Review Updates
Since the original review was posted there have been a few developments that are more than worth mentioning. It turns out the Brushdoctor I was reviewing was infact faulty and a few days later it gave in, possibly a problem with the impeller - which would explain the lack of air flow. Now as I had conducted quite an in-depth review of the Brushdoctor, I thought it only fair to inform the manufacturers of the problems I had encountered. Naturally Brushdoctor offered me either a complete refund or a brand new product on return of the one that I had; I would expect nothing less from any company that stands behind their products. Their commercial director contacted me directly about the faulty product and expressed his concerns as there had never been a Brushdoctor fail in such a way. It turns out the only other failure wasn't really a failure because the products owner was trying to remove paint with water; which isn't going to work no matter how hard you try.
There are already plans in the pipe work for a Trade rated version which will likely be mains powered to offer that little bit more umph! So hopefully within 12 - 18 months there will be something new for me to review, this also saves me experimenting with buckets and pressurised air. Until then there is a brand new Brushdoctor on its way for me to take a look, let's hope it cleans brushes as well as it's supposed to.
I think it's also worth noting that it is pretty evident that the manufacturers take their Brushdoctor product very seriously and fully committed to it, their customer service has been nothing short of exemplary. Now you try getting a multi-national to act so quickly, you just know it'll never happen.
Here's to another Guinea pig!
Everyone hates cleaning paint brushes, especially when you use as many as the average professional decorator. And we all know about the importance of correct cleaning of our brushes if we want our investment to last. So while I was trawling the net I came across and advert for a brush cleaning device called "Brushdoctor" which looked quite promising.
Now I have to state that the device is aimed at the DIY market not trade. But as better quality brushes are becoming ever more available to the general DIY fraternity; I thought I'd give it a go and see what it could do with my trade brushes.
It works by blowing air into the liquid chamber to increase the friction applied to the brush. The bubbles are produced by a little battery powered fan through a small tube into the chamber. These bubbles should then permeate the bristles and help drag out the paint into the fluid that the brush is standing in. The waste fluid can then be disposed of.
I've tried the machine with a range of brushes from 1" to 3" in both natural bristle and synthetic with contract matt, vinyl matt, acrylic and alkyd based paints. I've used white spirit, brush cleaner and warm soapy water to clean the brushes in accordance with the supplied instruction manual.
And the results? Well I would have to be blunt and say that it just doesn't work; at least not with brushes of any quality or bristle density. The air bubbles just don't seem able to penetrate the trade quality brushes, as they seem to bounce of the sides. So instead of two 50 second cleaning cycles I was giving up at 20 cycles.
Where do I go from here? In the meantime I shall use the old fashion method of elbow grease.