One of the things that I hate most about painting is the clean-up. My projects usually span a few days – and sometimes weeks – so washing my brushes every day makes me crazy.
If I know I’m coming back to a project the next day, I usually wrap my brushes in cling wrap and stick them in the freezer. It never fails that I forget to get them out of the freezer before I start working, so I end up painting with a half-frozen brush for a while. The paint never lays well with a frozen brush, but I have to work quickly since Emma’s nap time (and thus my work time) is getting shorter and shorter.
Coming to my rescue, my friend Pretty Handy Girl introduced me to this new product – the Paint Brush Cover. It’s an airtight, hard plastic container that you can store wet brushes in to keep from having to clean them, and then store clean brushes in so they don’t get damaged.
When I was painting my office, I cut in around my herringbone wood paneled wall, but I wasn’t ready to paint the whole room. I took a leap of faith and stored my brushes (one for the ceiling paint and one for the wall paint) in them. I was hoping that these covers would work as great as Brittany said they would, but I had my doubts.
It took me 5 days until I was ready to finish painting the office. When I went back to the brushes, I was delighted to fine that the paint was exactly as I had left it. The brushes were ready to go immediately, and I didn’t have to deal with painty plastic wrap or frozen brushes. Score!
After I finished painting the walls, I put the brushes back in the covers so I could do touch ups the next day. Oops! I forgot about it. Seven days went by before I remembered that the brushes were still there. I took them out of their cases to wash today, and they were still in great shape. I was able to easily wash all of the paint off because they were still wet. After they dried, I stored them in the covers (which I also washed) and put them in the garage to await my next project. I wouldn’t take the chance of leaving wet brushes in a cover for longer than 5 days if you want to use them again without washing, though – just to be safe.
These covers are sold online for $5 a piece. I think they would make great stocking stuffers or little gifts for your DIY and crafty friends! I have no stake in the company that sells them whatsoever – just passing along a cool little painting tip!
