# Where do you clean your brushes?



## Dave R (Jan 20, 2008)

I know you are not supposed to wash out paint from brushes and rollers in a sink or pour the water used to clean them down a storm drain, but I know many people do. Where or how do you clean your brushes and dispose of the dirty water? 
What about cleaning up tools and buckets used for thin set or drywall mud?
Anyone been fined for disposing of this type of waste in a storm drain?


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## Darwin (Apr 7, 2009)

Dave R said:


> I know you are not supposed to wash out paint from brushes and rollers in a sink or pour the water used to clean them down a storm drain, but I know many people do. Where or how do you clean your brushes and dispose of the dirty water?
> What about cleaning up tools and buckets used for thin set or drywall mud?
> Anyone been fined for disposing of this type of waste in a storm drain?


Everybody doezit
A few get caught

If weather permits, I just go round to th' backyard and wash 'em out wit the waterhose:whistling


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## genecarp (Mar 16, 2008)

I know nothing

http://


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## MZ-HANDYMAN (Jun 7, 2009)

Dave R said:


> I know you are not supposed to wash out paint from brushes and rollers in a sink


I never ever, ever clean anything in a customers sink, I seldom wash my hands in a customers sink!


Dave R said:


> or pour the water used to clean them down a storm drain, but I know many people do. Where or how do you clean your brushes and dispose of the dirty water?


I wash my brushes at the farthes point the Hose reaches in the most inconspicuous place but first wet the area down so I don't leave a spot the color of the paint.


Dave R said:


> What about cleaning up tools and buckets used for thin set or drywall mud?
> Anyone been fined for disposing of this type of waste in a storm drain?


Never been fined but never tried to wash anything in a storm drain. If the customer has an imaculate yard I'll toss my equipment in a bucket with a top and wash them at home.
If I'm near a fence a tree or concrete I wash/wet it down in case something splashes onto it, makes it easier to wash off.

NEVER ERVER WASH DRYWALL MUD, THIN-SET OR MORTAR IN A CUSTOMERS SINK, TUB or SHOWER!!!
(YOUR) Plumbing bill will be rediculously high!

PS: I've worked with people who have done this and worked behind people who have done this.

MZ-HANDYMAN


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## jackrabbit5 (Apr 30, 2006)

MZ-HANDYMAN said:


> I never ever, ever clean anything in a customers sink, I seldom wash my hands in a customers sink!
> 
> I wash my brushes at the farthes point the Hose reaches in the most inconspicuous place but first wet the area down so I don't leave a spot the color of the paint.
> 
> ...


I'm thinking that the only "approved" method for latex paint, is to wash your equipment in a sink or other drain. That way it runs to a treatment facility. For those with septic systems, I'm not sure


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## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

jackrabbit5 said:


> I'm thinking that the only "approved" method for latex paint, is to wash your equipment in a sink or other drain. That way it runs to a treatment facility. For those with septic systems, I'm not sure


Latex paint is rough on water treatment systems and is not the 'approved' method.

The proper way to do it is clean your brushes, retain the water, let it dry due to evaporation and once it does that, the solids left behind can be thrown away in the garbage, I know it is a PITA but the municipal sewer system is made to treat human waste, it is not a garbage can.

People flushing old prescription drugs down the toilet also causes problems with the wastewater treatment systems.


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## Dave R (Jan 20, 2008)

> I never ever, ever clean anything in a customers sink, I seldom wash my hands in a customers sink!


 
I've never cleaned anything in a customer's sink but my Wife has accused me of washing out brushes in our sink!:whistling

I worked on one remodel where the painters cleaned brushes and roller covers in the customer's bath tub at the end of each day. The customer knew and never said anything.


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

I know some companies save their waste water. I don't know how they deal with it.

I'd need a couple fifty gallon drums to hold the waste water from a month. There's no way that would evaporate in the best of circumstances let alone winter. 

Riddle me this. If all you're going to do is let the water and vocs evaporate and then throw the plastic in the dump, garbage, back yard why not just pour the waste water in the back yard to evaporate, release it's vocs and harden up? 

So sick of environmentalist "i'm cleaner than thow" people who drive cars, eat food grown with fertilizer, use birth control that destroys fish popluations and act like the enormous amount of energy and resources they consume relative to everyone else on the planet (I'm thinking pakistan, india, ethiopia here) isn't taking food out of someone else's mouth. "Oh, I don't eat meat because of what they do to the cows; I eat individually wrapped carbonized isotoned soy protein instead" or my personal favorite "Will the fumes hurt my cat?". Yep, and it's killing me slowly too b$%5h.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

When I take a deuce it has alot more VOC's then any latex paint I have ever run across.


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## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

Metro M & L said:


> I know some companies save their waste water. I don't know how they deal with it.
> 
> I'd need a couple fifty gallon drums to hold the waste water from a month. There's no way that would evaporate in the best of circumstances let alone winter.
> 
> ...


What is funny is where I buy U Cart concrete from if the trailer comes back with concrete in it, I have to take it down the road to clean it out, as the EPA will fine the yard for dumping concrete on the ground when we wash out the trailer.

I asked the guy why the EPA doesn't fine us for pouring slab on grade driveways or slabs.

He said he didn't understand it either.

I get ABO, Aviators Breathing Oxygen filled at Tri Tech, they would charge me a hazmat fee, I asked them why, they said everytime they filled a cylinder, they would have to vent the gas into the atmosphere.

I explained to them that they were venting oxygen, they said they had to collect the hazmat fee, so i went to another supplier.

Yet when I had acetylene MC cylinders filled they wouldn't charge the hazmat fee, that is confusing.


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## Jason-F (Jul 4, 2009)

Someone reported one of my guys dumping waste water from cleaning out brushes down the storm drain. Looks like its going to cost me about $1500 bucks. They aparently had to flush out the tank to prevent contamination from entering the water supply. Im pissed, I have a hard time beleiving a liltle watered down paint is the worst thing going down the storm drain.


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

I typically take the brushes and rollers home with me and clean them there, unless it is a NC job then i will clean them on site.


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