Hi everybody! Today I will be making a cleaning board for my brushes. I usually would just use my hands and dish soap and just lay them to dry. What I found was that the bristles were getting lose because the water was loosening them up. Plus, the brushes never got that clean. So before we get started, let me list the materials we need:
Plastic/Waterproof clip board (you can also use a plastic cutting board or a plastic place mat.)
Glue gun
Glue gun sticks (1-4, depending on the size)
Dish soap (or any gentle cleansing soap)
Rubber bands or and type of band that is stretchy
So if you have a plastic clipboard, or any plastic board of your preference at home that you don't need, go ahead and use it. If not, go take a trip to your local Dollar Tree or dollar store of your preference, and look for any of these materials you need. Before I show my materials I will show you my embarrassingly dirty brushes just so we can compare the before and after. I wanted them to have as much makeup as possible so I didn't clean them for 15 days. Everybody is different but I like washing them on a weekly basis.
Now I'll start actually creating the board. I had bought this at Target for $5 because I thought it was cute and I was originally going to use it as a clip board, but it became my the base of my next project. But again, you can use something that you have lying around the house or go to the dollar store and get something for $1.
Before you start, go plug in your glue gun to get it ready to go. You are going to want to wash and dry the board, just to make sure you get the dirt and dust off. If you don't, the glue might not stick as well. Once you have done that, go to the glue gun and start making patterns on there that will help you clean the brushes as best possible. You can search online what patterns work best for the brushes you have. These patterns work best for my brushes.
After you have done that, go ahead and make sure it's dry. Then, run it under the water to make sure the patterns are on properly.
After that, go ahead and put the soap that you prefer over the patterns you will use.
Ok, I went a little bit over board with the soap. You can use a couple of drops and it should clean it perfectly well.
Then go ahead and grab the first brush and put it at an angle under the water. Putting a brush face up can make the bristles to loosen up the glue and get the bristles to come off of the brush.
When it is saturated with water, go ahead and put a couple of drops of soap and start scrubbing the brush.
Repeat as often as you need until clean.
When you are done cleaning the brushes, you can put the brush face down with a hand towel or paper towel.
Another way to effectively dry the brushes is to use the same board when you are done. Dry it well and use rubber bands or any bands that can hold them in place. I didn't have rubber bands at home so I just used some head bands that I really don't use anymore. They're a little big but they'll do in the meantime.
When that is ready, go ahead and lay 2 layers of paper towels (or a regular hand towel) perpendicular to a wall and place the board with the brushes on top. When place the brushes, go ahead and weave them with the bands.
The brushes will be dry in about an hour. Once they are completely dry, go ahead and put them away in your brush holder.
Hey everybody! Today we will be doing a DIY project and it is a steal of a deal!! You can always use things you have around the house. If you don't have these items, it's ok. It can cost you as low as $3!!!! And this isn't just a project for the ladies. This project is for everyone! Anybody who paints and need a paint brush holder or anybody has a desk and needs a pencil holder can benefit from this project. It's a super useful project that will save storage space and it can take less than 5 minutes to make!
So the first let's see what materials that you can use:
A jar, a small box or crate (my preference is no bigger than 4x4, but you find the size you are comfortable with) a glass candle holder, small glass cup. You can use any type of holder you feel fits your personality
To hold the brushes, pens, ect. in place, find something that matches your holder. It could be rice, ( you can even color it with food dye or even spray paint it the color you desire) rhinestones, glass or plastic stones (these you can buy in whatever color you prefer)
I was downtown a couple of weeks ago buying supplies for a birthday party somebody hired me to decorate. While I was looking for certain supplies, I found this little pot/flower holder. I don't exactly know what it was meant for but I love this color and I thought it was perfect for a brush holder.
This "brush holder" cost $0.98. I wasn't sure what I was going to put in the pot because at first I wanted to spray paint some rice silver and put that there. But this holder has too many holes close to the bottom so the rice would have spilled. I ended up going to Walmart and buying some glass/ crystal stones.
I didn't know if one was going to be enough (to be half full) so I bought 2 small bags which were also $0.98.
I ended up putting both bags in to really have the brushes stay in place and for them to be visible above the holder. I wont post the holder with the brushes because they are dirty. And I'm using those dirty brushes for my next DIY project. Stay tuned to see it! For now I will show you my brush holder with some pens and pencils!
