An Unsucessful cleaning of my new Envirobrush
I am a complete sucker for any product that includes the word, “Enviro,” in its name. Even if it is pure green marketing, the product definitely has my attention. Well, I had an “enviro” moment recently in all places, the hardware store.
I needed to buy a paint brush, and started to scan the aisles looking at all the interesting hardware items. (Yes, I find hardware stores fascinating, and could be an avid DIY’er if I wasn’t such a klutz.)
Minding my own business, admiring all the supplies, I was suddenly distracted by a full 50-piece band with baton twirlers coming down the aisle with a float pulled by gleaming white horses. And there she was! Queen of the parade. Beautiful and partly green wearing the enviro-tiara. The Envirobrush, an environmental paint brush. I was breathless. (And the marketing gods knew they hooked me. Check 1 for them.) The story gets better if you can believe it.
Oh, my gosh. What is this, I wondered? It did not look very environmental except it was partly green, of course. You can’t be green unless you wear the team colors. Check 2 for the marketing gods.
What made it environmental, as I scratched my head? Was it made out of recycled toothbrushes or soda bottles? I looked for the recycling triangle thinking maybe you could recycle it after you were done. I figured it wasn’t edible since you had to paint with it. I got it, I murmured, it is glued together with corn starch! I was dumbfounded as to why it was named Envirobrush. (The marketing gods, then sighed heavily, and realized that they had to spell it out better for us dumb green clueless people.)
So, I asked the woman behind the desk hoping she could shed some light on this perplexing situation. I knew she was watching me turning the package over and over again, and did not know if I had some marbles loose. She explained that you can change the heads of the brushes instead of buying a multitude of brushes for different jobs. Less waste, stupid, she was thinking.
According to the company, 300 million paint brushes are thrown away each year in
So why is this brush so clever? According to the literature of the Company,
- Change paint colors quickly without changing brushes or waiting for your one brush to dry for us frugal gals.
- Requires only a small amount of water or solvent for clean up.
- Saves money since buying the bristle packages is so much cheaper than buying a new brush – (Keep the handle).
- Reduction in the use of solvents to clean brushes since you can throw it away instead.
- There are a variety of filament and bristles. There are different sizes, angled super bristles, and regular angled polyester type bristles. (Beyond the beginner painter talk.)
- The brush is durable and of quality construction.
- The “unique bristle strand placement and gluing process helps eliminate annoying bristle strand loss common to traditional paint brushes.”
- Saves time since clean up is easier. According to the Company, “The Enviro Brush® system applies tension to the bristle approximately 3//8” above the glue line to minimize paint buildup resulting in a fast and complete cleanup.” (More painter talk.)
- The Fandle® (combined handle and ferrule) is manufactured with a special recyclable plastic blend. See, I knew there was some sort of recycled material in it.
These reasons work for me! Why own a multitude of brushes when you can own only one? It is like owning one great outfit with many accessories to change the look.
Who would have thought of such an invention? An environmental painter, right? Close to the right answer. Terry Douglas, president of the Canadian based Kwick Clean and Green ® Ltd., has first hand knowledge of the painting business. He has owned companies that made and sold paint and manufactured airless paint sprayers. The Envirobrush company has combined an environmental mission with a handy practical paint brush. Everyone wins in this situation.
Happily, I went home with my new brush. Correction. New Envirobrush. Mind you, my painting skills are probably below a beginner’s level so my observations may or may not be very accurate. I liked the way the brush felt and the bristles were soft and flexible. Not as much dripping as an ordinary brush. Unfortunately, I did not have a good experience cleaning it.
I was priming a section of a fiberglass column, and was required to use a special solvent based primer. I read that you had to use a solvent to remove oil based primers. Perhaps I let it stay on the brush too long before cleaning or had no idea how to clean it. Who knows? I used Mineral Spirits so that may not have been right either. I know I will try and avoid all solvent based products in the future. The low odor Mineral Spirits still burned my eyes. (Yes, they manufacturer a low odor Mineral Spirit product.)
I wish I would have found the Klickitat County,
Unfortunately, the Kwick Clean and Green ® Ltd’s website does not list who carries their product. I gathered this product has been around for awhile, since Family Handyman did a nice review of it in 2001. It may be in your local hardware store, and you just missed the band coming down the aisle. Otherwise, you can email them or call them to find out where the brushes are sold.
I hope that my other brushes aren’t going to be a little green with envy over my Envirobrush. She is the new kid in town and she is here to stay!
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
All of these carbon footprint calculators are based on different methodologies and are purely illustrative rather than scientific. In this respect they are a little gimmicky, but do serve to demonstrate just how much Co2 some of us produce.
In reality it is quite difficult for most of us to make big impacts in our carbon footprint, but at least by being aware of the issue we can make better lifestyle choices when presented with them.
Just my 2c worth.
Mark @ TalkClimateChange’s last blog post..Missing the Big Green Picture
Fantastic article! Extremely well researched and interesting. I was wondering if the punchline might be that the brush had no tangible environmental value, but this product turned out to be a huge winner. Great find!
Do they make rollers or things for large surface painting? I’ll have to go check it out.
Brave New Leaf’s last blog post..When you can’t recycle, try freecycle
I’m an artist, and I’d make use of the brushes. Thanks for the article!
Painter’s last blog post..Drawing of a Shoe Sketched with Colored Pencils
Painter, this company has just come out with a professional painter’s brush. The one I used was more for the homeowner. I hear from the company that the professional painter’s brush is being well received. Anna
“These reasons work for me! Why own a multitude of brushes when you can own only one?” – Fantastic. There are lot of reasons involved in buying a simple brush. What a Great Story!
These brushes can be found in Home Depots in Canada. A new line of Professional Quality Brushes are now in General Paint Stores.
Derek, you are right. I hope that the US Home Depot start carrying them as well. Anna
I’m glad to know that it has “unique bristle strand placement and gluing process helps eliminate annoying bristle strand loss common to traditional paint brushes.” – I think that’s very cool!
The Peachy Painters last blog post..Choosing paint colors – the terms used when talking about colors