cleaning glue brushes: white glue and contact cement

[esantoro]

What's the best solvent to use for cleaning glue brushes that have been used to spread both white glue and contact cement. Because I have it for my gas lamp, I have been using denatured solvent alcohol. It seems to work as long as the brushes are kept in the solvent, but when I take them out, dry the off, and let them sit, they harden up again. I'll try rinsing the brushes off in very hot water.

My next guess is to use turpentine, but the denatured solvent alcohol doesn't pose a problem with fumes, which I'm not sure is the case with turpentine

Thanks,

Ed

[Rawhide]

You may try cement thinner. Barge makes one and I'm sure other manufacturers have it as well. You may also try naphtha, but if denatured alcohol doesn't work, chances are naphtha won't either.

Marlon

[barra]

when we cover aircraft panels we use toluene to clean brushes.

personally I'd like to just dispose of the brushes after the job as they are cheap and a safer option to avoid chemicals all together.

At home in the workshop my adhesives like latex and PVA are in plastic sauce/ketchup bottles with the little cap attached. I find these make for easy application. I then use a scrap of leather or scrap shearling as a spreader. when done I dispose of it. No mess, no fuss. The scrap leather applicator can be used just like a brush to apply contact cement straight from the can/

Barra

Edited March 23, 2008 by barra

[Beaverslayer]

I'm with Barra on this one, I'll use the brush until the job is done then into the waste can it goes. I'll buy a few bags of them at the dollar store, that way the cost is greatly reduced. There's no need to use an expensive brush to apply glue with.

And the smell of some of those solvents, and the thought of what they are doing to your skin...YIKES

Ken

[bcurrier]

I save the fake plastic credit cards they stick in credit card solicitation mailings to use as glue spreaders. They work great and they're free.

Bill

[Rawhide]

I save the fake plastic credit cards they stick in credit card solicitation mailings to use as glue spreaders. They work great and they're free.

Bill

This is what I do. Plus I keep hotel cards as well, because the card contains your personal information until the next customer comes along and needs a key, then they erase it and recode it with that person's info. After learning this, I now keep my hotel cards and use them for spreading glue and cut them up when they aren't useable anymore.

Marlon

[moon]

Another vote for throwing them away when finished.A package of about 50 is about $ 2.00 at Harbor Freight.Moon

[esantoro]

I like the idea of using plastic cards as spreaders. thanks for the replies.

ed

[Beaverslayer]

I'm not sure if this works with Barges or the smelly contact cement, but it woks real good for the water based contact.

When you get a big blob of glue stuck to your brush, and it's not working as well as you'd like. Do this while the blob is still somewhat wet.

Take a piece of scrap pigskin and fold it over the end of the brush. Squeeze tightly, and pull the brush away from the pigskin. You may have to do this 2 times.

Here's how clean it came after 2 pulls.

[esantoro]

For a while I had been putting the brushes, once I am finished with them, into a cup of water that had reached the boiling point. The problem with this is that I was leaving them there until cleanup at the end of the day. Now I've decided to put the brushes in the hot water when the glue is still wet, swish and dab the brush around a bit, then remove it and put it on my glue tray. By leaving the brushes in the hot water, I think I was allowing the glue to return to the bristles and harden, especially as the water cooled.

Using solvent is just too expensive, and I can do without any unnecessary fumes.

Anyone have a good source for cheap brushes, other than sales at Harbor Freight? I'll try the dollar stores. Next time I see them for a steal at Harbor Freight, I'm buying 200 or so.

Ed

[waywarddreams]

I may be new to leather, but certainly not to using cheap brushes for glue. My record was 30 stiff bristled brushes of unknown origin for a whopping $1.50

[HandyAndy]

I save the fake plastic credit cards they stick in credit card solicitation mailings to use as glue spreaders. They work great and they're free.

Bill

You can cut out guitar picks from them too

[Tina]

I got tired of wasting brush after brush and I found out that turpentine gets my brush "clean" from contact cement.