Hang Brushes From Screws in a Bucket Rim to Soak — Then Spread, Pump, and Comb

The Problem

Brushes die two ways: standing on their bristles in a jar of water until the filaments bend, or getting a quick rinse that leaves paint curing in the heel — the base of the bristles — until the brush is stiff half a roll down. Both are storage-and-cleaning problems, not brush-quality problems.

The Technique

1. Build the soak rig. Drive a few screws part-way into the rim of an empty five-gallon bucket, spaced around it. Fill with soapy water. Brushes hook over the screws by their handles and hang with bristles submerged but not touching the bottom — soaking without bending.
2. Spread the bristles. Working over the water, push the brush down and flex it back and forth until the bristles fan completely open. That exposes the paint packed in the heel.
3. Pump. With the bristles spread, press the brush against the bucket in a pumping motion — water gets forced up through the heel and carries the paint out.
4. Comb and brush out a dried brush. For a brush that sat too long, drag a brush comb through the fanned bristles and follow with a wire brush, working from heel to tip. Skip this on a brush that's merely wet with today's paint.
5. Spin it out and hang it to dry.

A brush cleaned the same day it was used usually needs nothing but lukewarm water, a spread-and-pump, and a spin.