, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Lew Barrett ]

[Bruce Hooke]

Well, if nothing else we have demonstrated that there is no one right answer to these questions. I learned about brush spinners while working in a boatyard on the coast of Maine that takes care of a lot of wooden boats. Most of what I said is also backed up by Walter Simmons' book on finishing boats, which I highly recommend. HOWEVER, Jay Greer, Bob Cleek, and possibly others who have posted here also have a lot of experience to draw on (more than me), so their techniques clearly work too.

Ultimately it is a matter of trying different techniques until you find one that works for you.

[pipefitter]

Noone mentioned a brush comb. The most important cleaning tool.No spinner here either...I was taught to tap the brush on the toe of my shoe between rinses.

[ 01-12-2006, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: pipefitter ]

[Canoeyawl]

Brushes can be like any favorite tool. I use Jay Greers method (3 rinses, no spinner, etc) with one exception; I usually do brightwork only once a year so storing them in thinner is not practical. When I am finished I soak the brush overnight in a mild soap/detergent solution then rinse again in water. Then store in folded paper to keep the shape (just a single sheet of newsprint) and hang near the woodstove. It takes about a week for the brushes to dry out for use again so I have three good brushes for a coat every other day - timing to use my very best brush for the last coat. I have had these brushes over twenty years…

[pipefitter]

I too wash my brushes with laundry det. Even after a brush has rinsed clear with spirits,quite a bit still comes out in the water.The newer liquid detergent has a fabric softener or something in it that makes the brushes soft.No,I haven't had any reaction or negative effects on the paint afterwards from a residue left in the brush. The comb is started right at the metal ferrule which I think enables the solvent to get well into the heel of the brush.I was fortunate enough to work with elder journeymen painters that were schooled in oil paint.Most of them grouchy except for o'l Everett Mutter.He had a new joke every day.

[Brian Palmer]

For a home builder or private boat owner doing their own work, I think the foam brushes make a lot of sense. I stick mine of the freezer for the next coat or either paint or varnish. For a professional, bristle brushes and the associated cleaning could be more cost effective.

For those of you with three 5-gallon pails of kero or diesel (or whatever) for cleaning brushes, do you know how you will be able to legally dispose of that material when it is loaded and do you know how much it will cost?

Just pondering,

Brian

[wyndham]

I like to wash a good brush in Murphy's oil soap before putting it away long term. The soap leaves a fine sheen on the bristles that prevents them from drying out while they hang at the end of the cabinet, protected and one to a hook so there is air around them. Aquick dip in some thinner and a good shake before use and you're good to go.
Never used a spinner, don't plan to.

[pipefitter]

I have a designated container for spent solvent.If you let it sit,the solids will settle and solidify on the bottom.The rest is again,clear solvent that I slowly pour into my brush container.I only end up using a small amount of fresh thinner for the final wash.Anything else,I let it evaporate and just throw the solids away.