Okay, just getting into brush shaving, and I don't have a stand. What is the best way to let the brush dry? Hanging bristles down, Setting with the bristles up or laying on it's side? Thanks, Kevin
Drying question
- Thread starter DeaconKC
- Start date
Just make sure you shake it out good. Standing upright or hanging should be fine. I stand mine up and have never had any problems.
Just shake dry. After that, it doesn't matter much. I wouldn't lay it on its side though.
Give the brush a good shake or two then take a a towel and using painting strokes brush the towel to ensure the tips of the bristles are good and dry. Once you see the tips are not clumped together you are done. I stand up mine, hanging is also good.
It is a little more work but you are protecting an investment.
Raf
It is a little more work but you are protecting an investment.
Raf
With all brushes, the bristles should really hang downwards for the moisture to move away from the handle. I now hang mine up (after shaking it out and sometimes drying the tips on a towel afterwards). I notice that the moisture does move to the tips with gravity, so it should be better, but actually I've never heard of anyone having a problem from drying their brush stnding up.
the main thing is to shake it out well, and then leave it well-ventilated to dry out all the way through ... think that brush you shaved with this morning is dry? Stick your nose right into the centre of the brush and you'll see it's still moist more likely than not. If a brush is bigger and/or denser, it'll dry more slowly.
It's a good idea to have two or three brushes (or a lot more
) and make sure that no one brush doesn't get a couple days' rest in between uses.
It's a good idea to have two or three brushes (or a lot more
) and make sure that no one brush doesn't get a couple days' rest in between uses.
There's a big debate over whether it's better to dry a brush upright or inverted. I don't take a change. I have a drying stand from Em's Place which has two forks, one for large and another for standard size brush handles (she sells the large for about $4 more to add to the standard fork.) I hang the brush inverted for 24 hours, then store it upright in a row with my others. I have a rotation so that each brush has a couple days to dry completely.
Best,
Jay
Best,
Jay
In spite of gravity, capillary action will 'wick' away the moisture whether the brush is stored bristles up or down.
As others have said, shake it out first.
-- John Gehman
As others have said, shake it out first.
-- John Gehman
Not necessarily true. Here is the result of an experiment I did weighing two different brushes after use each morning: standing upright and hanging. Each brush was weighed after rinsing out and again after 24 hours of drying. The difference in weights represents drying. I did one dense brush (Rooney 3/1 Super) and one not-so-dense softer brush (Superior Super 20mm). Standing up on the handle yielded slightly better drying, but I'm not sure the difference is statistically relevant. Conclusion: it probably doesn't matter, so: 1) don't add it to your "must have" list because you need it, but only if you want it; 2) if you have a gorgeous gold-plated brush stand or one to match your velvet Elvis painting, no harm to your brushes. 3) if you want to get rid of that butt-ugly one your mother-in-law gave you, ignore statistical relevance and claim scientific proof to your wife as justification.
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Outstanding work! Standing = more efficient in 24 hours.
Im interested as to weather the knot retains more water over the long run standing or hanging. You ever consider extending the experiment to 2 days?
+1 Either method should work fine. There shouldn't be enough water in the brush after you shake it out well to be affected by gravity AT ALL. If gravity is moving water down your brush, you had way too much water still in it... shake it out. Once the water beads are small enough, the force of gravity because negligible compared to other forces such as cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, and evaporation.
Question: How does water get into the leaves of a plant? Is it pumped up there? No. Evaporation of water exiting the leaves pulls more water from the stem... from the branch... from the trunk... from the roots... from the ground. AKA: capillary action.
I like a stand because it looks nice. Does it make my brush dry faster? No.
Cut-above, I take my hat off in recognition of your outstanding work! You are a scientist as well as a wit. I therefore hate to bring in a 'however', but here goes...
For me, it's not just a question of drying speed but of doing what you can to keep moisture away from the bristle knots in the handle, where even miniscule amounts of water can collect and do damage.
Yes, one would have thought that capilliary action and evaporation would outweigh gravity, but my experience, admittedly with clothes, is the opposite: When I hang damp (even just slighly damp, and certainly not wet) washing to dry, I notice the higher points begin to dry as the moisture heads south - the lowest extremities are ALWAYS the last to dry.
With a wooden handle it is of course essential that it's dried bristles down. My (very ordinary) nail brush came with instructions that indicated this procedure.
But when all's said and done, who knows?
For me, it's not just a question of drying speed but of doing what you can to keep moisture away from the bristle knots in the handle, where even miniscule amounts of water can collect and do damage.
Yes, one would have thought that capilliary action and evaporation would outweigh gravity, but my experience, admittedly with clothes, is the opposite: When I hang damp (even just slighly damp, and certainly not wet) washing to dry, I notice the higher points begin to dry as the moisture heads south - the lowest extremities are ALWAYS the last to dry.
With a wooden handle it is of course essential that it's dried bristles down. My (very ordinary) nail brush came with instructions that indicated this procedure.
But when all's said and done, who knows?
The good news is that you have excellent data. Variance is very low. This is good news. As such, I'm pretty sure if there was a difference, you probably would have found it.
I did an unpaired t-test, as although the studies are crossed over, they are NOT really.
For the Rooney, there is NO difference at an alpha level of about 0.05. (I assumed t was about 2)
Confidence interval 0.05 +/- 0.086. No difference shown.
For the Superior, there was no difference... but it was MIGHTY close!
CI = 0.45 +/- 0.45. This is as CLOSE as you can get to showing a difference, without showing one. In fact, i reckon if you pulled the data, you probably would show a difference.
I did an unpaired t-test, as although the studies are crossed over, they are NOT really.
For the Rooney, there is NO difference at an alpha level of about 0.05. (I assumed t was about 2)
Confidence interval 0.05 +/- 0.086. No difference shown.
For the Superior, there was no difference... but it was MIGHTY close!
CI = 0.45 +/- 0.45. This is as CLOSE as you can get to showing a difference, without showing one. In fact, i reckon if you pulled the data, you probably would show a difference.
Nice!
It's a good idea to have two or three brushes (or a lot more
+1
I have 3 brushes, rotate them, and dry them standing. Although, maybe I do need "a lot more." I'll have to quote you on that to my wife!
OldSaw
The wife's investment
Not necessarily true. Here is the result of an experiment I did weighing two different brushes after use each morning: standing upright and hanging. Each brush was weighed after rinsing out and again after 24 hours of drying. The difference in weights represents drying. I did one dense brush (Rooney 3/1 Super) and one not-so-dense softer brush (Superior Super 20mm). Standing up on the handle yielded slightly better drying, but I'm not sure the difference is statistically relevant. Conclusion: it probably doesn't matter, so: 1) don't add it to your "must have" list because you need it, but only if you want it; 2) if you have a gorgeous gold-plated brush stand or one to match your velvet Elvis painting, no harm to your brushes. 3) if you want to get rid of that butt-ugly one your mother-in-law gave you, ignore statistical relevance and claim scientific proof to your wife as justification.
I have been using a stand for many years and always thought it was better because of the assistance of gravity. However, now that I have seen your data it caused me to wonder why standing worked better than hanging.
Looking at my own brush stand I have concluded that the stand does not allow the bristles to spread out as much. The throat of the stand can actually bunch the bristles tighter and gravity itself helps the bristles hang closer together rather than blooming out.
It's amazing how a little statistical analysis can change the way we see things. Now if you could just do the same thing with the price of gas you could be elected king of the joint or something.
I juts soak my brush in olive oil between uses
J
Jarmo P
+1 to brush rotation. We can shake them what we want, but they wont dry overnight.
