# Dirty Water or New Rollers?



## cappaint (May 24, 2011)

Interesting debate on cleaning vs throwing out rollers. Im still not sure which is better. 

Washing them led me to start washing everything in the shower.(refer to shower thread) Rollers take a lot of work to get that last bit of color out of them. Some days I would have 3 different rollers and 3 different brushes to clean out and it was a p.i.t.a....talking 30 minutes. Clean them all....put them in a drying rack right in the shower....then spray down the shower.

I got real sick of that and started buying 3 packs at sw for ten bucks and throwing them out. I guess if you are using 20.00 18" rollers then it makes sense.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

cappaint said:


> Interesting debate on cleaning vs throwing out rollers. Im still not sure which is better.
> 
> Washing them led me to start washing everything in the shower.(refer to shower thread) Rollers take a lot of work to get that last bit of color out of them. Some days I would have 3 different rollers and 3 different brushes to clean out and it was a p.i.t.a....talking 30 minutes. Clean them all....put them in a drying rack right in the shower....then spray down the shower.
> 
> I got real sick of that and started buying 3 packs at sw for ten bucks and throwing them out. I guess if you are using 20.00 18" rollers then it makes sense.


You MUST be single


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## mpminter (Mar 21, 2011)

Personally, I hate cleaning roller cover's and have started throwing them out. One of my local paint stores had a big sale where I got some nice white woven covers for 1.75 each so I stocked up. You feel alot less guilty throwing them away when that's all you spent in the first place!


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

You guys apparently do not know the power of the Purdy Collosus roller cover. It cleans in about a third of the time as any other cover, especially those really cheap ones.

IMHO, you are throwing money away by not buying good tools and getting the most you can out of them.


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## Delta Painting (Apr 27, 2010)

One Coat Coverage said:


> You guys apparently do not know the power of the Purdy Collosus roller cover. It cleans in about a third of the time as any other cover, especially those really cheap ones.
> 
> IMHO, you are throwing money away by not buying good tools and getting the most you can out of them.


Lemme ask you a question...How do you know what cover's\tool's I use? :whistling2:

You are making assumptions OCC I think you know how the saying goes.:smartass:

I could give a ratsa$$ what covers you use that wash out in a 3rd of the time it is a wast of labor to do - so why bother?


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

Delta Painting said:


> Lemme ask you a question...How do you know what cover's\tool's I use? :whistling2:
> 
> You are making assumptions OCC I think you know how the saying goes.:smartass:
> 
> I could give a ratsa$$ what covers you use that wash out in a 3rd of the time it is a wast of labor to do - so why bother?


I know that you are not paying extra for the colossus and then just throwing it out. 

Or then again, maybe you are that stupid.

And if you don't care what other contractors use, or about the information they can share, then why come to PT?


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

now boys:no:


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

I'll wrap them for a time, but sorry, our time is worth too much too clean them, especially when they never come back as good as new. To each his own though. Besides, where does all that dirty water end up?


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## Rob (Aug 9, 2009)

Chris had one of those coupons and I got a case of rollers, that will last me a year easy!


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

vermontpainter said:


> I'll wrap them for a time, but sorry, our time is worth too much too clean them, especially when they never come back as good as new. To each his own though. Besides, where does all that dirty water end up?


Well, after having them wrapped 'for a time' I wouldn't wash them either.

What else isn't worth cleaning? Pans, buckets, screens, brushes? IMO, if you are already washing other items, it doesn't take much longer to wash rollers. I usually tote my dirty equipment back home in my wideboy Wooster 18 bucket with the lid on. Pour a five of scalding hot water in it, put the lid back on and let everything soak overnight. It will literally take me under two minutes to clean a roller, 18 or 9, and seconds to clean mini rollers.


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

And another tip, if you are still going to be in the same color the next day, just put all of your brushes and rollers into the wideboy with the lid on. Come back next day, and open it up and get right back to painting. No wrapping necessary. All equipment will be good to go.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

One Coat Coverage said:


> Well, after having them wrapped 'for a time' I wouldn't wash them either.
> 
> What else isn't worth cleaning? Pans, buckets, screens, brushes? IMO, if you are already washing other items, it doesn't take much longer to wash rollers. I usually tote my dirty equipment back home in my wideboy Wooster 18 bucket with the lid on. Pour a five of scalding hot water in it, put the lid back on and let everything soak overnight. It will literally take me under two minutes to clean a roller, 18 or 9, and seconds to clean mini rollers.


"for a time" refers to the duration of the job, or the phase of the job we are on. 

What do you do with the dirty water?

How much is your time worth? 

I pay quite a bit less than $2 for a 9" nap. If you charge $60/hr, your time is worth $1/minute. If you charge $30/hr, your time is worth $.50/min. 

How much time will I spend on that? Not much. That gets to be a pretty expensive roller cover as the quality of it declines.


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

vermontpainter said:


> "for a time" refers to the duration of the job, or the phase of the job we are on.
> 
> What do you do with the dirty water?
> 
> ...


I rarely use nine inch rollers, I'm addicted to the eighteen, which costs around fifteen bucks for the purdy collasus. 

But you didn't answer my question, do you throw away all of your brushes, pans, buckets, etc...or just rollers?


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

One Coat Coverage said:


> I rarely use nine inch rollers, I'm addicted to the eighteen, which costs around fifteen bucks for the purdy collasus.
> 
> But you didn't answer my question, do you throw away all of your brushes, pans, buckets, etc...or just rollers?


Mostly just rollers. Most everything else we use has liner systems that get re-used as long as possible and then replaced. Really not into the dirty water thing. 

You didnt answer my question: What do you do with your dirty water?


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

Also, I rarely, if ever, wash out equipment at a jobsite. I wash it at home after the work day is done. I don't consider it losing money to wash my equipment at 9 or 10 at night, I'm not sacrificing job time to wash equipment. 

The fact is, is that with the system I use, I can wash ten brushes, ten mini rollers, a couple of eighteens with frame, and the eighteen bucket in about forty five minutes or less. There is no way that I would pitch all of that equipment just to turn around and buy it all the next day.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

One Coat Coverage said:


> Also, I rarely, if ever, wash out equipment at a jobsite. I wash it at home after the work day is done. I don't consider it losing money to wash my equipment at 9 or 10 at night, I'm not sacrificing job time to wash equipment.
> 
> The fact is, is that with the system I use, I can wash ten brushes, ten mini rollers, a couple of eighteens with frame, and the eighteen bucket in about forty five minutes or less. There is no way that I would pitch all of that equipment just to turn around and buy it all the next day.


Thats great. 

What do you do with all that dirty water?


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

vermontpainter said:


> Mostly just rollers. Most everything else we use has liner systems that get re-used as long as possible and then replaced. Really not into the dirty water thing.
> 
> You didnt answer my question: What do you do with your dirty water?


What do you do with your dirty water? What does anybody do with their dirty water? From what I can tell, you have more employees than me, so even if you save that little bit of roller cover water, you are still producing more waste water than me.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

One Coat Coverage said:


> What do you do with your dirty water? What does anybody do with their dirty water? From what I can tell, you have more employees than me, so even if you save that little bit of roller cover water, you are still producing more waste water than me.


What do you do with yours? 

You are creating 45 minutes worth of dirty water (as described in your post above)?

Thats alot of water. Most water flows at up to 5 gpm. If you are running water even a fraction of that time, that would be alot of gallons. 

Thats alot of dirty water.


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## One Coat Coverage (Oct 4, 2009)

Lol, the water does not run constantly for 45 min. If I'm using a wire brush, the water is off, when I'm using the five in one to scrape the roller, the water is off, when I'm grabbing the next item to wash, the water is off, etc.. I would be cleaning equipment with cold water if I left it running constantly.

Back to you, you said you use liners, for all of your rolling? Does that mean that you always roll out of a roller pan? I personally do not like rolling out of pans. If I am using a nine, I put a screen into a five bucket. Don't you still clean the roller frame? What about brushes? Do you really charge $60 per hour? Seems pretty hefty. You do spray don't you? That's a lot of dirty water to clean the sprayer.


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## RaleighPainter (Jun 13, 2011)

Wow what a thread.


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## oldpaintdoc (Apr 11, 2010)

My dirty water goes on my yard.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

cappaint said:


> Interesting debate on cleaning vs throwing out rollers. Im still not sure which is better.
> 
> Washing them led me to start washing everything in the shower.(refer to shower thread) Rollers take a lot of work to get that last bit of color out of them. Some days I would have 3 different rollers and 3 different brushes to clean out and it was a p.i.t.a....talking 30 minutes. Clean them all....put them in a drying rack right in the shower....then spray down the shower.
> 
> I got real sick of that and started buying 3 packs at sw for ten bucks and throwing them out. I guess if you are using 20.00 18" rollers then it makes sense.


 


i bring a 5 gallon bucket in with me an when im done i just soak the rollers until the morning when i get a shower before work i rinse out the ones that have been soaking


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

vermontpainter said:


> I'll wrap them for a time, but sorry, our time is worth too much too clean them, especially when they never come back as good as new. To each his own though. Besides, where does all that dirty water end up?


 

well i would suppose it gets mixed up with all the piss an **** and whatever other contaminated water that leaves your house via the septic system


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Ole34 said:


> well i would suppose it gets mixed up with all the piss an **** and whatever other contaminated water that leaves your house via the septic system


Its pretty bad for septic systems.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

vermontpainter said:


> Its pretty bad for septic systems.


 
not as bad as everything else that leaves a house ..................an like you said 5gpm right ??? ...........few ounces of paint diluted at that rate is pratically drinkable in a survival situation


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## ROOMINADAY (Mar 20, 2009)

We stopped washing sleeves. I buy the micofibre by the case now for about 3 bucks a cover. We also use tray liners. Brushes we take home to clean.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Ole34 said:


> not as bad as everything else that leaves a house ..................an like you said 5gpm right ??? ...........few ounces of paint diluted at that rate is pratically drinkable in a survival situation


What other inorganic substances end up in septics?


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

Ole doesn't have a septic, he's a painter, not a plumber.


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## Andyman (Feb 21, 2009)

For those that wash the roller covers (including me) I challenge you to actually keep track of your clean out time tomorrow. I'm curious to see how long it takes other guys to clean up. Keep track of quantities, sizes, roller material, ect. I'll post my time tomorrow.


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

vermontpainter said:


> What other inorganic substances end up in septics?


 


i really dont want to have an earth saving conversation tonight


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Ole34 said:


> i really dont want to have an earth saving conversation tonight


I understand.


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

:blink: I think I'm gonna go and start a Thank you thread


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

ReNt A PaInTeR said:


> :blink: I think I'm gonna go and start a Thank you thread


Awe, you need a hug Edgar?


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## Mike's QP (Jun 12, 2008)

So nobody else has cleaned an 18" while its on the frame hooked to a pole, with highpressure garden hose? Takes like 3-4 mins spins dry. I used to clean 9" in a similar fashion. Now I throw them all away I don't have enough space to clean them outside, and if the guys don't clean them well enough they get tossed anyways.


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## RPS (May 13, 2010)

Wow! This thread was really entertaining! Thanks guys! 
It's interesting to know what type of covers people buy and how they take care of them. And most important where the dirty water goes. lol. I pay about 4 bucks a skin. I clean as I go. I like to clean everything on the job. I wont bring anything home to clean unless I have to. Let alone take a shower with them! I use pan liners and clean those out too. I clean skins until they are no good. This comment was too long so I doubt anyone made it this far.


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## Mike's QP (Jun 12, 2008)

Seriously people still paint with pans?


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## RPS (May 13, 2010)

Mike's QP said:


> Seriously people still paint with pans?


Anything a gallon or less. Or if its a couple singles and no five around. Some jobs I had 10 or 12 colors.


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## Mike's QP (Jun 12, 2008)

I have tons of 5'ers laying around I don't think I even own a pan anymore, only the 18" pans


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## RPS (May 13, 2010)

Have lots of fives but for some reason, not when I need one.


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> Thats alot of dirty water.


I like this. Its.... metaphoric


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## BreatheEasyHP (Apr 24, 2011)

I found an 18 year old kid I pay 20 bucks to stop by my house once a week. He works for up to 2 hours.

I have a couple of buckets that all my rollers go into to soak. I use a bent roller grate to hold them down underwater so they don't get crustys from floating at the surface. 

After soaking for a few days they wash quickly. He uses hot water in a utility sink that I put a 6' hose on with a garden sprayer (garden sprayers are clutch).

He does a couple other things that wouldn't be worth my time, but are nice to get done and save money.

I hate the idea of sending money out of my community - instead of buying new rollers, I save money _and _distribute the money that would be leaving to someone I know.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

Mike's QP said:


> Seriously people still paint with pans?


http://www.painttalk.com/f12/use-tray-not-9943/


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

i bring a 5 gallon bucket in with me an when im done i just soak the rollers until the morning when i get a shower before work i rinse out the ones that have been soaking 


you shower BEFORE work??? what about after? you go to bed with paint all over you?:blink:
not busting chops, just wondering


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## Delta Painting (Apr 27, 2010)

One Coat Coverage said:


> I know that you are not paying extra for the colossus and then just throwing it out.
> 
> Or then again, maybe you are that stupid.
> 
> And if you don't care what other contractors use, or about the information they can share, then why come to PT?


If you want to go there we can but I do think it makes you look stupid to have no other defense than a personal attack...Waving your e-penus around look at me I wash my covers if you don't you are stupid what a narrow minded approach to life...

I come here to taunt over inflated egos like yours..:jester: 

Did you read where I said I factor the cost of the cover's into the job- Now how is that stupid?


Lemme ax you again- How do you know what I buy for tool's/cover's?


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## matt19422 (Oct 2, 2009)

One Coat Coverage said:


> You guys apparently do not know the power of the Purdy Collosus roller cover. It cleans in about a third of the time as any other cover, especially those really cheap ones.
> 
> IMHO, you are throwing money away by not buying good tools and getting the most you can out of them.


Hey One coat, 

I had a good run with the purdy collosus 18's..... I was using 3/4 for ceilings....:thumbup:

If you don't mind sharing, what nap were you using for a 2 story foyer wall with dark colors....

Reason I ask is because I like them with light colors but darker colors seem to leave a sheen stiple when using flat?:blink:

I was using 1/2 nap 18 collosus.... never 3/8....


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

I don't use 18 inch covers. If I did I might consider washing. 

I use 9. I'll use for the job and toss after. I employ pans as well. If you got 9 colors in a house, I can get by with 1-2 pans for them. I don't want to bring in 9 diff buckets inside a house for a repaint. 

I do know that I don't want to spend an hour in the evening to wash out a bunch of covers when I could be spending that with my boy or something else. 

It's still your time, how much is your time worth?

I use lambswool and will toss. To me, materials aren't very relevant to a jobs cost if I bid correctly.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

T-shirts - $3 @ - wash or toss after each job?
Socks - $2pr - wash or toss after each job?

Use the "search" feature, plenty of threads on washing/tossing covers along with using buckets -vs- trays. The only thread worthy of rehashing this type of stuff is the Favorite Brush thread.


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## matt19422 (Oct 2, 2009)

Ok so this thread has gotten me to wonder the following:

If you are using disposable rollers... how good do the walls look? I have tested many rollers & have found that cheap ones leave fuzz/lint on walls even if you tape them and rinse before use....

My experience is that a decent roller gets better after being used and washed...

I look at my walls from angles and with lamps and see fuzz from cheap disposable rollers!

Maybe there is a different level of quality from painter to painter?

A 13 color residential repaint can be done with 3 good rollers just by a rotation of soaking them in water and spinning them out ready for the next color... 

Those same 3 rollers can be used for a few weeks!

But that works for me... maybe I bought the wrong cheap roller sleeves?:blink:


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

matt19422 said:


> Ok so this thread has gotten me to wonder the following:
> 
> If you are using disposable rollers... how good do the walls look? I have tested many rollers & have found that cheap ones leave fuzz/lint on walls even if you tape them and rinse before use....
> 
> ...


I can get good shedless covers for 2 bucks. 

Where do you soak and rinse these covers? 

If you got a system that works good, that's great. I'm not sure if one is better than the other, all things being equal. To me, it's a hassle to clean rollers, have a bucket of dirty water sloshing around all the time, and I don't wanna be freezing my azz off outside a house I'm painting cleaning out rollers for 10 different colors.


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## matt19422 (Oct 2, 2009)

TJ, I soak them in my work trailer in a container that can cover an 18 sleeve, then I can just spin them out, changing the water once a week.

Like you say it works for me & your method works for you!:yes:

I sometimes use (cheap) shampoo & conditioner on my real good covers, as the shampoo lifts the color out and the conditioner keeps the nap from matting or clumping and storing them without them getting rock hard...:whistling2:


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

We need a poll taken: Covers wash or toss/Shower before or after work or both/tray or 5er/spray extension or no/Etc....
Can someone set this up properly? I'm to lazy


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## matt19422 (Oct 2, 2009)

aaron61 said:


> We need a poll taken: Covers wash or toss/Shower before or after work or both/tray or 5er/spray extension or no/Etc....
> Can someone set this up properly? I'm to lazy


Add in NET PROFIT after job... then we will get somewhere here....:thumbup:

I'd love to chuck my stuff when I'm done, but it isn't cost effective to trash a $14 roller cover after 1 day of painting with my pricing..

But if they made a $ 2.00 18" roller sleeve that didn't leave sheded fibers on a wall then I would be doing that too:thumbup:


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

its easier an more efficient for some guys to wash their stuff out while harder an less efficient for others ...................WE ALL WIN !!


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## Ole34 (Jan 24, 2011)

recently ive been using a product I found in the shower to wash my covers with a type of shampoo an conditioner in one an I tell you what NOT BAD ............leaves a nice pretty smell an reduces split ends


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## Andyman (Feb 21, 2009)

So I timed my washing today. On average a 9" collosus, frame, pan, bucket, and brush took 7 minutes. My 18" soft woven, 5 gallon bucket, frame, 2 buckets, and 2 brushes took 14 minutes. Times included walking to the wash sink and back to the work room. I did throw out one cheap roller cover that I used for priming a small area, which shed like crazy, wouldn't load well, and couldn't leave a smooth roll and it saved me about 2 minutes. To me the extra 2-5 minutes is worth it. I wasn't slowing production and I saved $5-$13 a sleeve. 
Why not throw out brushes if you are throwing out covers? They take a few minutes to clean also. Good covers cost a few bucks and deserve a washing and to be reused, just like a good brush. Like Wolf said, you buy a pack of T's for $10 do you throw those out after one use? Maybe the guys complaining how long it takes to clean there tools aren't using the right tools to clean them and need a few pointers.
Now oil is a differnt story...


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

One Coat Coverage said:


> What do you do with your dirty water? What does anybody do with their dirty water?


Leave it in an open 5er to evaporate then to the landfill.


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## Steve Richards (Dec 31, 2010)

I toss mine.

(I gave up on waiting for the poll)


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## Ultimate (Mar 20, 2011)

Not trying to jinx myself, but in the past year I might have cleaned out a brush or two. 

In all honesty, to be on the jobsite and watch little $$$ falling from the sky like rain as that process occurs turns me into a monster. Keep the brushes in a workpot overnight or until the job is complete. Maybe put them in a five of water and just spin the next day to get back into. Covers go into the trash. A one time at the completion of a job cleaning I can deal with.

All that time and effort accumulated over the year. Getting the bristles all spotless doesn't make a painters work look any better nor does it make the brush last any longer. Like it is some magic brush or something. 

Maybe on a timed basis one time you can get it done relatively quick. All bs aside clean up the brushes and rollers time usually means let's screw around for thirty minutes time. Nope, not with my money. I would rather see a crew of guys putting product on the wall and then investing five or so minutes dunking the brush or roller organizing the jobsite and going away versus even fifteen minutes doing all of that.


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## Westview (Jul 23, 2011)

Anyone try a roller washer? I'm thinking of getting one....it's calle Warn's roller washer. Any thoughts on these contraptions?


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

After dinner, my son asked me I wanted to play checkers. I told him I couldnt because I had to go clean my roller naps. 

Holy Cats in the Freakin Cradle moment.


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## Andyman (Feb 21, 2009)

F&S- I turn into a monster over the bs as well. I am all about production and efficiency. Maybe that is an area I need to reevaluate to increase numbers but I also like clean tools. To me, washing isn't compromising as long as it isn't excessive. However, my times were very typical and not just situational.


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