W&N Brush cleaner

[Nelson]

I bought some W&N brush cleaner for my brand spankin\' new series 7 a while ago, but (and this is a little embarassing) I haven\'t actually figured out how to use it.....First off, I have no idea how to get the brush in the cleaner! I don\'t have a stand that holds my brushes downwards without letting the bristles get bent, so I can\'t simply immerse it in the cleaner overnight....the only way I\'ve managed to do it is by rigging up a holder with a paperclip, but it\'s incredibly crude, not the right height, and has a slant with smushes my brush up against the side.

The other problem I have is with the amount of time needed to immerse it....the bottle says 24 hours, but it\'s hard to leave it in that long. When I do take it out after 14 hours or so, I clean the brush with soap and water, but the brush seems to gum up a bit afterwards...is this because I didn\'t leave it in long enough?

Thanks.

Owen, the Inept.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Sorry to steer you in another direction but after 25 years of having brushes colg up only to end up in the trash, I FINALLY found THE cleaner. Almost all of the lable is in Japaneese but the few words I can read say \'Mr. Hobby\' and \'Mr Color Thinner\'. I get the brush wet with the thinner, wrap it in aluminum foil and let it set overnight. In the morning when I work the bristles what was like a rock is now mud. Going back and forth adding thinner and working the bristles the brush comes clean as new. No kidding. I know nothing of WN stuff. Hope this other stuff might help.:bouncy:

 

[Rab]

The Mr Color range is made by Gunze Sangyo, a paint range beloved by military modellers all over the world. You should be able to find it in a model shop, if not there\'s plenty of places online that sell it.

Rab.

 

[Joshua]

i\'m not using funky w&n $$$ brushes so im i never used and probably never ever will use a brush cleaning liquid
i dotn even wash the brushes with water or soap, the good ol licking works well for me
just curious, for what do these cleaners retail and how long can you use them?

 

[airhead]

Nelson, get a paper clamp (they come in several sizes, but a small/micro one is best) Clamp on your bush where the bristles are in the fluid and just a bit of the metal. Stand the whole affair in a corner if you have to. I usually leave it in overnight when I am through painting. don\'t leave it in more than overnight. It will do something to the chrome finish. But let is soak at least an hour. Pull it through your cleaning rag/paper towel. The first time, you will be amazed at the amout of paint that was in the base of your bristles.

Rinse in clean water, Then I have some \"the masters\" brush cleaner and preserver - soap with conditioners as the W&N stuff is basicly a striper. The natuaral hairs need reconditioned. Put a point on and let dry.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really takes less time than it took me to type this. Joshua, the cleaner was much less than the price of a brush and will last a LONG time. Mine is over a year old and the only reason that I am on my second bottle is that the kitten knocked over the first. No matter the brish, I always at least use brush soap on it before putting it away - even the cheap brushes I take to loan to new painters. for a few minutes of my time, I can increase the life of the brushes. Well worth it on W&N\'s and on 20 or so student brushes.

 

[Nelson]

Okay, thanks for the help guys....I\'m not really in a position to buy anything else for another couple of months, but I\'ll look into some brush soap/different brands when I\'m next in \"the big city\".

airhead, thanks for the paper clamp idea, I\'m sure we have one lying around the house....as for the brush soap, do you think a little hair conditioner would do for now?

 

[ralfmetal]

crude yet effective.

hi. get a jam jar or similar fill to the desired level then get a piece of card push some brush holes in it place the card on the jar hey presto.. brush rack and some jammy goodness for your toast.cheerz ralfmetal.:idea:

 

[airhead]

Forgot that simple method. I used a piece of foamcore - punched a small hole in it with a sharp pencil, then work the brush up to where you want it. Worked fine until the hole got a bit worn and the brush slid down and the bristles rested at the bottom all night. Grrrrr.

If you do that, be sure to replace the bit of foamcore every now and then.

I have often wondered about Pert shampoo - shampoo & conditioner in one.

Hair conditioner should work. The brush cleaner tends to strip the oils out of the brush and the conditioner puts them back.

You know, I never had this problem when I was using enamels.
lol

 

[finn17]

Nor did I....

Originally posted by airhead
You know, I never had this problem when I was using enamels.
lol

I just threw the brushes away after using them

(It saved me having to throw them away when I came to use them again)

 

[Nelson]

Heheh, okay, I tried jamming it through a little piece of blue insulation, and I think it held it pretty well....


I guess I\'ll try some conditioner on it, although experimenting on my one and only W&N brush probably isn\'t a good idea...But hey, it can\'t hurt, right? Right?

 

[maxxim]

Actually I use the W&N acrylic brush cleaner. They sell a brush cleaning jar that has a sponge that sits in the bottom with little bristles. You 1/2 fille the jar with the cleaner and water. I first rinse the brushes out in my regular water cups and lastly run the brush over the sponge so the bristles will remove the paint thats up in the base of the brush.

It seems to work really well on my series 7 brushes and the plain ones. The Jar has a lid by the way.

Hope that helps.

 

[provoke_me]

to clean my brushes...

after rinsing in water...i pick em up, plop em in my mouth, and suck on em while visiting these forums

 

[Itchy]

and then Ari relizes there was magic wash still in them and...:|~

kiddinglol

 

[StarFyre]

hehehe

*waves at Nelson from his window, across the prairie provinces*

(I\'m in Toronto )

hehe

I just hold the brushes in the cleaner for about 5 min or so. Does it have to be an hour? I don\'t find any issues with the brushes that I can see...

Sanjay

 

[Nelson]

Hey Sanjay!

*peers out his window*

The Rockies get in the way a bit.....

Is that right after you\'ve painted, though? By the time I get around to cleaning them, they\'ve had a couple of days to set....

 

[Trevor]

Use blu tac to hold the brushes in place on the card or foam.

 

[BloodiedFangs]

i nifty brush cleaner that seems (so far) to be working quite well...you immerse the bristles in the cleaner and then just brush them back and forth to work the paint into the bristles, then clean \'em in clean water and give \'em a point then leave \'em to dry. dead simple, and requires no rack...its also a conditioner

oh, and as for the hair-shampoo thing: apparently its actually BAD for the brushes. i was talking to the manager of an art store, and he explained to me that hair shampoo will actually strip out the natural oils from the hair in the brush that help keep it in a point...so the regualr shampoo idea is a no-go