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Tips
Getting the most from your container
- Fit a BruKon CollarWasher onto the paint brush handleusing a slippery lubricant to slide it on. This can stay on the pain brush and will help keep fluid evaporation from the container to a minimum when the brush is fitted. It will also offer protection from paint dripping when painting overhead.
- Ensure there is enough turpentine (turps) or water in the container so that it just reaches the bristle tips when the paint brush is fitted into the container. We recommend using the minimal amount of fluid and let the wicking action of the paint brush bristles keep the paint brush wet with fluid.
- Place the paint brush into the BruKon paint brush cleaning container and close the lid firmly.
- When the paint brush is in and the lid closed properly, you simply shake the BruKon paint brush cleaning container backwards and forwards to clean your brush. Leave the paint brush in the container and let the paint solids settle to the bottom in time as there is no need to remove your paint brush from the container. If you leave the container standing for long enough the turpentine, water or other contained liquid will form a clear layer of recycled cleaning fluid at the top and the paint sludge will settle at the bottom. You can remove the paint brush or it can stay in the container until you next need it next.
- If you eventually want to save or reuse the clear cleaning fluid in the BruKon paint brush cleaning container, simply pour it off once the paint particles settle. If you don't need to keep the paintbrushes in the container you can let the paint sludge dry by removing all the clear liquid. When it flakes and becomes powdery this stable residual material can then be tipped out of the container and discarded. Alternatively the paint sludge can be wiped out with a paper towel or rag.
Minimising shipping costs
A cost effective way to purchase BruKon paint brush containers from this site is in groups of six trade 6-packs (i.e.. 36 BruKon brush containers in total), which we call a "tower". This minimises the unit cost of postage and handling as well as the containers themselves. If this number of BruKon paint brush cleaning containers is more than your immediate needs you may like to collect together orders of friends and colleagues to make up a tower. For orders significantly larger than six trade 6-packs please contact us directly to discuss optimal shipping arrangements.
In Store availability
The range of BruKon products held by our stockist's can vary. In general all stores carry the Trade 6-packs but other products may not be kept in stock. We recommend that you contact your nearest store to confirm that they have stock of the BruKon paint brush cleaning container products you are seeking before visiting.
Painting in hot or dry weather using brush rotation
In hot dry weather your paintbrushes can dry out quickly, In particular, dry paint tends to form on the upper outer part of the bristles. In these situations you can keep painting with brushes in good condition if you rotate your brushes in one or more BruKon paint brush cleaning containers. When your brush starts to dry, simply put it in a BruKon brush container with some fluid and give it a shake. Having taken out the paintbrush that was previously in the container for your immediate painting needs. If the drying time is very quick in relation to the rejuvenating time in the containers, you can simply keep two paint brushes and containers in reserve and always choose to use the one that's been resting for the longest period.
Conditioning good quality paint brushes
To improve the flow of paint off good quality natural bristle paintbrushes, such as pure bore bristle paint brushes, you can condition them by soaking the new paint brushes in linseed oil before use (alternatively, if the fibres are natural, you can use hair conditioner). The BruKon paint brush cleaning container is ideal for this. Simply place some linseed oil in a BruKon paint brush cleaning container, enough to well cover the bristles, fit the paint brush to the cap then fit the cap to the lid, making sure the bristles are kept off the bottom of the container. Soak overnight for the bristles to become supple, making the brush ideal for high gloss enamel finishes.
Storage and cleaning of artists brushes
The BruKon paint brush cleaning container can be used to store and clean artists brushes. One simply needs to make additional holes in the elastomer cap as needed. The cap has makings for two additional openings, which can be made by either slitting along the marked lines or by preferably using a drill if the paint brushes are small (1 and 2 in the image below). For many small paint brushes one can drill up to 10 holes in the lid to store 10 artists paint brushes (as indicated in the image below) as well as comfortably place up to three small paint brushes in the central opening.
For a better seal between paint brush handle and cap
Using a BruKon CollarWasher on the brush handle when fitting the handle to the container cap makes a better seal between the brush handle and the cap. This prevents fluid from leaking past the handle when the lid is fitted and the container shaken back and forth. It also reduces the rate at which fluid evaporates from the container when storing paint brushes for longer periods. To further reduce the rate of evaporation in these cases one can also fit a second BruKon CollarWasher to the brush handle so that it sits on top of the container lid; so that there is a CollarWasher above and below the container lid. Make sure that both CollarWashers are pressed firmly against the container lid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there paint cleaning liquids that I can't use with the BruKon brush container?
The BruKon paint brush cleaning container is designed to withstand harsh paint cleaning chemicals such as mineral turpentine, ethanol / white spirits and citreous based cleaners. However, acrylic thinners, acetone, xylene based solvents or other liquids that will damage PVC's MUST NOT be placed in the clear part of the container. If you are unsure about your particular cleaner please ask the manufacturer about its compatibility with PVC products.
How does the BruKon paint brush cleaning container compare to other cleaning and storage solutions?
The BruKon paint brush cleaning container is unique amongst paint brush cleaning and storage products and best of breed amongst paintbrush cleaning and storage container products. It is modestly priced and straightforward to use when compared to the more expensive, complicated and energy consuming paint brush cleaning products which have more recently come onto the market (emerging market and governmental concerns about environmental friendliness and sustainability have prompted a number of new products to enter the market recently). In addition, the BruKon paint brush cleaning container does not require hard to find and expensive paint solvents as needed with some cleaning and storage products. By simply using the BruKon paint brush cleaning container and thereby naturally modifying cleaning and storage habits a clear and easy win win situation is created for painters and the environment.
At the end of a day I wrap my paint brushes in cling film or
put them in a knotted plastic shopping bag, how is the BruKon brush container better?
When storing paint brushes overnight, or for short periods, DIY painters sometimes use the technique of wrapping the paint brushes in cling film or put them in a plastic shopping bag that has been knotted closed. While this can slow the paint drying process on and between the paint brush bristles it does not prevent paint drying and impacting the life of your brushes. Nor do these techniques provide any sort of the cleaning. By keeping the bristles wet in a liquid the BruKon paint brush cleaning container prevents paint from drying, and by simply moving the container back and forward with the brush inserted paint particles are liberated out of the bristles to keep your brushes in a healthier condition. Most importantly, these plastic film based storage techniques are harder on the environment than the BruKon painters brush cleaning container as they involve consuming and disposing of paint covered plastic with each storage session.
How long can I keep brushes in water or turpentine cleaning fluids?
This is one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. Different combinations
of brushes and cleaning fluids will cause the brushes to have different failure modes, and
in turn storage lives. For
example, a cheap steel collared brush suspended in water will not keep as long as a good
quality stainless steel collared brush suspended in mineral turps. Similarly, different
atmospheric conditions affect the rate of cleaning fluid evaporation. Overall the factors that
determine how long you can keep a brush in a BruKon brush container
are the quality of your brushes, the collar material, the
type of cleaning fluid, as well as atmospheric temperature, humidity and the tightness of
the seal around the brush handle. In practice, the BruKon brush container has been developed to
satisfy the brush storage needs of most professional and consumer applications.
What is the life of a BruKon painters brush cleaning container?
This is also a "how long is a piece of string" question. The clear plastic base of the container is UV and chemical stabilized and the rubber cap is similarly resistant to sun and chemical damage. As to the life of containers in years, we can meaningfully say is that customers have reported that they are still using their BruKon painters brush cleaning container 12 years after purchasing. The main factors that affect container life are the amount of use and maintenance rather than materials limitations; if they are looked after, they will last a long time. The BruKon painters brush cleaning container has been developed to satisfy the brush storage and cleaning needs of most professional and consumer customers.
How does the elastomer cap take mineral turpentine?
The elastomer cap has been designed to resist damage by mineral turpentine and citrus based paint cleaners.
In the presence of mineral turpentine, normal rubber swells to almost twice its size and becomes spongy.
Then when the turpentine is removed and the rubber allowed to dry out, it loses its elasticity and becomes
crumbly. In effect it loses its integrity. In contrast the BruKon brush container's specially developed
elastomer cap is impervious to mineral turpentine (turps) and White spirits (metho).
Can you use different coloured paints in the same BruKon container?
You can effectively use the same BruKon painters brush cleaning container for paints that have a similar colour range (assuming the paints in question are either all oil based or all acrylic). For example, brushes used to paint different shades of red can be effectively cleaned in the same container if you are going to be painting a shade of red with that brush again. Putting brushes used to paint contrasting colours into the same container is not recommended. For example, we don't recommend using the same container for brushes that are being used for black paints and white paints.
How do I prevent the CollarWasher from ripping?
If a brush handle is adequately lubricated before a CollarWasher is fitted then the inner ring should not tear.
You can also soften a CollarWasher in hot water before fitting if there is concern about tearing. For further
details on fitting see the CollarWashers product description page.
Do CollarWashers wear out or need regular replacing?
CollarWashers are designed to stay on the brush handle once fitted. For a number of reasons they can become mechanically
damaged during the long term course of painting and require replacement.
Can a single BruKon cleaning container stand up by itself?
The BruKon container is designed so that individual containers can stand upright by themselves. In this configuration
they can however be knocked over if sufficient force is applied. For more stability one can snap together 2 or more containers
which will be very stable in comparison and quite difficult to knock over.
Is there a surcharge for use of credit cards when purchasing from your site?
No.
Can I use my Amex card to purchase from your site?
The brief answer is no.
We don't have a facility to directly debt Amex cards on this web site. Regarding indirect use, while Amex can used
in conjunction with Paypal accounts in some countries, particularly in the United States of America., unfortunately
as a result of Paypal's localization here in Australia it doesn't accept Amex cards.
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