A vast majority of home maintenance, betterment and fixation tasks involve the usage of Polyurethane. Besides, if you’re essentially the one habitual of carrying out all your necessary home improvement chores yourself, you’d be well aware of the frequency of coming across the usage of Polyurethane.
Still, for a quick reminder, Polyurethane is widely used as a finishing element for multiple surfaces as well as products. From working as an excellent waterproof sealer for wooden surfaces, all the way to providing endless benefits as a surface finish, Polyurethane is one fundamentally crucial household element.
Now what we are up to today isn’t certainly the significance of Polyurethane, rather those issues that often get associated with its usage. The most common one of which is How To Clean Polyurethane Brush? Post you’ve just got done with any given project.
Let’s proceed to all the possible concerns and fixes in this very regard.
Why Do You Need To Clean A Polyurethane Brush?
We’ll begin our debate with the absolute obvious pondering, that is none other but the need for cleaning a Polyurethane Brush.
As a matter of fact, there are multiple reasons for why you should consider cleaning your Polyurethane Brush after each usage.
1. You Will Want To Work With Clean Tools
For sure, one of the most distressful and productivity affecting aspects is a dirty and nasty-looking piece of equipment.
Therefore, it is needless to say that you must clean your brushes every time, so that the product does not get dried out, due to delaying and ultimately causing more trouble.
2. Dirty Brush Can Hugely Affect The Results
It’s totally obvious that working with a dirty brush or the one containing residues from the previous project is meant to decrease the quality of your work.
Going for an application with a stained brush will give rise to uneven strokes, product loss and of course the wastage of both time and money.
3. It’s A Matter Of Work Ethics And Convenience
If you’re a professional worker then it’s absolutely mandatory for you to maintain a perfect upkeep for all your tools, so as to cast nice impressions on your clients. Coming to the convenience factor, that’s something required regardless of the person’s position.
Whether you’re a professional or just the DIY loving home owner, you’d want to enjoy convenient and smooth working and certainly no time consumption on cleaning your tools.
4. You’re Ensuring The Durability Of Your Stuff
Everytime you avoid cleaning your tools and specifically brushes after the usage, you’re only compromising their efficiency and working smoothness. In the same way, carrying out proper maintenance and cleaning of your stuff (brushes, of course!) ensures their durability.
And as an interesting fact, if you manage the right maintenance for your synthetic work brushes, they can literally and easily last for more than decades.
5. It’s Crucial For The Health
Since you’re dealing with Polyurethane, which is, of course a chemical and particularly the one containing toxic VOCs, a prolonged exposure is likely to have your health at risk.
This gives rise to the dire requirement for cleaning polyurethane application brushes thoroughly after each and every use.
Major Aspects And Problems Of Working With Polyurethane
Here comes the legit concern of “How to clean Polyurethane Brush” and all of the possible factors as well as versatility of situations involved within.
We’ll be analyzing the kind of brush required for Polyurethane application as well as dealing with the types of Polyurethane. Or to put it simply, how to clean brushes having staining from the two different formulas of Polyurethane (oil-based and water-based).
You May Need To Know: How Long Polyurethane Take To Dry?
What Type Of Brush Do You Need To Apply Polyurethane?
A Synthetic Bristle Brush is the ultimate best recommendation when it comes to Polyurethane application.
And the significance lies in the fact that:
- Such brushes are highly useful as they can easily reach all the otherwise tight or unapproachable spaces.
- They get to hold lesser amounts of Polyurethane as compared to the natural bristle brushes.
- They don’t absorb a lot of water and therefore retain their shape for long.
How To Clean Water-Based Polyurethane From A Brush
Water based Polyurethane is generally the easiest to clean, as compared to the oil based one and in most of the cases, you don’t really require a lot of stuff either, in order to clean off Polyurethane from your brushes.
Supplies You’ll Need To Clean Water Based Polyurethane Off Brush
- Running Water
- Liquid Dish Soap
- Cups (2 or 3)
- Gloves (optional)
Steps To Clean
- Start by taking water into one cup at a time or within two or three cups. The quantity (and cup size) should be enough to provide room for submerging of the brush till its ferrule point.
- Let the brush stay in the cup until the water changes its color, before putting the brush into the next cup. The idea is to get rid of most of the product within water, so you’d essentially need to repeat this procedure for up to 4 to 5 times within either a single cup or multiple cups.
- Once you’re done with shifting of the brush till the point that the water in the last cup does not become dirty (most of the product has been washed off), put your brush under clean running water.
- Put a little dish soap on the brush while scrubbing it thoroughly with your fingers. You can also rub it against your palm, so as to get rid of Poly, till it’s totally clean.
- Hang the brush at any suitable height for drying.
How To Clean Oil-Based Polyurethane From A Brush
Cleaning oil based Polyurethane off the brush is a little more tricky than water based Polyurethane, because of, obviously the heavier and more intense formula. However, it does not consume a lot of time and with a proper conduct, you can get done with cleaning your brush in just a couple of minutes.
Supplies You’ll Need To Clean Oil Based Polyurethane Off Brush
- Running Water
- Mineral Spirits/ Paint Thinner/ Turpentine
- Liquid Dish Soap
- Nylon Scrub Brush
- Cups (2 or 3)
- Gloves (optional)
Steps To Clean
- Start by taking Mineral Spirits into one cup at a time or within two or three cups. The quantity (and cup size) should be enough to provide room for submerging of the brush till its ferrule point.
- Let the brush stay in the cup until the Mineral Spirits turns brown, before putting the brush into the next cup. The idea is to get rid of most of the product within Mineral Spirit (similar to the water-based Polyurethane removal), so you’d essentially need to repeat this procedure for up to 4 to 5 times within either a single cup or multiple cups.
- While Mineral spirit is capable of removing almost all the Polyurethane, still there is a need to wash the brush with clean water. Start rinsing the brush under running water, followed by applying a little amount of liquid dish soap to it, as well.
- Give the brush a really good scrubbing with your fingers and against your palm, until you see clear lather running down from the soap. Besides, don’t go for excessive soap application and try cleaning off all the product with the same amount of soap.
- Hang the brush at any suitable height for drying.
FAQs | Frequently Asked Questions
How To Clean Oil Based Polyurethane Brush?
Oil based Polyurethane brushes need to be cleaned with mineral spirit, in the first place. Post that, you can go for cleaning your brush with a soap under clean running water. Besides, you can also make use of a Nylon brush for cleaning assistance in this regard. Lastly, let the brush get dry completely, followed by storing it, preferably in a cupboard packaging.
How To Clean Water Based Polyurethane Brush?
Water based Polyurethane brushes can be easily cleaned simply under running water, while using a soap, as well. Alternatively, you can also go for soaking your water based Polyurethane brush in a cup of water for sometime, till you manage to get rid of all the residue. However, in the case of using a cup, you’ll need to throw the old water and fill the cup with a new batch multiple times.
How To Clean A Polyurethane Brush With Mineral Spirits?
For this, you’ll need to take mineral spirits in around three to four cups, large enough to provide room for the entire brush submerging, up to the ferrule. Hold your brush into the first cup and give it a good stir until the spirits turn dark brown, followed by moving on to the next cup while being patient. You’ll essentially need to do this entire procedure for a good 4 to 5 times, before washing your brush under clear running water with a regular dish soap.
Why Do I Get Brush Marks With Oil Based Polyurethane?
The most major cause of brush marks experienced with oil based Polyurethane is the finish not being adequately smoothed out, post the application. In addition to that, if you’re making use of any of the viscous finishes such as the typically available Oil Varnishes, you’re most likely to come across brush marks, since those don’t come with an easy flow. Moreover, you can try thinning out the finish before its drying, so as to avoid the tacking up.
How To Clean Polyurethane Brush Without Mineral Spirits?
In case you haven’t got mineral spirits, you can still get the job done just with the help of clean water and the regular household dishwashing detergent. Besides, you also need to be careful about using a small amount of the soap, so as to not damage the brush bristles. As for the cleaning, all you have to do is wash the brush under running water and apply the soap to it, followed by making the water and soap penetrate thoroughly across the bristles. Once completely cleaned, you can leave the brush to dry.
Can Vinegar Be Used To Remove Polyurethane?
Vinegar, fair enough, is an absolutely incredible alternative to strong chemicals, as it offers a similar extent of effectiveness when it comes to removing Polyurethane. Moreover, you can also enhance the efficiency of Vinegar by adding Baking Soda to it and using this mixture as a remover of Polyurethane from all the desired surfaces. This works greatly for almost all of the surfaces and specifically for the wooden products.
Leave a Reply