Cleaning Painting Tools
10/23/2008 02:53 PM by Gretchen Schauffler
BE KIND TO THE ENVIRONMENT:
Keep Paint out of Our Water: In order to preserve the environment, always rinse painting tools in the sink so the water can be treated after it runs down the drain. Never dump paint or chemical-laden water in the yard because it can mix with groundwater and end up in rivers and streams.
Let newspaper tainted with wet paint dry before you throw it in the trash. If you have extra paint, save it for touch ups or let it dry. Unwanted paint can be recycled as a hazardous material at your local recycling depot. Never dump straight paint down the sink or into the sewer.
Be Green: Try our devinegreen 99.9 percent VOC-free paint and be kind to the environment. The number generally accepted for a low-VOC paint is less than 50 grams per liter; a zero-VOC paint has fewer than 5 grams per liter. All Devine Color products are low-VOC with less than 50 grams per liter and our new devinegreen is zero-VOC, with only 1.4. grams per liter.
Reuse: Purchasing good quality products will make them easier to clean and they will last longer than inferior ones. This is especially true in the case of roller covers. Cheap covers are nearly impossible to clean and you will end up having to throw them away if paint stays in the roller and dries. So spend money on something you can reuse.
PAUSING YOUR PAINT JOB:
If you are done painting for the day but will be continuing with the same colors later in the afternoon or tomorrow, don’t clean tools. Instead wrap rollers and brushes in plastic, keeping as much air out as you can, and store someplace cool.
FINISHED PAINTING:
When you’re done with the paint job and ready to clean brushes and rollers for longtime storage, first get as much paint out of your utensils as you can. Drag brushes across the lip of the paint can to remove paint, then run the brush back and forth across newspaper to remove any more paint. After that, stop up the sink and fill with enough warm water to cover the brush. Soak for about 15 minutes. Then massage the paint out of the brush using a comb or fork if necessary. Make sure to get the paint out of the well at the top of the bristles. When the brush looks completely clean, give it a good final rinse with warm water, smooth out the bristles and lay or hang out to dry.
With rollers, use a putty knife to scrape any paint you can out of the roller and back into the paint can. Then run the roller across newspaper until you can’t get any more paint out. Follow by filling the sink with enough water to submerge the roller and soak for 15 minutes. After that, roll it back and forth in the sink while submerged in water, until it is nearly clean. Finally, give the roller a generous final rinse until the roller is completely clean. Lay out to dry. Re-fluff a dry roller by rolling it on a rough surface like tree bark before you use it again.
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