Anyone know where I can get this paint brush cleaner or something similar in the UK at a reasonable price, not the £20 I can only find it at!
Cheers
Steven.
A friend who demonstrated one of these to me said he got it from an Ideal Homes Exhibition, which I note is just coming up:
Chris
Thus spake Steven Campbell ( snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net) unto the assembled multitudes:
Surely this is never going to clean a brush completely? I can't believe that just spinning a brush or roller with a power drill will remove *all* the paint. For one thing it wouldn't inspire confidence in the adhesive qualities of the paint :-)
Also I can't believe you could spin a roller or brush fast enough with the drill without something self-destructing, unless the roller or brush is perfectly balanced.
Unless of course I'm missing something here...
s:
Buy from the man himself:
Ah, but the adhesive quality of the paint that is of interest, is once it has dried. The brush cleaner relies on you spinning it /before/ it dries.
It is remarkably effective. Note that you spin it once to get "most" of the paint off, rinse in brush cleaner, and spin again to get it practically all off.
It only works on small brushes (for oil paint). Emulsion brushes won't fit in the holder (this is probably a feature!)
I bought mine years ago after one of those demonstrations that make you think you can't live without it ;o)
Absolutely great buy. Spin it for a minute or so and most of the excess paint flies off the brush and I mean flies off. You need to do it inside a bucket or box. Then dip the brush in some white spirit and spin it again and the brush literally comes up like new. Not a single drop of paint left.
The drill can get a bit hard to hold when spinning full throttle but nothing has broke yet.
Steven.
Buy from the man himself:
Ah, but the adhesive quality of the paint that is of interest, is once it has dried. The brush cleaner relies on you spinning it /before/ it dries.
It is remarkably effective. Note that you spin it once to get "most" of the paint off, rinse in brush cleaner, and spin again to get it practically all off.
Emulsion brushes fit fine. I use it for all my brushes / rollers. In fact the link you sent (thanks for that) says it can handle "100mm (4") down to
10mm (1/2"). Will clean almost any type of paint including oil based glosses, undercoats and primers; acrylics; emulsions; polyurethanes or varnishes"Cheers
Steven.
I've got one too and it works great. The only thing that concerns me is the use of highly flammable liquids with an electric drill so close. Is it not possible to ignite it all with the sparks made by the drill motor?
Never thought about it but I suppose its possible. My drill sparks quite often but I've never had a problem. Are fumes from white spirit highly flammable?
Don't lend it to people (or at least people you want to stay friends with) without the very simple instruction leaflet which says "put it into a box when spinning the brush to catch all the paint which flies off". I lent mine to my Dutch friend (having demonstrated how to use it) and he cleaned his brush (white gloss paint) without this minor item, and holding it horizontal.
I thought all was not well when his wife wafted lots of Dutch words said with certain enthusiasm over the fence. The white stripe of paint spray from floor to roof is still visible. It also cost him a fortune because the rotary washing line was the other side of the circle of paint and it had a dress needed for a dinner than night.
Thus spake Steven Campbell ( snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net) unto the assembled multitudes:
I know what you mean. I once bought some deadly kitchen implement bristling with razor-sharp blades from such a demo, but I'm too scared to use it :-{
Yeah, I kind of gathered that :-) Otherwise it would be great for decorating clothes for Glastonbury or something.
Ah, right, it's the white spirit that's the key then. It's just that the blurb on the web page seemed to imply (by not mentioning it) that you didn't need it.
I have a drill attachment for stirring paint, which is also very useful but you have to be a bit careful with the drill speed and direction of rotation.
The version for cleaning rollers has to be the easiest thing in the world to d-i-y: Just get a cheapo roller frame from the pound shop, cut the steel rod, and secure the plugs against rotation.
How are brushes held in the cylinder of the paintbrush version?
This has to be a 'joke' question. right?
Then, "A.Clews" -who self-evidentally has no experience if the device interjected; -
OT DOES! brushes and roller pads - using the appropriate attachments ...
Wbich perhaps exp;lains why you're almost unheard of whilst the inventor us well known?
Most people clean their brushes while the paint is still wet. Allowing a brush to 'dry' until the paint fotms a solid and adhered structure is _not _ recommended. BYW; if you 'smudge' a freshly painted surface (with your sleeve. perhaps?) and paint comes off .. what does that incident inspire in you of the adhesive qualities of the paint? Have you heard of the techniques of 'tag-tolling; faux-marbleing; wood-graining; varnishing; etc. etc.? Whar confidence in the adhesive qualities of the paint do these techniques inspire?
Quite a lot of opinion for something you admit you've no experience of! Why not pop down the road to the sheds and purchase a set, experiment with it , -THEN- opine on its efficacy?
I've got one too and it works great. The only thing that concerns me is the use of highly flammable liquids with an electric drill so close. Is it not possible to ignite it all with the sparks made by the drill motor?
Before starting to paint (after bitter experience) I discipline myself into setting up a 'cleaning station' _outdoors-.
I use an old plastic pedal bin as the container to spin the brushes into - it now has an interesting ring of multicoloured paint about half way down (on the inside). On an adjacent old workmate I place containers of the appropriate cleaning solution - water, white spirits, whatever. As it's outdoors. I'm not troubled by fumes, etc .... the workmates holes are useful for placing the drill's chuck key and parking smaller brush handles.
The process is spin off the residual paint, dip into the cleaning fluid.; spin off again; flick the ,by now, dried bristles. -The last step is not mandatory - but it still gives satisfaction : ).
I'll now clean brushes before having a tea-break - it only takes a minute.
The only drawback I've encountered is that the brush holder's springs are destroyers of non-solid handles- the cheap packs of brushes seem to have hollow handles while the 'better' brands of brushes have solid handles. BTW; 'Dandy' market a set of brush -heads and handles with a demountable hex shaft. The idea is that one inserts a hex snap-on chuck into the and pops on/off a brush head for cleaning.
Looking into the 'brush' device, you'll se two tightly wound steel(?) spring 'thingies'. The brush handle has to be forcibly pushed past this 'obstruction'. small (thin) handles are easy; big (thick) handles are harder to push past the springs. The manufacturer's blurb claims that the secret is in the springs which took years to perfect. The springs exhibit a self-cantering tendency for the brush and limit the amount of 'wobble' experienced by the drill holder (YOU).
As I've mentioned in another post - the springs will turn any hollow handled (aka cheap) brush into a collection of shards .
I bought mine from E Bay a couple of years ago, IIRC it cost me about £7 incl postage. Mine was only suitable for 1 1/2" rollers but bastardising an old roller frame I made it work on 1 3/4" aswell. The springs on the brush holder are very strong so the brush wont fly out. They really DO work!
HTH
John
I bought mine from E Bay a couple of years ago, IIRC it cost me about £7 incl postage. Mine was only suitable for 1 1/2" rollers but bastardising an old roller frame I made it work on 1 3/4" aswell. The springs on the brush holder are very strong so the brush wont fly out. They really DO work!
HTH
John
Sorry if this apeears twice but not sure it 'went' first time.
More hassle than its worth,I'd probaly have hand cleaned a roller and three brushes eda a cup of tea and read the paper by the time you have rigged the brush into that contraption,put it in the drill and started to clean it.
Not sure but there's also the fact that spirit mixed with paint can end up all over your hands while you're doing the cleaning.
Absolutely no chance. Takes less than 2 minutes and most of that time is spent looking for the chuck key ;o)
Steven.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.