On a recommendation from someone on this board, I broke down and bought a bottle of Trondak brush cleaner. Never bothered before since alcohol and acetone are cheap and plentiful. Boy did I miss the boat!

Anyway no more cleaning brushes for me. You just put about a half ounce of the Trondak stuff in a glass shot up and let it sit. It will NOT evaporate. Then when you finish with your epoxy or Permagloss or whatever you just wipe the brush off with a paper towel and stick it in the brush cleaner. That's all you have to do. Just let it soak until you need to use it again. Then take it out, press it between a paper towell and off you go to the next finish job. No washing, cleaning, or rinsing. And the stuff doesn't load up with gunk either. I have been using the same half ounce of cleaner for a month and have done five or six finish jobs and the cleaner is still doing its job. So I'm guessing a bottle will last a pretty good while. Ends up actually being cheaper than alcohol and much less trouble.

Anyway just a tip on a product you may never have considered. I sure didn't but now will never be without it.

Be careful however, while it is absolutely one of the best things to use for cleaning brushes, It can also remove finish from blanks when you decide to use is as a "rod cleaner". I'd recommend using it as only a bruch cleaner, as alcohol still seems to be "more controllable" as a medium for stripping/cleaning .

Not sure why anyone would use it for that, thanks. It is not marketed as a “rod cleaner” and I have no plans to use it as a rod cleaner. The bottle says “brush cleaner.” It never occurred to me to try and use it for anything else. But then I guess I'm one of those guys that just follows the directions and tends to stick to them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2010 06:17PM by Ken Finch.

I wasn't trying to be accusational. I just know that there are some who think that "if it works so well for this, then it must work well for..." Didn't mean to hijack the thread either, just wanted to save anybody who might be thinking of using it for other apps the trouble. Also, some of the brushes that you can get in your local hobby shop use some kind of glue to bind the bristles together - rather than mechanically binding them together. This U40 stuff can literally "eat" through the glue so the bristle start falling out. If you end up using the U40 for those brushes, don't let them soak for long and rinse it ALL off fairly quickly. These aren't just the "cheap" brushes either, they are pretty decent quality.

Ken ive been using the u-40 brush cleaner for quite a few years now, and have saved an awful amount of time that i can use for other rod-building chores,
Thanks Jimmy Mac

Sounds like the mid-temp lacquer thinner I use, which I keep in a small mayonnaise jar.

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 01:49PM by bill boettcher.

All very good tips. I am the type of person that would indeed think of alternate uses........and thus try it on a rod. Sooooo....all good information. Good stuff.