Question for the painters

[GAC05]

Need some help from the brush vets out there.

I am painting some store interiors prior to putting up new graphics.
We are using a semigloss latex, fairly good (I think) spec'd by the customer.
With a fresh brush for the trim areas around the windows and fixtures the paint flows smoothly and it goes well, the longer we work (4 or 5 hours into it) the brushes stiffen up and it feels like we are painting with a wire brush by the end.
Seems like the paint still flows out smoothly using the rollers during the same time frame.
We are working at night in AC as the stores are open 24/7 and can't be shut down to do the work.
So the question - how do I keep the paint flowing smoothly?
Would it be the paint or the brushes that are the problem as they are open to the air for hours at a time?
Is it a matter of changing out or cleaning the trim brushes before they start to gum up? Buying some better quality brushes? We picked ours up from Home Depot, they are synthetic and are supposed to be for the latex we are using. We didn't buy the cheapest or the most expensive ones they had.

Any tips or tricks to this would be greatly appreciated.
We are not a painting company, I did not bid on or want the painting part of this project but I have to get it done & can't hire real painters at this point to take care of it.

thanks
wayne k
guam usa

 

[Mike Paul]

The paint is drying stiffening the brush. Just clean them.
There are additives to enhance flow and leveling you can purchase.

 

[Gino]

Not all brushes are made for wall painting, cutting in or finish work in conjunction with latex paint.

First, make sure your brushes are for the kind of paint you're using and walls.
You can add a little floetrol to your paint.
The drying up in your heel part is basically because you aren't working your brushes on a palette. Therefore, the fast drying time of latex dries up and slowly affects how much paint you can sop up and the control you'll have.... or lack of.

I would just clean them once an hour or so. You don't have to get all the paint out, but work as much out of the heal as possible. However, before dipping back.... make sure ALL of the water is out of your brush. This is easiest done by working out a few brush fulls on a board or something, until it's back to the right consistency.

Sounds like you're in a grocery store, so don't let the air conditioning bother you. Good air flow will make it dry better on the walls. The heel of the brush isn't affected by the A/C.

Make sure you wait about 10 days to put your vinyl on the walls.
​

 

[GAC05]

Good stuff guys
thank you
We have a network of stores to do so the first one should be pretty dry by the time we come back for the graphics part.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Jillbeans]

Are you using cheap brushes?
Do try some Floetrol in your brush paint cups.
You can get it at any hardware or paint store.
I would be concerned about your vinyl not sticking to latex at a later date.
Love....Jill

 

[GAC05]

Not sure on the quality of our brushes I picked the middle of the good - better - best options they had at Home Depot. We'll do the hourly cleaning and see if that does the trick, I'm picking up a few extra so I can swap them out and keep going.
I won't be putting vinyl directly on the wall, going to mount the graphics to 1mm pvc and fix that to the wall - I'll need to make sure what we use on the pvc sticks to the latex.

wayne k
gac

 

[shakey0818]

I would wet the brush before you use it and spin it out.If it starts to get all messed up or stiff,clean it. A clean good brush will make cutting in and painting so much faster and a better finish stroke.I would say your using Sherwin William Duration paint or its wicked hot in there,usually that problem doesn't happen unless you keep putting your brush down for short periods of time.Like Jill said Flotrol is great.

 

[GAC05]

You folks know your stuff - it is Sherwin Williams Duration.
I don't think it is the heat we are working at night.
The humidity here is very high but AC being on all the time drys out the air pretty good.
I finished the first store last night and what I learn here should make the next one quicker for me with a better end result for the customer.

thanks once again.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[SeaWriter]

Once I have washed one of my latex brushes, I do a final clean with a drop of shampoo. No matter how well you rinse there is resin left on the bristles making it stiffer. The soap will actually bring the bristles back squeaky clean.

 

[signage]

I like this for cleaning/drying paint brushes.

 

[Pinfinity]

Use Floetrol....good idea applying vinyl to pvc first, there are compatability issues with vinyl over latex paint unless a barrier coating is applied over the latex.

 

[JR's]

For cutting in or trim this is the brush to have with latex, Zibra Triangle Brush you can get it at home depot. and clean it out Evey hour don't wait until the brush is stiff. http://www.enjoyzibra.com/glide/related_4.html

http://www.enjoyzibra.com/glide/related_2.html



JR
.