Take care of your tools and your tools will help take care of your house Leading Innovation in Home Improvement www.rdproduct.com Cleaning your painting tools It s a dirty job but somebody has got to do it, and if you were the one painting, that someone is probably you.
Why is it necessary? One of the least liked parts of taking on a home painting renovation is the part where you need to clean your tools. There are lots of one time use tools you can just throw away after one use, and maybe that s the right choice for you. But, chances are if you are doing a paint renovation it is in your house, and as we all know house renovations don t ever stop, they just change location. Why is it necessary? A quality painting tool will come in handy and save you money, rather than continually running to the store to buy and then throw away single use brushes and rollers. Ask any professional painter why they use high quality painting tools and you will find out its not just because they will be using it again, but because it provides the highest quality application of paint. When done correctly, a quality brush like that available from ROLLINGDOG can last for years.
Cleaning the brush Between the main two elements to be cleaned after a paint job, brushes and roller covers, the paint brush is probably viewed as the easier of the two. Here are the steps to cleaning a brush. The better they are carried out the longer the life you can expect from your brush Wipe the brush on a rag or paper towel to remove as much paint as possible. Getting rid of the excess paint makes the job of cleaning your brush a lot easier. Cleaning the brush Choosing the proper solvent is very helpful to make sure your brush is cleaned thoroughly without damage. Rinse the brush in the appropriate solvent. It's okay to use the dirty solvent from your painting session. Pour it into a bowl or bucket and gently run your brush back and forth through it. Wipe it along the sides and bottom of the container as well. Here are your solvent choices: Use mineral spirits for most oil-based paints.use water for water-based paints like acrylic, watercolor, latex, and also most white glues and wood glues. Use denatured alcohol for shellac.check the product's label if you're not sure what kind of paint you have. It will contain instructions for what solvent to use.
Cleaning the brush Wipe the brush again with a rag to remove any remaining solvent. You may skip this step if the solvent is water. Cleaning the brush When the brush is clean, shake or blot out the extra water. Reshape the bristles to the correct form, then store the brush upright in a container so that the bristles are not deformed when dry. Rinse the brush under running water. You may want to rub the bristles of the brush between your fingers, rinsing all the way to the base of bristles
Never store your brushes vertically in water or solvent. There are a few good reasons not to do this. The pressure on the brush can permanently misshape the bristles, bending them or spreading them out so they no longer come to a point. If they are left too long to rest on the bristles, most brushes will never regain their original shape. Roller covers can be a bit trickier to clean. Follow the step by step process in the following pages to ensure the longevity of you roller cover Cleaning your roller covers Rollers are cleaned differently than brushes. Depending on the paint you ve used, you ll have to choose an appropriate method to get the paint off. Cleaning techniques will differ depending on whether you use a latex-based or oil-based paint. As long as you use the proper method, you should be able to completely clean your rollers.
Cleaning your roller covers Gather your materials: Latex gloves, a 5-in-1 tool, used roller cover and cage, paint container, paint solvent or mild liquid soap, newspaper, paper towels. Prepare the area. You don t want to get your space dirty when you clean the rollers. You may want to toss some old newspapers on the floor where you will be cleaning the paint rollers. Or, you may want to consider cleaning the rollers over paint trays. Any space that you can clean easily should work as well. For example, you might want to clean your rollers in your garage or basement, or outside if possible. Note: If you aren t going to immediately clean your rollers, then you need to keep them in a sealed off space. To keep the roller fresh, place the roller in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.by preserving your rollers, you can avoid the hassle of trying to clean a dried roller. This is a good option for when you are completing a multi-day project. Water based paint Put on your gloves and scrape off excess paint from the roller. Use the curved edge of your 5-in-1 tool to scrape paint from the roller cover back into the paint container until the flow of paint stops. Holding the roller cage over the used paint tray, slip off the roller cover. Set the cage aside for now.
Cleaning your roller covers Prepare a cleaning solution. Fill two containers with warm water and add soap to one for latex paint, or two or three with the appropriate paint solvent and one with warm water for oil based paint. Water based paint Clean the roller. First, you should rinse the roller cover with warm water. Now you should place the roller cover in a container filled with cleaning solution of soap and warm water. Rub the roller cover with both hands until you remove as much paint as you can. After you do this, dip the roller cover in and out of the water. Once you feel the cover is sufficiently clean, you should put it aside. Clear the dirty water out of the container. Fill the container with more cleaning solution. You should now put the roller cage into the container. Scrub at the cage with a brush until all paint has been removed.
Oil based paint Rinse and Dry Clean the roller. Remove your paint roller cover from the roller cage and place it in the first tray of paint solvent. Leave it in for about five minutes. Gently move the roller cover from side to side, pushing the paint out with your fingers. Then, put the roller cover into the next tray. Let the cover sit in the tray for three to four minutes. This process should clear the roller cover of paint. If there is still paint on the roller cover, then you should put the cover in another tray of paint remover. You should follow the same procedure with the roller cage. Rinse and dry the roller. In order to rinse the roller cover, you should place the roller cover in the tray full of warm water. You can use paper towels or newspaper to dry off the roller cover. One of the most effective and efficient methods of drying roller covers and brushes is to use a spin dryer tool, like that offered by ROLLINGDOG. These tools spin the brush or roller very quickly forcing any water to be removed from the tool. After you dry the roller cover, you should stand the roller cover up in a dry place. You should rinse the roller cage in the same manner. You can also dry the roller cage with paper towels.