Paint Brushes / Rollers Clean and Reuse or Toss?

[honcho]

Growing up we always cleaned and saved brushes and rollers for the next paint job. I have probably used thousands of gallons of water cleaning brushes over the years and more than a few gallons of paint thinner or turpentine when using oil paint. Though quality brushes and rollers aren't exactly cheap, they are one of the smallest costs of a paint job and time is more precious than ever. Therefore, it's easier for me to rationalize tossing used rollers and brushes though I do imagine my father scolding me for being wasteful from the great beyond.

I bring this up because I got enlisted into painting a small bedroom and after painting the ceiling, I washed the roller and brush before moving to the walls. After the walls I tossed them and used a new brush and roller for the trim and doors. Paint cost was $130, Brushes and rollers were less than $50.
What do you folks do, wash or toss?

 

[BTL-A4]

From a serious home DIY'er: I squeeze all the paint out, and place them in a plastic bag to keep the paint wet so I can use them the next day. I buy cheaper rollers, so they are never the same when I try to use them months or years later on a new job.

 

[Stelzer]

We sometimes deal with 30-40 different colors/week, so this may or may not be applicable to you. Roller covers never get cleaned. If they're white or a color that's soon to be used again, they'll get wrapped in plastic and put in a shop fridge. Brushes get wrapped & cleaned, but we use good brushes. If you're paying $5 for your brushes, you'll have to determine the amount you value your time vs. how long it'll take to clean.

 

[whateg01]

I will save brushes and rollers until a job is done. If the brushes were more expensive, I will clean them and save them for use another time. The rollers get tossed at that point

 

[Shiftless]

Quality painting tools work better than throw away priced tools. I clean them properly and store until I need ‘em again. I hang brushes vertically to keep the bristles in place.

One exception to that is if I’m using solvent based wood stain or epoxy. Then I use a cheapo brush and toss it.

 

[bluedog225]

I throw my roller cages and covers into the rain barrel. They sit in the bottom till I need them again. Or till I remember to take them out. Works ok.

 

[tworley]

I have a few natural bristle brushes I clean and reuse.

Rollers I'll clean maybe once or twice before they get tossed.

 

[PMD1966]

Growing up we always cleaned and saved brushes and rollers for the next paint job. I have probably used thousands of gallons of water cleaning brushes over the years and more than a few gallons of paint thinner or turpentine when using oil paint. Though quality brushes and rollers aren't exactly cheap, they are one of the smallest costs of a paint job and time is more precious than ever. Therefore, it's easier for me to rationalize tossing used rollers and brushes though I do imagine my father scolding me for being wasteful from the great beyond.

I bring this up because I got enlisted into painting a small bedroom and after painting the ceiling, I washed the roller and brush before moving to the walls. After the walls I tossed them and used a new brush and roller for the trim and doors. Paint cost was $130, Brushes and rollers were less than $50.
What do you folks do, wash or toss?

My son recently purchased a house. Had all the kitchen appliances. Looked in the dishwasher, it was covered with paint. Guess it was water-based latex.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Me? Keep for duration of project, then toss.

Wrote a longer explanation a while ago here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...ep-or-replace-regularly.543754/#post-11075020

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[rlitman]

I drop used rollers back into the paint bucket. I've put half full buckets with the roller still inside back onto my paint shaker a year later and the roller worked perfectly right away when I fished it out.

I've had really bad luck cleaning rollers. There's just too much in the way of pigment that can get trapped in them, though if you want to wash a roller and use it for primer, go right ahead. There isn't much risk in leaving the roller in the can. So long as the paint is still good, the roller should be too.

There are times when I'll use disposable brushes, but when I'm brushing and want a good finish, I'm using good brushes, and these get the time spent to properly clean them.

 

[four.cycle]

I have brushes that are older than most of the members here. A few of my watercolor brushes are well over 60 years old. "House painting" brushes - oldest stuff would be ± 45 years old now.
Buy good brushes and clean them properly and they'll last forever (or until the bristles start to wear off.)

Rollers: I haven't cleaned a roller since the early 1980s, and that was only because paint thinner used to be really really cheap.
I have had horrible luck trying to "re-use" latex rollers - they always muck up a perfectly good job leaving little pieces of fur stuck in the paint.
Just not worth it: throw them out and buy new ones. Even for the same job using the same color on the same wall tomorrow.

 

[danski0224]

I don't clean rollers. Takes too much time and wastes too much water.

I do clean brushes though.

 

[paulsomlo]

I don't clean rollers. Takes too much time and wastes too much water.

I do clean brushes though.

Agreed - if you're using good brushes, clean them. Rollers absorb too much paint to bother cleaning. And yes, if you're going to use them the next day, put them in a plastic bag overnight.

 

[The Cobbler]

to me a good quality roller that is used is my preference.
clean the bulk of the paint out with a 5in1 tool, wash the bulk of the paint out . use some soap to speed it up. lay it in water for a few hours, rinse & repeat a few times. then leave it in water overnight .
same basically for brushes .

my old rollers are saved for oil paints . if I'm on an ongoing oil paint job like a floor that will take a few coats or a few days , to keep it from drying , dump the roller into water when finished up . when needed again pull out the roller, shake off the water and start to roll again.
you can actually keep a roller good for a long time in water

 

[bonneyman]

Rollers get wrapped in plastic for the next day. Hanging water paint brushes in a pail of water lets me reuse them the next day.

I usually buy cheap brushes as cleaning them enough to not get hard takes too much water for the SW desert. I've heard that a great old time cleaning regimen for oil brushes is using Murphy's Oil Soap and a stuff brush.

 

[Lazy]

I work in apt maintenance.

Roller pads get ordered in bulk and tossed after single use.

Wooster HD brushes make it about a month or two before getting replaced.

 

[cgrutt]

Idaho painter had a good video about cleaning brushes and covers. Wire brush and one of those painter tools with the half moon for covers or comb for brushes helps alot. I always clean brushes but wind up buying new ones pretty often. Started cleaning rollers but wind up tossing them most of the time when project is done.

ETA here is one of his videos.

 

[908Jim]

I always clean brushes because I use good quality brushes and I'm not a pro so it's never more than a few. I don't even wrap between coats because I hate loaded up brushes. A brush comb makes it quick and easy.

Rollers are tricky, I've found they don't hold up too well to washing. I usually use new rollers for top coats and save topcoat rollers in good shape for primer. Wooster rollers seem to handle about 1 wash before they start shedding.

I do usually wash and reuse small 3" and 4" rollers a few times because they don't see much rolling and seem to hold up better because of it.

 

[boom_bap]

I reuse everything multiple times for water based paint. I have a spinner tool and you can put the brush or covers and and spin them in a bucket of water, good as new. As a DIY it saves me money to clean them and not throw them away. Covers are 6-10 bucks a pop and same with brushes. That means I'm saving about a hundred bucks a year if I paint a few times between primer, multiple coats.

 

[dnschmidt]

I reuse everything multiple times for water based paint. I have a spinner tool and you can put the brush or covers and and spin them in a bucket of water, good as new. As a DIY it saves me money to clean them and not throw them away. Covers are 6-10 bucks a pop and same with brushes. That means I'm saving about a hundred bucks a year if I paint a few times between primer, multiple coats.

I do the same thing if it's waterborne paint and I'm using high end brushes such as a Corona. Solvent based I normally toss as the price of paint thinner is more than the cost of a cheap brush. The spinner is a great tool and I highly recommend it. I think mine was made by Shur-line.

 

[boom_bap]

I picked up the home depot spinner for around 8 or 9 bucks. It is very worth it for those on the fence, like I was.

 

[gba2331]

The roller spinner on a drill changed my mind. Run it in an empty bucket and then a bucket of clean water and it comes out clean enough to reuse.