Whether you are painting your whole house or just doing some touch-ups it is important to take care of your painting tools so they will provide you with years of use.
The most important thing and the easiest to understand when caring for any tool is that you never put your tools away dirty. The reason for this is that you never know when you will get back to clean them and by the time you do they will often have damage from the products that were on them.
Latex, Oil and Stains can all cause brushes to stiffen up and once this happens even if you dip them in cleaner or solvent for a long period to try to clean them you are most likely going to cause damage to the bristles and cause them to loosen from the brush handle.
To reduce this problem if you are taking a lunch break you can wrap your brushes in plastic wrap. This will keep them moist for a short time and should allow you to continue work the same day. Once you are done work for the day you should clean your brushes with the proper solvent for the material you are using. If you are applying Latex paint then mild soap and water should do the trick. If you are working with enamels, stains or lacquer paints then you should use reducer or thinner to clean the paint from the brushes then use soap and water to clean the thinner from the brush.
To know if the brush is clean you can use a dry paper towel or piece of news paper. Try the spatter test and using your wrist flick the end of the brush towards the news paper and the residual liquid should come out clean.
For Rollers you have a choice of disposing them or cleaning them. Very cheap short hair rollers may deteriorate when you use a lot of water on them. To clean a roller brush first use a paint stick or roller cleaner and scrape the roller of as much excess paint as you can. Your fingers in a OK signal shape also work great. Don’t put the paint back in the can. If you have an extra can you can store it in there for touch-ups but not back in the main can with fresh paint.
Once you have removed as much paint as you can mechanically place the roller in a bucket to soak for a while as you clean the roller holder. Once you are done cleaning the roller holder use your hand to squeeze out as much liquid as you can rinse with clean water then use a wrist flick motion to get the roller dry. You can do this outside on your grass and any small amount of latex paint should not hurt your grass.
It is important to store your tools so they don’t get damaged.
Brushes should be hung on a hook, stored flat or placed in a can with the bristles sticking up. Never rest the brush on its bristles or it will get out of shape and won’t hold good lines the next time you use it. Some people suggest that natural bristle brushes be coated with an oil but clean and dry is always best for long term storage and unless you are constantly using them oil is not a good idea.
It is very easy to have your Natural Fiber brushes last 10 years or more for the average home owner if you take care of them. Synthetic brushes should last 3 to 5 years with average use and rollers can often be used for a few rooms worth of paint so cleaning and saving them is worth the hassle considering a few good rollers can cost as much as a gallon of paint on sale.
The YouRepair Store carries a full line of
painting tools and brush cleaners to make your next project easier.