Maintaining paintbrush bristle shape
Why bristle shape is important
When you take a paintbrush out of its cover jacket for the first time, notice the distinct shape of its bristles. The collective shaping of the bristles has been designed to enable you to apply paint precisely. A well-crafted paintbrush is a precision tool. Altering or ruining the shape of the bristles with poor paint application,cleaning and storage technique makes paint application more difficult, and can render the paintbrush unusable. Maintaining good bristle shape gives you better paint application results and lengthens the life of your paintbrush. Follow the tips below for maintaining good paintbrush bristle shape.
Paint application
- When applying paint, avoid excessive force on the brush that would bend the bristles in half.
- Apply paint with gentle strokes.
- Load paint only one-third to one-half of the way up from the bottom of the bristles.
- Avoid mashing the bristles against a surface.
When cleaning
- Avoid forceful bending or mashing of bristles.
- Refrain from spinning brushes after cleaning. Spinning can cause the paintbrush to loose its bristle shape.
Storage
- Always store a paintbrush in its cover jacket after cleaning and air drying.
Detailed information about interior house painting surface preparation can be found in the book:
The Homeowner's Guide to Surface Preparation for Interior House Painting
All content copyright Steve Broujos LLC