Wiping Paintbrushes
See how this one reader uses a stiff wire to help eliminate excess paint on a paintbush without making a mess.
Painters often take the excess paint off their brushes by wiping the sides of the bristles on the inside lip of the can. Eventually the channel around the rim fills up, and paint runs down the outside of the can. Some painters avoid this problem by poking holes in the bottom of the channel with a 16d nail, the theory being that the paint will drip back into the can before filling the channel to overflowing. My solution to this problem avoids the rim altogether.
As shown in the drawing, I bend a stiff piece of wire (like a coat hanger) into a crossbar that spans the can. The wire hangs on the rim of the can a little off center to make the paint easy to reach with my brush. I wipe the excess paint on the wire, and the paint simply drips back into the can without touching the rim. The crossbar is easily removed for cleaning and reuse. If I’m using a paper or plastic container, I poke holes in the sides near the top and run a straight wire through them.
—Michael R. Hogan, St. Croix, None
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #82
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You're not supposed to wipe the brush. The brush won't be loaded and will still easily drip. The correct technique is to slap the brush against the side of the can or paint pail. Excess paint that might drip is removed but the brush is still fully loaded. BTW, no one should paint directly from the paint can, unless it's almost gone, for that very reason that it makes a mess and the lid won't seal properly.
I don't believe what I just read. You don't wipe a paint brush on anything to scrape the paint off. The brush's reservoir has to be loaded with paint and you do that by dipping it into the paint and pushing against the side of the container (you don't ever paint directly from the can either). This pushes paint back up into the reservoir. If you scrape the brush, you are simply dragging paint down to the tips of the bristles; the brush isn't loaded. When you start painting, all of that paint globs onto the work. Then you have to work the paint excessively to even it out, which causes brush marks and uneven coats. Properly loaded, paint flows out of the bristles evenly to begin with and brush marks are minimal.
Surely, if you have poked holes in the side of a plastic tub or the rim of a metal one, when you put the lid back on either of them air will get to the remaining paint and make it go hard.
Is it possible that all "Tips" are not fully considered before posting? This is a total fail. I agree with the previous posts and being a professional painting contractor this is not worthy of this fine magazines history.
Y'all are close, but still 2 cents short, so I'll put mine in.
I always use a bucket. Buckets have HANDLES. I can clip on my "Sky hook" when I'm working on a ladder, leave it up there, and move the ladder without worrying about messing up because I only have 1-2 " of paint in there.
I save my empty buckets to use as "cutting" buckets.
Most paints being latex these days, they're easy to clean at the end of the day.
A little water, and my trusty 80 grit sanding block, and they clean up well.
After boxing, and mixing the paint, I pour about an inch or two, into my cutting bucket.
I can walk away if I need to, and leave my brush standing up without worrying about getting too much in the load zone. I then dip my brush, getting a good load, and give it a good shake. No slapping.
The brush is fully loaded, and if you've done it right, no drips, yet fully loaded.
I also keep a bucket of water handy to refresh my brush every hour, or so to keep it supple.
I use a 2-1/2" sash brush for most everything. Not too heavy, and it will also fit into a quart can. Painting wooden siding in Nola usually requires a 3-4" brush, but that gets heavy after a while.
When rolling, I use a 5 gal bucket with a screen for production work. Paint trays are pretty useless unless you're doing a small job. Constantly filling them, kicking them over when I'm on a roll, (pun intended), and another thing to clean, or you can get a liner, and throw them away at the end of the day. And they don't have handles like buckets.
On a related note, I'm forever amused by guys trying to clean their rollers using a hose.
They end up soaking wet, getting paint all over the shrubbery, and just generally making a mess. Something else to clean up. I admit, that was me once, until I figured it out.
Simply take an empty 5 gal. bucket, hook your roller frame over the edge of the bucket, and spray away with the hose into the bucket. It will fill up quick, but if you use that funny curved part on your 5-1, you can get most of the paint out. A couple of spray, and dumps, and your roller sleeve will be clean, and you won't get soaked, or look like a rookie.
After 35 years of painting, the only job that I want now is to paint myself into the corner of a well stocked bar, and watch the paint dry.
Hope this helps.