Removing hardened latex paint from brushes

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Originally Posted by

Cohwa Product Page

That's actually a great idea!

If you sell brushes...

Soaking in water will cause the wood in the handle to swell and the ferrel (the metal band) to become loose. The brush is pretty much destroyed for any serious use when that happens. It may still make a decent duster - but - as a painting tool, it's days are over.

The "trick" to removing hardened material of any kind from a brush is to keep the bristles mostly out of the solvent and allow the fumes to work on the dried material.
Lacquer thinner does a good job.

Take a 2lb coffee can w/a plastic lid.
Cut a slit like this >--------< in the lid wide enough to stick the brush through.
Place some lacquer thinner in the can, just enough so that it just touches the bottom of the bristles when you suspend the brush by pushing it through the slit.
Set it aside for a few days and allow the fumes to soften the dried material.

After a few days, try running a brush comb through the bristles. Don't use a wire brush. A wire brush will put a permanent "curl" in the bristles - a lot like what happens when you pull a ribbon over a scissors blade to form a decorative bow.
If the dried material is still too hard, stick the brush back in and give it a few more days.

Once the material has softened enough, try cleaning as you would any other brush used in solvent based materials.
Wash in mineral spirits, spin it with a brush spinner (Lowes and HD sell them for about $11 to $15 bucks - don't force the jaws on one and it will last you forever) and repeat as needed.
Once the brush is clean, spin it dry then wrap it and hang it up with the bristles pointed down.
Don't store a freshly cleaned brush on it's side. It has to hang to allow the solvent still inside to escape.

After a week or so, remove the wrap and reclean the brush in hot soapy water, rinse well, then rewrap and hang it.

I'm not going to kid you. It takes time for this to work. More time than most people care to devote & the chances of you forgetting about the brush hanging in the can are excellent to almost a given.
Persoanlly, while I've done the above more times than I care to count, I won't resort to it unless the brush is one of my better 3 1/2" sash tools.
Those are too hard to come by.

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