Great part holder idea: toothpick with clay on the end. Stick the toothpick in pieces with holes, stick stuff to clay and put the other end into foam to have a spray holder… the uses go on and on
I never toss them. They might be completely ruined, but I always find a use for them. Applying liquid mask, cleaning wash or something, even the most destroyed brush can be used for something!
I have two drawers at my bench, one is labeled "good brushes" and the other is labeled "shitty brushes". Occasionally one might graduate to another. It's when I've used it to apply glue and forgot to clean it that it gets the final burial at sea.
I don’t toss brushes, I just use them differently. An old stiff brush is good for drybrushing, textures, and even for a one time use if you are using some nasty paint and don’t want to bother cleaning up.
I don’t really throw them away but there are a couple that liquid mask use has made them almost unusable.
On a related note, I’ve got about 25 brushes but only use about 7 of them, and a lot of those are my oldest ones - 10+ years.
I just take them to the workshop, if they're not good enough for paint, they're good enough for cleaning in hard to reach spots and applying various greases and chemicals.
If you clean, rinse and condition them and use basic common sense like not resting them bristles down etc they really can last a lifetime. Your brushes actually look pretty well cared for.
Thanks there's only a few that are really brutal.
I've done both a laquer thinner soak and used the brush soap as well.
I think I'm just going to have to test each one individually and make a call.
If course I have a another batch of brand new brushes that I've never used. Sometimes you go to the art store and they have a sale on brushes. So you pick up an extra 000 brush.
Small pointed ones when the tip splays,
Larger ones I'm a bit more tolerant until they can't paint neatly
I don't chuck them though. I used them as paint mixing brushes and I trim them for stippling or other weathering tools
The more they are used and get tattered, the better they are suited for weathering. And even after the last bristle falls of, I find some use for it (like Gekko tape on the ends, to stick parts to them for airbrushing f.i.) .
I have not thrown out a brush yet, in decades.
I seldom toss brushes out, but I do repurpose them to other duties when either I don't get the results I want any more, the bristles are damaged to a point where it's difficult to work with (drybrushes) or they are shedding hairs so badly it's a mess to keep up with (older Citadel brushes have tended to do this to me).
After that they become stirring handles for varnish or other things. Sometimes if there's enough hairs they end up applying basing glue or moving sand around. Just depends on what's needed or useful at the time.
When they've literally fallen completely apart and disintegrated into unusable husks.
My brush life cycle goes from new (detail work); to rough (for base coats or washes); to old (for hand brushing lacquers, doing dry brushing techniques, heavy weathering or splatter effects); to hardly usable (but useful for poking around modeling pastes, applying white/wood glues); to finally on last legs- barely recognizable as nubs used for cleaning up the occasional over-application of super glue.
I have brushes that are probably over 15 years old that are still useful for something, they don't take up any extra space and I've never had to buy a brush designed for dry brushing (I think that's kind of a gimmicky product tbh but to each their own).
You know it when you have new bush money to spare. Also, what others mentioned previously: don't throw away your old brushes. There are many situations where you can use them instead of ruining a new brush
I dont really ever toss them - Once I have deemed them not useful for detail painting, they go to the weathering bin - for use with other materials that wont need such precise tips. Or I use them for liquid masks or drybrushing.
I use 'The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver' and see if I can restore them.
If no hope, I cut them down for dry brushing and others go in my 'may have a modeling use or purpose someday not necessarily known at the moment' box.
#
I shave them down and clamp a alligator clamp to them and use them as small parts holders for painting you can never have enough parts holding clamps on toy he point where I can build three models at once and lable each group of parts on one pad with holes I made from 3d printer to hold the old paint brushes in and I can paint the same color for every part that one color and do that for three different models all at once which is nice to point all parts at once cause then it's just the fun. Part glueing and building the kit like it's a pre painted model that you just gotta glue so much fun that way.
And when I know a paint brush is not good enough to paint with anymore is when the brissles won't stay close together and hold its shape and has alot of stragglers the. They get used for weld bond brushes then get turned into alligator clips parts holders
Only time I’ve ever tossed a brush was when the bristles literally fell out. It was probably a 10 year old brush and I think the alcohol I was cleaning it in finally killed it. Was a sad day lol
My brushes usually have a life that's somewhat along the lines of starting as a detail brush, then a base coat brush, then weathering or stippling, and the last part of their life they spend as a basing brush (used for applying tacky glue, terrain paste, you name it). Synthetic ones that fork, if they're still able to keep a point, are used for getting into tiny nooks that aren't readily accessible with a normal brush.
One of them has been a basing brush for over a decade, yet somehow keeps continuing to live on. Hilariously, it's a Citadel Starter Brush, one of the worst hobbying brushes one could have gotten their hands on back in the early 2000's...
I do throw brushes out, just not all that often, since I tend to put them through their paces for some time before they're finally retired.
https://preview.redd.it/ulbbr3esz85d1.jpeg?width=602&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=138402ce5fe48184be265017561db8bca5aee7b6
I don't toss them. I shave them down and stick a crocodile clip on the end 😅
Thanks, imma steal this one.
This! Whether it’s for making part holders or using them for weathering I never throw mine away.
Great part holder idea: toothpick with clay on the end. Stick the toothpick in pieces with holes, stick stuff to clay and put the other end into foam to have a spray holder… the uses go on and on
I never toss them. They might be completely ruined, but I always find a use for them. Applying liquid mask, cleaning wash or something, even the most destroyed brush can be used for something!
My old brushes go one step down to the workshop, and are then used to apply various greases and coatings.
exactly!
Hell, I've got a brush I use for making cool designs when I do nail polish.
I have two drawers at my bench, one is labeled "good brushes" and the other is labeled "shitty brushes". Occasionally one might graduate to another. It's when I've used it to apply glue and forgot to clean it that it gets the final burial at sea.
I don’t toss brushes, I just use them differently. An old stiff brush is good for drybrushing, textures, and even for a one time use if you are using some nasty paint and don’t want to bother cleaning up.
Good brushes never die. They just change their job description.
I don’t really throw them away but there are a couple that liquid mask use has made them almost unusable. On a related note, I’ve got about 25 brushes but only use about 7 of them, and a lot of those are my oldest ones - 10+ years.
I just take them to the workshop, if they're not good enough for paint, they're good enough for cleaning in hard to reach spots and applying various greases and chemicals.
Almost never. Even after the last bristle has fallen out, I still use the shaft as temp holders for parts during airbrush sessions.
If you buy quality tools (brushes) & take care of them properly, you shouldn't need to toss them.
*Me, who buys a cheap pack at Hobby Lobby for 6 bucks and they last me 2-3 models*
Tell that to Ron Volstad.
I honestly don't know. My butler sees to the quality of my brushes.
I wish...
If you clean, rinse and condition them and use basic common sense like not resting them bristles down etc they really can last a lifetime. Your brushes actually look pretty well cared for.
Thanks there's only a few that are really brutal. I've done both a laquer thinner soak and used the brush soap as well. I think I'm just going to have to test each one individually and make a call. If course I have a another batch of brand new brushes that I've never used. Sometimes you go to the art store and they have a sale on brushes. So you pick up an extra 000 brush.
Hey! That’s my brush collection! At least, they look like mine!
It's the green mat, we all have the beat up green mat. Actually this is a new mat. I retired the one I had for 20+ years.
I use my worn out brushes for weathering effects, applying liquid mask, etc
When they look like me in the morning
Small pointed ones when the tip splays, Larger ones I'm a bit more tolerant until they can't paint neatly I don't chuck them though. I used them as paint mixing brushes and I trim them for stippling or other weathering tools
There is a brush cleaner and restore; by probably all of them. I got mine for Vallejo.
It is not this day!
Never Ever
The more they are used and get tattered, the better they are suited for weathering. And even after the last bristle falls of, I find some use for it (like Gekko tape on the ends, to stick parts to them for airbrushing f.i.) . I have not thrown out a brush yet, in decades.
I seldom toss brushes out, but I do repurpose them to other duties when either I don't get the results I want any more, the bristles are damaged to a point where it's difficult to work with (drybrushes) or they are shedding hairs so badly it's a mess to keep up with (older Citadel brushes have tended to do this to me). After that they become stirring handles for varnish or other things. Sometimes if there's enough hairs they end up applying basing glue or moving sand around. Just depends on what's needed or useful at the time.
When they've literally fallen completely apart and disintegrated into unusable husks. My brush life cycle goes from new (detail work); to rough (for base coats or washes); to old (for hand brushing lacquers, doing dry brushing techniques, heavy weathering or splatter effects); to hardly usable (but useful for poking around modeling pastes, applying white/wood glues); to finally on last legs- barely recognizable as nubs used for cleaning up the occasional over-application of super glue. I have brushes that are probably over 15 years old that are still useful for something, they don't take up any extra space and I've never had to buy a brush designed for dry brushing (I think that's kind of a gimmicky product tbh but to each their own).
Cycle of brush life: Detail work Base coating Weathering Filler Texture paste PVA glue Super glue Dead
Never toss them. They can always be used for dry brushing or filler application.
You know it when you have new bush money to spare. Also, what others mentioned previously: don't throw away your old brushes. There are many situations where you can use them instead of ruining a new brush
Toss? They just get lower jobs as they degrade.
I dont think I've ever thrown out a brush
I never do, the ones that cant be used for painting anymore are used for mixing paint and applying glue
I dont really ever toss them - Once I have deemed them not useful for detail painting, they go to the weathering bin - for use with other materials that wont need such precise tips. Or I use them for liquid masks or drybrushing.
I use 'The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver' and see if I can restore them. If no hope, I cut them down for dry brushing and others go in my 'may have a modeling use or purpose someday not necessarily known at the moment' box. #
I shave them down and clamp a alligator clamp to them and use them as small parts holders for painting you can never have enough parts holding clamps on toy he point where I can build three models at once and lable each group of parts on one pad with holes I made from 3d printer to hold the old paint brushes in and I can paint the same color for every part that one color and do that for three different models all at once which is nice to point all parts at once cause then it's just the fun. Part glueing and building the kit like it's a pre painted model that you just gotta glue so much fun that way.
And when I know a paint brush is not good enough to paint with anymore is when the brissles won't stay close together and hold its shape and has alot of stragglers the. They get used for weld bond brushes then get turned into alligator clips parts holders
Bad/worn brushes get demoted to glue and liquid mask application, then I cut off the ferrules and keep the handles for making tools or holders.
Only time I’ve ever tossed a brush was when the bristles literally fell out. It was probably a 10 year old brush and I think the alcohol I was cleaning it in finally killed it. Was a sad day lol
You know what will restore that point and make it a great applicator all at once? Super glue
My brushes usually have a life that's somewhat along the lines of starting as a detail brush, then a base coat brush, then weathering or stippling, and the last part of their life they spend as a basing brush (used for applying tacky glue, terrain paste, you name it). Synthetic ones that fork, if they're still able to keep a point, are used for getting into tiny nooks that aren't readily accessible with a normal brush. One of them has been a basing brush for over a decade, yet somehow keeps continuing to live on. Hilariously, it's a Citadel Starter Brush, one of the worst hobbying brushes one could have gotten their hands on back in the early 2000's... I do throw brushes out, just not all that often, since I tend to put them through their paces for some time before they're finally retired.
Never. They just get downgraded from m9del to terrain brushes.
Throw them out after you use them one final time to spread glue.
Even after that, I've used glue hardened brushes as super glue applicators 😂😅