Inventions: Brush Washer

Friday, April 4, 2008



So I didn't invent the brush washer... but I did invent this weird, curvy thing in the middle of my contraption. It's just a piece of small-gauge, galvanized steel that I bent into an arc with a sharp dip in the center. I use this constantly as I paint.

The straight bar across the main basin is to wipe off excess water (or thinner) after washing your brush. It's a standard feature of most commercially available brush washers. But I needed something more: I wanted to squeeze a certain amount of water from my brush while at the same time shaping it to a uniform taper.

The unique shape allows a variation in pressure or pitch to control the amount of water removed and the resultant shape. And since it can be done with one hand, it leaves your other hand free to hold your palette. The steep dip in the middle draws the excess water back down into the reservoir to be used again. Also, as you can see, I keep a paper towel clipped to the washer so I can further control the contents of the brush. This is also where I wipe off my palette knife.

I would patent this if it wasn't so darned easy for people to make themselves. All you need is some wire and a pair of pliers.

2 comments :

  1. Thats a great idea, and thanks for sharing your creation, I usually end up using my mouth to shape the tip and remove excess water from my brush....yuk

    ReplyDelete
  2. Please invent something for me that will get dog hair out of my paint! There's just so much of it and it gets into everything!

    ReplyDelete

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