On 10/3/12 10:31 AM, Robert Macy wrote:
This is crazy!

In our home we moved into there was left over 2.5 gal of Dunne Edwards
Exterior/Interior flat the construction peole used everywhere on the
interior of our home. Needless to say, it has been useful for
touching up areas after joint compounding and smoothing out their
'flaws'. This paint blends in the middle of large surface areas
invisibly [remember, home was not lived in, but two year old spray
paint job] To do touch up I dipped some paint into a cut off 2 liter
soda bottle bottom and painted away using a pre-rinsed [damp] brush
[selecting any of several bristle brushes]. When finished, simply ran
water on brush until clear, then would use liquid handsoap, maybe 3
times. Rinse, straighten the bristles out and set down for the next
time.

All, went well, until I went to HD and got a gallon of self-primer
Glidden custom color matching - very good color match. This paint was
for shelving, the guy recommended semi, because it was harder and
better for shelving. I insisted on flat. They were out of flat, but
since cost would be $26/gal for semi, and only $19/gal for flat, I was
happy when he gave me semi for $19.

Ok. used the paint on shelving boards, again using 'damp' brush, first
coat over raw particle board [also from HD] the paint soaked up into
the wood, got thick, well expected that, but went on well. Didn't like
the brush strokes left [Dunne Edwards didn't leave brush strokes] but
shelving - who cares? Went to clean up the brush, and the first thing
I noticed was that it was full of 'cottage cheese' crumbs! sand sized
crumbs in the brush, solid. Ok clean up, until clear. Wash three
times with soap solution until really clean, straighten bristles and
set out for the next day.

The next day the brush was hard as a rock! What?! With more water
and 'special' cleaning solvent I got the brush to become flexible
enough for the next days work.

Now, the second coat, which to me should not take as much paint, DID
take paint! and worse, started drying again way too fast. We're
talking lay down a loaded brush line across the shelf and stroke into
the painted area and before you can move to the next brush width, the
paint gets 'gummy' and does not feather the brush strokes in well at
all. [Note, I used to have similar problems with cheap latex paint
from local discount outlet back in 70;s when latex first came out, but
solved the problem by simply spraying gently with Easy Off Window
Cleaner. You could even go back more than six hours later, spray, and
touch up paint - like brush out that run forming you didn't notice
earlier! But, alas, Easy Off discontinued this miracle product.]

Now cleaned up brush and its getting worse and worse! To me the brush
is ruined, full of sludge, mutliple bristles are being 'glued'
together by the crumbly paint. What the heck is going on?

Actually more questions than simply how to clean a brush:
1. how to properly clean a brush
2. is there something I can add to latex to slow down the drying time.
I think 30 seconds is a bit too short.
3. is there something that removes/prevents that sludge build up in
the brush?

With Dunne Edwards, I had no reluctance to touch up small areas any
time I saw one. But with this Glidden product and ruining brushes; I'm
hesitant to take on small tasks and am forced to plan, waiting until I
accumulate enough to do the work, throw the brush away, and hope no
run forms.

Any help, knowledgeable people?


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You can observe a lot just by watching.
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