Recently I forgot to clean my glue brush before I left the shop, rendering it a useless stiff mess by the next day. Running it under soapy warm water didn’t make it any more useable, so I started poking around on the web for another solution. But first I got sidetracked when I found the names for the parts of a brush — unrelated to my problem but I like the sound of the word “ferrule” (a metal ring or cap placed around a pole or shaft for reinforcement or to prevent splitting).
Eventually I did discover two suggestions for cleaning up my brush mess, both involving soaking it overnight (or longer), either in soapy water — using dish detergent — or rubbing alcohol. Since I had detergent at the shop, I tried that first. When that didn’t seem to make that much difference, I tried alcohol instead. By the next day, it had done the trick and with some rinsing under water the glue was gone and the brush back to normal.
Anyone else have a good method for cleaning up dried glue brushes?
I have always thought that Ferrule would be a good name for a hobbit. That said, thanks for the alcohol trick. Water usually works for me, but every so often it isn’t enough.
Soaking overnight in the very stuff that’s gummed it up will often work–PVA for PVA damage, paste for paste, etcetera. Will try alcohol on next mishap and see how it goes.