A brush that has been allowed through accident or neglect to get "soggy" may be limbered up nicely by soaking in heated turpentine. Hardened brushes may often be softened into workable condition again by soaking the bristles in hot linseed oil. A simple soaking in turps or benzine will sometimes effect the needed softening up. Brushes, however, that have dried up, saturated with quick drying colors or paint, can at best never be restored to a first-class working condition. The best form of economy, therefore, is to throw such brushes away. Remedies in impressive array have been marshalled wherewith to restore varnish brushes that have become lousy, but the vehicle finisher recognizes no reliable or economical remedy for the purpose named. A dirty varnish brush can be cleaned by washing in oil first, then in turps, and lastly worked in for putting on first rubbing coats, and thus gradually brought back to its original cleanliness. But the varnish brush once lousy, look you! always lousy. Better
"To the fire I now consign thee,
Peace unto thine ashes be."
When a varnish brush is accidentally dropped on the floor while being used, pick it up carefully and, holding it at an acute angle, bristles down, pour a small quantity of turpentine over it, thus flooding the accumulated dirt completely off.
Camel-Hair Color Brush.
Oval Chiseled Varnish Brush.
There is a considerable diversity of opinion as to the best preserving liquid in which to keep the varnish brushes. Local needs and requirements are probably the safest guides in the matter of choosing preserving liquids for varnish brushes. When the brushes are used daily, as they are in big shops, it is a very good way to keep them in raw linseed oil. Then, every morning before beginning work, the brushes may be rinsed out in turpentine, wiped out clearly over the edge of the cup, and an elastic brush full of life is assured.
