On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 08:09:25 -0400, in alt.home.repair FACE
wrote:

Does anyone know a good way to get dried house paint out of the bristles of
a synthetic house brush?

I hate to say it is my favorite brush and i have allowed house paint to dry
into the deep bristles so it is no longer supple.

I have been painting on the house about an hour a day for the past month. I
have been keeping the brush after use in plastic bags and then closed into
an empty paint can with a few drops of water in the bottom out of the sun
but I have ended up with drying in the deep bristles anyway. I know that
the things are not that expensive but the newer ones do not appear to have
the bristle "bulk" of this one, so saving it actually is my aim here.

I put it through the wash cycle of the washing machine twice yesterday with
detergent but that did not seem to work either.

Thanks

FACE

A big thanks to all that have replied. All sound like good ideas.

The in-the-freezer-overnight will become a new thing of mine. Hopefully the
Miz will accept that along with the caulk and spackling knives in the
drainer. :-) (I am still convinced that the best caulk smoother in a corner
joint is my fingertip.)

The solvents are also attractive. I had considered gasoline overnight but
that may turn the synthetic bristles to goo as someone said. However, white
vinegar sounds pretty benign.

Besides giving me a good laugh, beating the bristles with a hammer and
powdering the dry paint then combing it out also sounds reasonable.

I just bought a new wire brush since one I have had for years I have worn
out in the previous 5 weeks. Combing the body of the bristles sounds good
too, and maybe the fact that I did wear out the other wire brush (the first
seven rows of the sixteen rows of bristles are now gone) on flaking and
otherwise 'bad areas' on the old paint and boards should tell me something
-- like painting a coupla thousand square feet of rough cedar siding just
may be nearing the limit on this brush anyway. I have used it for the porch
and basically touch up jobs for about 5 years but never for this much -- i
am repainting the entire house and have double-coated some areas that are in
intense sun.

Seems I found the right newsgroup to ask this, I am looking at some
"situations" in this endeavor that I have not tackled before and may be back
for advice. G

Question to Pat: Do you use the Big Orange citrus cleaner full strength or
in a dilution? I am also using Zep housewash.


All in all, thanks to all,

FACE