L+P Brush - stopping contamination

[Vetty]

I've managed to contaminate my Ultra Sculptor , it's only 6 months old and is leaving yellow stains....... Now I've read contradictory info and I'd like someone to set me straight please?!

According to Gigi, she's never had a brish contanimate because her brushes never dry out, i.e. used every day and never having monomer dry in the ferrule. But, Cathie! dries her brush of monomer before storing it away, and I know her brush is used every day......

So, which should I do? Just wipe my brush after my last client and store til the next day or dry all the monomer out of it??

Also, does a thorough wash with liquid soap rescue a contaminated brush??

Thanks!

 

[Urban Geek]

I clean my brush with monomer after use, wipe on a lint free pad, cover the bristles with the fat end of a pipette and store flat. I've never had any problems x

 

[Gelly]

I've managed to contaminate my Ultra Sculptor , it's only 6 months old and is leaving yellow stains....... Now I've read contradictory info and I'd like someone to set me straight please?!

According to Gigi, she's never had a brish contanimate because her brushes never dry out, i.e. used every day and never having monomer dry in the ferrule. But, Cathie! dries her brush of monomer before storing it away, and I know her brush is used every day......

So, which should I do? Just wipe my brush after my last client and store til the next day or dry all the monomer out of it??

Also, does a thorough wash with liquid soap rescue a contaminated brush??

Thanks!

I give my brush a clean in monomer, wipe and store in it's black 'coffin' - lint free pad under brush end and a little blue tack on handle to hold it still.

Don't think soap and water will work Vetty.

If you leave it to soak in monomer, the product should soften and you should be able to get it out...........
Use another bit of blue tack to secure the handle to the side of whatever you are soaking it in - so that your brush is pointing straight down and the flags are not touching the bottom - otherwise you'll get bent flags.

 

[Vetty]

I clean my brush with monomer after use, wipe on a lint free pad, cover the bristles with the fat end of a pipette and store flat. I've never had any problems x

Now that's exactly what I do with my brush, yet this one's gone manky on me....... Just want to make sure I can make my brush last as long as possible.....

I give my brush a clean in monomer, wipe and store in it's black 'coffin' - lint free pad under brush end and a little blue tack on handle to hold it still.

Don't think soap and water will work Vetty.

If you leave it to soak in monomer, the product should soften and you should be able to get it out...........
Use another bit of blue tack to secure the handle to the side of whatever you are soaking it in - so that your brush is pointing straight down and the flags are not touching the bottom - otherwise you'll get bent flags.

It's not product stuck in the brush, it's a yellow streak when I wipe it on a lint free pad...... Cheers though!!

 

[Gelly]

Doh!!

 

[fifitrix]

Yvette, I am sure that I read on here just recently that someone had rescued their contaminated brush with soap and water.

 

[blossom]

I clean my brush with monomer after use, wipe on a lint free pad, cover the bristles with the fat end of a pipette and store flat. I've never had any problems x

I do this.

I have had trouble with brushes that have been left unused for a week or so.

So now when I go on holiday my mum looks after my brush so it doesn't dry out totally, I instruct her to dip it in monomer and wipe on pad every other day and it's been fine.

 

[jenny]

Hiya

I only use my monomer to clean my brush

use a clean tissue to wipe the brush nib back into a sharp pint when clean of acrylic...store flat

never store brush upside down(like you store a pen)

have to say creative brushes that you can change heads are fab..never ever had yellow from those

i have had yellow from the silver metal nibs

Jenx

 

[clara doon]

I read that afew days ago as well vetty,

I have the master series brush and have never had a problem with this (I have with ones with a metal handle)
I clean my brush with monomer at the end of every client and lightly wipe on a lint free pad (never completely dry) and then pop into its box,
one thing I never do is to use the plastic cover again (or a cut down pipette) I think its very easy to damage the brush doing this as you can trap some of the hairs back if your not careful and if its going back into its box you shouldn't have the need xx

 

[neko]

I recently used liquid hand soap and water to rescue two brushes that had been contaminated for quite some time. It's probably not the best way to treat your brush, but when it's your only option, it's worth a try. After a very good rinse with water and then some rinsing with monomer they are doing well .
I heard that it's better to store them point down, as long as they don't rest on their bristles, eg brushes that come with a cap or blu-tac the brush to something to keep it upright. Theoretically, this will stop monomer from accumulating in the ferrule and degrading the glue. HTH

 

[Cathie!]

I never use my brush on a Sunday!

I don't dry my brush totally, I don't think you can unless you use a hairdryer but I give it a swish and then drain as much monomer out of it as I can, I then store it with it's lid on, bristles down in the middle of a roll of forms.

You are using you brush very regularly, daily also, I usually change mine around the 5-6 month mark.

Try picking up a bead of white and place it down....does the bead go yellow straight away? If yes your brush is defo conatminated....sometimes I can wipe a brush on a pad or towel or discard a bead on same and it goes a bit yellowish/yellow tinged around the edges, this doesn't mean my brush is contaminated, I think it's something in the towel/pads.

I've only ever had 1 truly contaminated brush in that is sent the white yellow and I mean yellow on contact and that was because I hadn't used it in ages. :hug:

 

[Classy Claws]

sometimes I can wipe a brush on a pad or towel or discard a bead on same and it goes a bit yellowish/yellow tinged around the edges, this doesn't mean my brush is contaminated, I think it's something in the towel/pads.

That yellow ring is the monomer oxidising as it evaporates around the bead u have discarded (science geeks correct me if I am wrong) nothing to do with the towel/pad per say...

personally when I am done with my brush I run it thru some monomer, then take a tissue fold it a few times.. and gently squeeze the brush head so it sucks all the monomer out of the ferrule then store horizontal with a tissue wrapped around it.. I used to do it the way most here have posted... just gently wipping it, but within months yellow brushes... with this squeeze method I havent had a contamination problem.

 

[Cathie!]

That yellow ring is the monomer oxidising as it evaporates around the bead u have discarded (science geeks correct me if I am wrong) nothing to do with the towel/pad per say...

.

So is that simply the natural process of oxidisation and nothing to do with contamination or paper towels?

But then if you discard onto a clear surface, say clear tip, you don't get the tinge or is that because there isn't an opaque background to see the tinge on?

 

[Classy Claws]

So is that simply the natural process of oxidisation and nothing to do with contamination or paper towels?

But then if you discard onto a clear surface, say clear tip, you don't get the tinge or is that because there isn't an opaque background to see the tinge on?

A tip or clear surface is not absorbent like a towel or pad which immediately sucks off any moisture and creates that ring, you will notice it takes about 5 mins for the yellow ring to appear around a discarded bead (oxidisation process?) so on a tip the excess monomer around a bead is evaporating off as it cures..... so logically in my mind, the wetter the brush when you store it.. the more chance the monomer has to go sticky, dry and oxidise causing the contamination that we see.

 

[liz4real]

i dunno how long u leave ure brush for, but i had this with a brush i hadnt used for a while,
i also found monomer i hadnt used for a while that had turned yellow....so i think it must be down to the liquid going stagnant or stale, if not used for a certain amount of time, and left wet, like water??? wot do u think??:green:

 

[nailzoo]

I've never had a brush contaminated yet and I store mine upright ..... go figure.

I also read a thread in her the other day that mentions Creative recommend storing them upside down now ...... go figure.

Washing with liquid soap may have stemmed from my suggestion , one difference though, I use a good quality shampoo (the one you use on your own hair), do it twice, then use conditioner (just like you would with your own hair), then allow it to air dry before use. I do this every 2 weeks on a Saturday to allow it to dry over the weekend. It may not bring it back (but then again it just may).

For some reason I would never cover (or seal the end of my brush completely). If you look at many of the brushes that come with covers (the lipstick kind of brushes) they all have a small breathing hole in the end, dunno why ..... go figure.

Brushes are very fickle things and there and many and varied suggestions on their care .... the above are my suggestions.

 

[Cathie!]

A tip or clear surface is not absorbent like a towel or pad which immediately sucks off any moisture and creates that ring, you will notice it takes about 5 mins for the yellow ring to appear around a discarded bead (oxidisation process?) so on a tip the excess monomer around a bead is evaporating off as it cures..... so logically in my mind, the wetter the brush when you store it.. the more chance the monomer has to go sticky, dry and oxidise causing the contamination that we see.

As soon as I clicked off last night and went to bed I thought about the absorption of the paper....sounds like the mystery is solved!

 

[neko]

Washing with liquid soap may have stemmed from my suggestion , one difference though, I use a good quality shampoo (the one you use on your own hair), do it twice, then use conditioner (just like you would with your own hair), then allow it to air dry before use. I do this every 2 weeks on a Saturday to allow it to dry over the weekend. It may not bring it back (but then again it just may).

Yup, it did come from you, nailzoo (and I should have credited :smack:, pardon my blonde moment). It worked, but the good shampoo would have obviously been better, what with the brushes themselves being hair.

I will admit that I was in the middle of a space-cadet day when I tried it :green:

 

[Vetty]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm going to give my brush a shampoo and set (lol) and see what happens..... I've got a new one on order, so have a fall-back!

I only ever clean in monomer, wipe dry (rather than squeezing all the monomer out) and cover with a cut-off pipette..... I think I'll cut a hole in the end of my pipette and dry my brush out more when I've finished working.

Thanks all

 

[Zingara]

Vetty, were you thinking of this thread? Its not exactly about contaminated brushes, but yes both Gigi and Carl discussing a good old shampoo doing no harm!

http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/41951-another-brush-cleaning-question-sorry.html