Look After Your Brush And Save Money

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32010, 10 June 1969, Page 20

Look After Your Brush And Save Money

We can obtain good paint work only by using good materials. Unfortunately not every handyman knows how to judge a good brush.

Using the wrong size or type of brush, or using the right brush the wrong way can badly mar the job and damage the brush itself. You’ll get a “fingered” brush if you try to use the edge of a flat brush as a substitute for a narrow one. The fibres will divide into fingers or clumps, which will eventually become set in shape. A brush squeezed into tight corners and crevices will mat and its bristles will curl and knot together. Using a flat brush incorrectly to paint pipes and small round surfaces will result in a fishtail brush. If you stand your brush on its bristle ends the weight will curve the bristles permanently; also if you dip the brush too deeply into the paint, the hard-to-clean heel will harden.

swelling the ferrule and hardening the brush. One sign of a good brush is the amount of “flagging” at the ends of the bristles. A 4-inch flat brush is probably the most popular for painting large areas, although 3-inch and 6-inch brushes can be used satisfactorily. For trim or sash work, the 2-inch or 2|-inch brush will do an excellent job. For such work as thin window sashes, dadoes and trellises a 1-inch to 3-inch flat or oval brush is the one to use. But remember that time can be saved by using the widest practicable brush for the job. When you come to the modern substitute for kalsomine or whitewash, brushes up to 8 inches can be used with excellent results.