Getting dried latex paint out of housebrush bristles?

[FACE]

After the last two days of cleaning the brush was supple enough to use again so I did my 100 square feet of housepainting on the second story (split level, 3 two story sides)from the extension ladder yesterday afternoon.

Sure, 30 years ago i would have done 1000 square feet or so in a day but this is not 30 years ago. :-)

That I have only been doing an average of 100 square feet a day is the reason i have not been washing the brush out everyday but looking for ways to keep it from day to day and washing it maybe once a week...or two. And that is how I ended up with dried paint in the bristles. I got enough out in the past two days, including the fingernail bit someone suggested to go with it yesterday.

The brush, complete with it's 6 oz of paint, overnighted, well wrapped, in the freezer. I put it in just after I had finished my painting yesterday afternoon.

Another day, another 100 square feet, maybe 200!, this afternoon. Weather is beautiful for this I started my other soon-to-be-sold house in late june and just the front split-level face over there lasted through July. All but the face of that house is well shaded and the rest does not need paint nor is the new paint on the face, which bakes in the sun daily, obviously different from the rest.

Same situation over here except since this house has not been fully painted in 11 years other than area touch-up and front trim and painting the chimney chase twice and I am doing the whole thing.

FACE

[FACE]

Yep. That's about right. On each patch, i feather it out on the edges and the next day feather it in so it doesn't look like a start/stop job. :-)

Who said I was out there all day? :-) Most days are about 1 hour or a little less in actually painting that 100 sq feet from an extension ladder. Some days I get really squirrelly and spend over 2 hours painting! If I am am doing a lower portion from the ground, i do more square footage and paint for a longer time, but i feel sure that is about the same with a lot of people.

I think the last time i had this house professionally painted it took 4 days

-- last day was a partial for the trim. That's when I was paying over a grand for someone else to do it though. He wore out a $30 horsehair brush on this job.

I sure do feel bad about doing it so slow. ;-) The other side of the coin is that i am doing it at all. I will keep your suggestion in mind about dipping the brush.

FACE

[patrick mitchel]

I use it full strength for overnight soaking (after turning the brush upside down and massaging the solvent into the ferrule to deg to the paint that has gotten that far) then clean with warm water and repaeat till i get the flexibility that I want. The citrus cleaners are still solvents so you might want to use a waterproof glove. I didn't and did not suffer any skin problems. Now, as to my liver - who the heck knows. Pat

[George E. Cawthon]

Whooee, and I though I was slow! 100 sq ft is less than 13 feet linear on an 8 foot wall. That shouldn't be an all day job. I can do a side of a house, about 500 sq ft, in a day so that it takes me about 4 days. Then another 2 days for trim. Other friends claim they can paint their house in

2 days, maybe one more for trim. So I though I was about the slowest painter around.

I think most of your problem is how slow your are and how long the paint brush is out in the air. If you are going that slow, you need to be dipping that brush in water at least every 1/2 hour. Waste a little paint but you will paint faster and better.

[George E. Cawthon]

Sorry, I might have missed some of the earlier thread that indicated you were painting only a short time each day. Personally, I couldn't stand it painting a little each day forever. I want to get it done and over with. Now, my doors take forever since I can only do two or three on one side each day because of space and other considerations (like I want a bathroom with a door). :)

[FACE]

No problem, George.

I had not mentioned the why of any of it because i did not think it was really relevant to getting dried paint out of the brush.

FACE

[FACE]

Thanks. The Zep was actually the more inexpensive available. The previous housewash I was using said on the label on some types of surfaces to rinse immediately to prevent etching and that sent me a big flag that said ACID. The Zep does not say that on the label and has similar dilution instructions for various jobs but I called the 800 number to the manufacturer inquiring as to whether I could mix hypochlorite(clorox) with it and they told me no that it was acidic. The Zep I have gives a 64:1 dilution for pressure washing, down to 10:1 for intense cleaning jobs. I will be using it at 28:1 and applying with a scrub brush and letting it dry -- I consider that the old paint in the sun-baked front has enough oxidation to take into consideration. The color is Blue Slate but it is a lot lighter than it originally was.

I will first try the white vinegar treatment and if no joy will go to the Zep at full strength.

FACE

[gsjmia]

The active ingredient in OOPS is Xylene, it cheaper to buy a quart a Home Depot, etc. than OOPS. It will dissolve latex paint and not har the brush

-- gsjmia

[FACE]

Thanks. I am not familiar with OOPS. First thing i though of was Goof-off, but besides being over expensive relative to the brush, i figured it would melt the bristles. I will look into OOPS.

FACE

[Marsha]

replying to George E. Cawthon, Marsha wrote: I love to paint (not pictures) but have never heard of dipping brush in water while using. Please advise