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Best way to dry a brush?

Hi all,

I've been wondering this for a while - how do you dry your brushes?

I normally rinse well in warm and then cold water, then vigourously shake until no water can be heard flicking out in the sink. I generally don't wipe on a towel, and leaving standing upright out in the open. The brushes are usually dry within 24 hours, maybe even less.

I've often wondered about buying a stand. I understand that these prolong the life of the brush, presumably to prevent shedding (I have had shedding with my Rooney 3/1 and also my new Chubby 2 (although I've only had it a day!).

I'm concerned that I'm not drying them properly, and that maybe I should use a stand.

However, it seems counter-intuitive to me. Surely you want the water to evaporate up, out of the brush? If it is hanging upside down, how does the water evaporate? Then again, it makes sense that excess water would initially drip out of the brush if hanging upside down, but I shake most of the water out before leaving to dry.

So... I'm confused! Any suggestions?

Regards,

John
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
The best way to dry your brush is to shake it out, the set it upright on the counter.

Or

Shake it out, then hang it upside down in a stand.

Unless it's raining*, either way will work.

* - Where your brush is.
 
shake out, rub the hairs on towel, sit on base to dry.

capillary action sucks the water out of the knot and takes it to the end of the bristles to be evaporated. Search around, there have been tests done to pretty much prove theres no difference between knot up or knot down (weighing brush every so often to see how much water evaporated)
 
I shake my brush out and place it in a stand. Also, the stand is an inexpensive one that I screwed to the inside of my medicine cabinet.
 
I normally rinse well in warm and then cold water, then vigourously shake until no water can be heard flicking out in the sink. I generally don't wipe on a towel, and leaving standing upright out in the open. The brushes are usually dry within 24 hours, maybe even less.

I've often wondered about buying a stand. I understand that these prolong the life of the brush, presumably to prevent shedding (I have had shedding with my Rooney 3/1 and also my new Chubby 2 (although I've only had it a day!).

I'm concerned that I'm not drying them properly, and that maybe I should use a stand.

Regards,
John

Much to my surprise, I found that my brushes dry more quickly when set on their ends. The idea is that the water evaporates UP.

I never had a "stand" but I used to let my brush just set in the mug (hairs pointing down), thinking it would "drip dry" - but that never happened, it always stayed damp. Not good.

I think stands are mostly for looks, I don't think they would facilitate quicker drying.
 
Try using a ShamWow! :eek: Ok, I was kidding.

NO! Zorbees!



I rinse mine in warm then cold water too. I always thought cold water kills soap suds (true when washing and rinsing dishes by hand).

Then I give a little squeeze, a little shake but not too hard and hang it over my soap bowl from my homemade stand.

(^ up to the hanging part, it sounds like I'm dating the thing)
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
John, the "up v. down" brush drying debate will be one of those never-resolved nagging debates that will outlive B&B and the internet. Either is fine. Buying a brush stand is a good way to spend more money, so either get a cheap one or a nice piece of bathroom countertop eye-candy if that is what you want and can afford it.

Of much more importance is that the brush be shaken to remove excess water (which you already do) and then left out in the open air in non-damp conditions. (Leaving it on the countertop is better than putting it away in the cubboard, which is better than a shoebox, which is better than sticking it in your sock drawer and so forth.)

Getting airflow of dry air will suck the water right out of that brush. All else being equal, a brush in a windy arizona desert will dry faster than a brush in the brazilian rainforest. Stand-shmand. :001_rolle
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Store the brush up side down unless you want the knot to mildew. Check out this thread. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100793

The thread you point to is just another discussion on the same subject. The folks who say you MUST do it one way as opposed to the other have nothing to put forward except opinion.

Some brush manufacturers say store it one way, some the other. Some brushes have logos printed one way, some the other. Even the guys who make the darn things can't agree.

Barring the presentation of some scientific test data done on a shaving brush (not a wash cloth) store it any way you like, after shaking it out.
 
Store the brush up side down unless you want the knot to mildew. Check out this thread. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100793

Thread seems pretty inconclusive. A few anecdotal observations and recommendations for the use of stands by people who sell them.

My belief is that stands are not needed but, unless a stand made a HUGE difference I wouldn't use one anyway. I hate clutter and that's just one more doodad to deal with. I'd rather buy a new brush every 5-10 years.

On the scale of water coating filaments of hair, I doubt gravity has much influence.

Here is an experiment. I haven't tried this but anyone who has a stand and is interested might find it fun: Shake out your brush and wipe it on a towel then hang it from your stand. Place the stand, with brush, over some tissue paper. Monitor for a while and see if any water droplets show up on the tissue paper.
 
Location trumps everything.

Medicine chest sounds like a bad idea. I put the brush on the window sill. If I can leave the window open, all the better.

Advice that I don't see very often that also makes things better: alternate brushes. Don't use the same brush two days in a row. That way the brush is almost certain to dry thoroughly.

- Chris
 
Not so. If that were true, Redwood trees couldn't suck water up over 300 feet.

Water's transferred up a tree (or any plant) via transpiration, not capillary action. Negative pressure up in the leaves as water evaporates through pores draws water up from the roots via the xylem.

That's enough plant biology geekdom for one day. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
 
Water's transferred up a tree (or any plant) via transpiration, not capillary action. Negative pressure up in the leaves as water evaporates through pores draws water up from the roots via the xylem.

That's enough plant biology geekdom for one day. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

That correction is mostly a matter of terminology. Transpiration refers to the evaporation at the leaves or needles of a plant. It is capillary action (as I understand the term) that draws up water to replace what was evaporated.

There is a Wikipedia article that says "it is a common misconception that water moves in xylem by capillary action" but then goes on to explain that is is caused by surface tension in the narrow tubes that make up the xylem and references the article on surface tension which in turn says that "capillary action" is the term used for the effect of surface tension on liquids in narrow tubes causing the liquid to move.

The point is -- whatever you chose to call it -- it draws water from a wet area to a dry area and the force is much stronger than gravity. "It" (by any name) is what allows trees top suck water out of the earth and raise it up hundreds of feet to evaporate.
 
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