RESTORE OLD BRUSHES

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Good paint brushes are expensive. Therefore, the ability to restore them will help save your money. The restoration process includes softening and removing dried paint from a bunch of bristles, washing the brush, and also giving them the desired shape.

Dry paint removal

No matter how thoroughly we brush our brushes after each use, over time, dried paint accumulates inside the bristles, on the crimping base and handle. The bristles of the brush become stiff, and the bunch loses its shape. It becomes inconvenient to work with such a tool, and it will not be so easy to achieve high-quality painting with it.

The first thing to do in this case is to try to loosen the dried paint by soaking the brush in water, if it is glue or water-soluble paint. Mineral solvents will be needed for oil paints.

Moreover, it is not necessary to fill the entire bundle with this liquid. It is enough that the brush is only in its lower end. Soon (after 30-60 minutes) it will rise by capillaries to the very top of the bristles.
After the beam is completely saturated with solvent, it is necessary to put into the case a spatula and a wire brush.

First, we put the spatula directly under the crimping base and, holding the brush by the handle, with the other hand we bring the spatula down, pressing it to the brush.

We perform this operation several times for one and the other side. Then thoroughly "comb" the brush with a wire brush several times also on both sides.
When working with a spatula and a wire brush, it is necessary to move them only in the direction from the crimping base to the edge of the brush and in no case back. This will result in mechanical damage to the bristles.
After these two operations, it does not hurt to rinse the brush in a solvent poured into a shallow but wide dish, pressing on the handle and holding it at an angle. In this case, the bundle of bristles, bending to one side or the other, intensively gets rid of the remnants of the old dissolving paint.
Using a spatula and wire brush, the paint is well removed at the base of the bristles, since they are firmly pressed against each other and do not deform. Pressing these tools on the lower ends leads to their elongation without removing paint.

Rinse again.

To remove the paint from the ends of the bristles, it is better to use a wire disc with a diameter of 100 mm, mounted on the drill spindle. You need to drive the nozzle along the paint tool from the base to the end, and its rotation should, as it were, stretch the bristles, but not compress. The same wire disc can remove paint from a metal crimp base.

We finish the first stage of cleaning the old brush from paint by striking a bunch of bristles on the bark of the old tree with a brush stroke from right to left and left to right. As a result, solvent residues are removed from the old paint tool, which will greatly help in the second stage of its cleaning.

Rinsing brush

After the first cleaning step, there was practically no old paint left in it, but its traces, as well as the solvent, still remained. We wash the brush abundantly in the sink with warm water.

Then we add a small amount of detergent to the bristles and begin to brush with a wire brush, removing the last remains of old paint and solvent.

Again, intensively wash the brush in a large amount of warm water. Shake it several times, ordering and aligning the bristles in length. We leave the brush for a while in the sink, so that water is glazed from it, and then dry.

Giving a bunch of bristles the desired shape

After waiting for the bristle bundle to dry completely, we make sure that they straightened and slightly fluffed. Next, comb the brush with a special metal comb, but you can do with ordinary plastic.

At the end, saturate the bristles of the brush with some oil soap (glycerin possible) and gently comb, so as not to whip the foam.

The thick soap acts like a hair gel and gives the bristles the desired shape. It also moisturizes, conditions and softens it. Then the brush should be hung out in the sun for several hours to dry.

Final actions

When the oil soap is completely dry, the bristles feel dry and stiff. Now it can be washed for the last time abundantly in warm water, at the same time comb and hang in order to glass the water.

You may notice several damaged bristles that stick out to the sides. They must be carefully cut with a sharp knife or scissors closer to the crimp base. After that, the brush must be hung at night so that it is completely dry. In the morning, it should be packed in a cardboard box and stored until the next use.