What to use to clean epoxy of brushes...

Mar 27, 2005 16 Replies

I'm about to Glassfibre a fuselage in stages... what do I clean the brushes with??


I use Meths... it takes uncured epoxy off anything.

-- Philip Rawson

formatting link
formatting link

You don't clean them , you use cheap brushes and throw them out.

Regards

Tom Watson Sydney Australia

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

You have 2 choices.

  1. Use cheap brushes and toss them.

  1. Use acetone to clean them. (PITA, also acetone is not one of the better things for your body.)

Use cheap acid/flux brushes (about 15¢ apiece) clean them with acetone (careful), denatured alcohol, methylated spirits and toss when they become unusable.

alcohl will clean UNCURED epoxy from the brushes. (once its cured.

Jasco paint and epoxy remover... its mean stuff... avoid it.

-- fhhuber50677

----------------------------------------------------------------------- fhhuber506771's Profile:

formatting link
this thread:
formatting link

Acetone doesn't really clean it very well. Denatured alcohol is THE solvent for epoxy.

Yeah, if you don't clean it before it hardens or even begins to thicken, just toss the brush!

formatting link
View this thread:
formatting link

Methyl Hydrate is what West Sysems recommends. I use it for all epoxy clean up. Brushes, fingers, thinning etc. Only works if the epoxy is still liquid though. Cheap and very little smell. Gord Schindler MAAC6694

In many situations, the cost of the solvent is higher than the cost of the brush.

Ed Cregger

Hahahha. Good one Ed and absolutely true!

I prefer acetone or dope thinners and a good wash in wshing up liquid afterwards.

Once set, the brush is irrecoverable BTW.

Why bother? That's a lot of work if you ask me. I just use foam brushes they are cheap (box of 12 for $7) and they give a very smooth finish.. I sometimes use the little acid brushes for small stuff, they are even cheaper (box of 48 for less than $5). The time and solvent it takes to clean them just isn't worth it to me. You can get them anywhere, but I get mine at at

formatting link

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required