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Learn to properly clean, reshape and store for your brushes...
By Jim Hingst @hingst_jim
Your investment in quality lettering and pinstriping brushes can easily amount to hundreds of dollars. To protect your investment, you must properly care for your brushes.
Brush
care is not merely cleaning your brushes after each use. It should begin immediately
after you buy the brush. The first thing
that you should do is to remove any sizing in the hairs of the brush. Sizing maintains the shape of the brush and
protects the hairs from damaged during transit, until after the brush is sold.
To wash out the sizing, soak the hairs in a mild
solvent, such as mineral spirits. After soaking the hairs, work out
the sizing by gently rolling the hairs of the brush between your thumb and your
forefinger. Repeat this procedure until the brush becomes pliable.
After rinsing out the size, the next step is to thoroughly soak the head of the brush in a light weight oil, such as Mr. J’s Xcaliber Brush Preservative. A good soaking will draw the oil into the ferrule.
(Note: The ferrule is a plastic or metal band that holds the hairs of the brush onto the handle. Many of the lettering quills use a clear plastic ferrule. Often you will notice a space inside this plastic ferrule between the hairs of the brush and the handle. Don’t be alarmed by this. Your brush is not coming apart.)
If you have a quill with a clean plastic ferrule, you should see the oil fill the empty space of this reservoir. The oil in the ferrule blocks any paint from filling this space, where it can dry.
Sign
painters and pinstripers have used a variety of products to oil their brushes.
These products include: linseed oil, motor oil, Neatsfoot oil, olive oil,
transmission fluid, vasoline, vegetable oil.
Some of the food oils can attract mice. I had a few natural hair brushes
that I stored flat in a cabinet drawer. Mice managed to get into the drawer and
gnawed the hairs of the brushes right down to the ferrule. If you store a brush
for a while, the food oil can also get very sticky. Motor oils and transmission
fluid can also be a problem. Additives in the oil can damage brushes. Transmission
fluid is very caustic.
I
recommend Xcaliber Brush Preservative for a number of reasons. This oil is formulated specifically for
brushes. It doesn’t contain additives
that can damage the brush. It doesn’t get gummy. It washes out easily from the
brush in paint thinner, mineral spirits
or turpentine.
Before
painting, rinse out the brush oil from the hairs of the brush. To dry the hairs of the brush, hold the
handle between the palms of both hands and rub your hands together. As the head of the brush spin, residual
solvent will be extracted through centrifugal force. Just be aware that the solvent can splatter in
every direction. To contain the splattering, position the head of the brush
between your legs, so the solvent splatters on your pants and not on everything
else.
Cleaning the Brush
In cleaning your brushes, the
rule of thumb is to use the same solvent that you use to thin your paint. The thinner will be strong enough to dissolve
the paint.
When cleaning a lettering enamel
from a brush, use a mild solvent, such as mineral spirits. Avoid using harsher
thinners, such as lacquer thinner.
Consisting of toluene, methyl
ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIK), the hot solvents in
lacquer thinner can dissolve a number of materials, including paint, ink, and adhesives. Using a
hotter solvent could damage the hairs of the brush or dissolve the glue used to
hold the brush together.
An exception to this rule is when you are painting with lacquer paints or urethanes. In painting with these paints, you will need to clean your brushes with harsher solvents. You should use lacquer thinner for cleaning, when painting with lacquer; and use urethane reducer for urethanes.
In cleaning your brushes, you should also refrain from soaking the handles of
the brush in solvent. The handles of professional-quality brushes are wood.
Soaking the handles in liquid can cause them the crack and loosen from the
ferrule. If you have to soak a brush,
keep the solvent level below the point where the ferrule is crimped onto the
handle.
Before
washing your brush in solvent, squeeze out much of the excess paint in a paper
towel or rag between you thumb and forefinger. Do not pull on the hairs or you
will weaken the bond of the hairs in the ferrule. Next, veteran painter and
pinstriper Julian “Mr. J” Braet suggests filling two cups with solvent. By
swirling your brush in the first cup, you will wash out most of the paint.
Wash
out any remaining paint in the second cup of solvent. Mr. J warns against
scrubbing the brush against the bottom of the cup. As hard as you try to clean out all of the
paint from the brush, it is unlikely that you will wash away everything. Oiling the brush will prevent any residual
paint from hardening in the brush hairs.
Reshaping a Deformed Brush Head
Art
school students are taught that after cleaning a brush that you should work in
a lather a hand soap into the hairs of the brush and then form the hairs into the desired shape and allow the
brush to dry. Most sign painters
rightfully feel this is an unnecessary practice, unless the hairs become
deformed. If that happens, then try
using hand soap to get your brush back into shape. When it comes time to use the brush, rinse out
the soap with water and allow it to dry.
Storing Brushes
After
you have cleaned and oiled your brushes, store them flat in a brush box or on a
cookie sheet. The disadvantage of a cookie sheet is that it is accessible to
critters that have a voracious appetite for natural hair and will gnaw the head
of the brush right down to the ferrule.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ABOUT VEHICLE PAINTING AND PINSTRIPING
Blending Colors
Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer
Penetrol Paint Conditioner
When to Thin Paint with Naphtha
Essential Solvents for Sign Painters
Flattening Paste for Enamel Paint
Paint Chemistry Terminology
Scratching the Surface with Grey Scotch-Brite Scuff Pads
RECOMMENDED BOOKS ABOUT VEHICLE PAINTING AND PINSTRIPING
Custom Painting: Cars, Motorcycles, Trucks
●
Great resource providing ideas for paint schemes, graphics and special effects.
● Over
700 color pictures.
● Instruction
on how to paint car and motorcycle flames and graphics.
● Provides
information on how to paint rusty patina finishes.
How to: Custom Paint & Graphics - Graphics for Your Car, Motorcycle, Truck, Street Rod
● Instruction on
painting custom flames, scallops and pinstripes.
● How to select the
right tools and supplies for your shop.
● Provides guidance on selecting
paints and job layout.
● Tips on airbrushing and gold leaf work.
Rod Powell's Flame Painting Techniques
● Covers ideas for painting
flames.
● Explains equipment needed to
paint flames.
● Describes the variety of flame types.
Pinstriping Masters Techniques,Tricks,and Special F/X for Laying Down the Line
● Features 28 pinstriping greats, including Julian “Mr. J”
Braet, Don Edwards, Alan Johnson, Steve Kafka.
● Instruction on pinstriping, gilding, flames, airbrushing and
using the Beugler striping tool.
● Great pictures
and step-by-step tutorials.
Other Painting Articles
Proper Prep Prior to Repainting WallsBlending Colors
Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer
Penetrol Paint Conditioner
When to Thin Paint with Naphtha
Essential Solvents for Sign Painters
Flattening Paste for Enamel Paint
Paint Chemistry Terminology
Scratching the Surface with Grey Scotch-Brite Scuff Pads
About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.
© 2015 Jim Hingst
Great tips, many thanks for sharing. I have printed and will stick on the wall! I like this blog. Protect Your Paint Brushes
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