Preparation of palm fibre brush

[Amr]

Hi everyone. I just received some palm fibre brushes for mounting, and the instructions said to boil and sand before use. I was aware that the tip should be sanded with sand paper to make sure it is smooth before touching the paper, but I didn’t know about the boiling.

Do you boil the whole brush or just the tip? How long should it be boiled? Should it be boiled with plain water or alum water?

I would appreciate any help on this subject.

Thanks!

[罗雁 LuoYan]

Please you can boil it for a couple of minutes or you simply soak the new brush in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. It would also be recommended to add a bit salt in the water. The salt can help protect the brush by creating an environment that is unfriendly to moulds.

Then,  rinse the brush with clean water. Hang it to dry. Once the brush is dry, you can use it to mount.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by 罗雁 LuoYan.

[Amr]

Hi Yan,

Thank you so much for the answer. One clarification, do you boil the entire brush including the grip, or do you boil only the bristle part, or do you boil only the tip that touches the paper?

 

Thanks!

[罗雁 LuoYan]

Hi Amr,

We consulted some mounting masters and their suggestion is that you can boil the entire brush. However, I also heard that some people feel the brush would get a bit too soft after being boiled. Some people like it soft while some people prefer it a bit harder. It is a bit personal. There is no strict timing on the boiling process. Maybe you can check it frequently while boiling it?

And, the palm brush might have too much ‘dust’ *small bits of fibers. Normally the higher grade, the less small fibers would fall out. The small ‘dust’ can be very annoying when you use it to mount. Therefore, if you feel there seems to be endless small fibers falling out even after you have boiled the brush, you can use the brush for other purposes for a while. Other purposes can include use the brush to clean table, carpet, etc. Because this will help ‘polish’ the brush in a natural way. In the end, the brush will become ‘cooperative’. 🙂 Again, this can be different from people to people.

 

We would recommend you to apply different extra steps when you feel necessary. If you take very good care of the brush, a high quality brush can endure for 10 years or even more. The longer the better it can become.

[hanayama]

Thank you for this great information – I recently purchased a palm brush and was wondering whether I needed to prepare it first. This has been so helpful!

[charlesrtsua]

You need to boil the brush in order to rid the brush of the natural purple-brown dye inherent within the fibres and reduce the amount of dirt as well as make it softer. There are many ways to do this but this is how I do it:

1. First, remove the first or three rows of stitching on the bottom of the brush. This depends on the quality of the brush. The best brushes are made with tight stitching and so have more rows than standard brushes with fewer, wide spaced out ones. Removing these stitches makes the brush more pliable and flexible. To remove, use a knife and some pliers to cut, being careful not to cut into the actual fibres of the brush itself and use the pliers to pull the stitches out. If you want the brush stiff then you can skip this step.

2. Then, trim the tip of the brush so the outer edges slant inwards; i.e. form a soft V when looking down the brush. You could also trim it so it is more like a U. It is really down to what purpose you have for the brush; whether it is for smoothing backing paper down or applying glue to mounting silk etc. You can keep it untrimmed if you are using it to bash down on seams and edges etc.

3. Sand down the tip of the brush by rubbing it over sandpaper. Use several grades from coarse to fine. Some people just rub it on a paving slab in the garden. This needs to be done to soften the tips of the fibres so it would be less likely to damage the paper.

4. Prepare a tub of hot water with bicarbonate of soda dissolved into it (or soda water if you have it). Immerse the brush into it and let it soak overnight.

5. Next day, prepare a large pan on the stove of water and add bicarbonate of soda into it (or use soda water). Bring to boil then immerse the brush into it. Boil for at least an hour, stirring and turning it from time to time. Some people reduce or prolong the boiling time. It all depends on the size and quality of the brush and it really is trial and error on your part.

6. After it has been boiled, rinse under cold water to wash away the soda water. Then hang to dry naturally for a few days until completely dry.

7. After it has dried, take the brush and start bashing and brushing it aggressively on some white paper. This will start to dislodge all the dirt and broken fibres. Keep doing it until there is minimal dirt being dislodged. If it keeps giving a lot of dirt etc even after a while, then you must repeat from step 4 again. Otherwise, the brush is now ready for use.

[hanayama]

The information given by member Charlesrtsua is really useful.  I have a pretty good quality palm fibre brush, but it is exactly as he says in terms of the stiffness and need to clean.  I was able to confidently remove the bottom line of stitching which made the brush way too stiff, then used his trimming idea and then sandpaper to refine some of the coarseness of the fibres.  I am now gently boiling it in salt water, after an initial boil with baking soda.  It is amazing how much of the purple-red colour has come out with the soda-boiling water mix.  And it is easy to see all the dirt or dust coming out when the stitching is removed and from using the sandpaper.

I am glad I saw this information first, because no one told me this when I first bought the brush.  And it would have ruined my delicate papers if I tried to use an unprepared brush for mounting.

Bravo Inkston for having this excellent Forum – and thanks to those who are generous in sharing their experiences with tools and materials!

 

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