Brush Mate 4+ Brush Storage System With Vapour Pad

I bought this on the basis of the good reviews here plus recommendations from friends and colleagues. Initially it was a disaster and I almost threw it away in disgust! I had read the following FAQ from the Brush Mate website:"Can I put any make/type of brush in my Trade 20/Trade 4?The Trade 20/ Trade 4 can be used with all brushes except those with copper or brass ferrules or rivets. Sometimes the covering of the handle may be softened most painters consider this a minor inconvenience when compared with the benefits of using their Trade 20 (to avoid this inconvenience many painters now chose brushes with natural wood handles for use in their Trade 20/Trade 4)."Well, I used mine with some blue plastic handled Harris brushes - I left them in overnight and the following day tried to use the brushes to continue some white gloss work. Blue liquid from the handles had run everywhere and contaminated the brush - essentially the Brush Mate vapour had started to dissolve the plastic. To clean this up would have resulted in more work than simply not using the Brush Mate in first place and using white spirit as normal.The story has a happy ending though - I used this as the impetus I needed to order the Purdy brushes I had been considering for a while. They have unvarnished wooden handles which are not in the slightest bit affected by the Brush Mate vapours. They are also fantastic brushes fully deserving of their good reputation (and worth the price).So I would disagree with the statement on the Brush Mate website about some handles being "softened" - my experience is simply that the product is not suitable for plastic handled brushes. But that's ok - if you are considering investing in something like this then you should also have some good quality brushes, so get some Purdys if you don't have them already.(I'm not sure how a varnished wooden handle would survive in this - perhaps somebody else could comment to help out future purchasers?)

While painting the house (oil paint) a friend (carpenter) suggested I get a brush storage, saves on exceptionally messy clean up and saves brushes.I thought he was talking nonsense but much to my surprise, this is a thing & it works, brilliantly.The job has been done for about 4 months now and I can still open the container and find wet brushes stored within.The only thing I'd have liked is a latch on the lid as my dog decided to knock it over in the shed and the lid fell off, fortunately the eye watering fumes he took one sniff whimpered & and ran away.But, definitely a painters best friend.

Does exactly as it says. I had to varnish 8 oak doors, 3 coats each side. That would have been a lot of clean up, yet with this it was only when I had finished did I need to clean the brushes.

I first came across one of these when I started working as a volunteer in the paint shop of our local preserved railway. As they were using two small and one large Brush Mate I thought I really must try one at home. It has been really useful in removing the need to clean brushes fully after every use. This saves lots of time and lots of expensive white spirit. It is best to wipe excess paint from brushes before storing in the Brush Mate. Note that the vapour may dissolve paint on brush handles so it's worth thinking about plain wooden handles. Use with oil based paints only. Fully clean brushes when changing colour. I would have awarded five stars but for the fact that the spring clips that hold the brushes need to be regularly pinched together to avoid the brushes falling out of the clips.

Keeps oil brushes soft and ready for use holds four brushes easily nice and compact box

A brush saver when using oil based paints

Why hadn't I heard of this sooner? I've been doing DIY for over 20 years and one of the worst jobs is cleaning out brushes that have been used with gloss paint. I've even tried the water based gloss, but was unimpressed at how quickly it started to discolour. The Brush Mate is simply a lidded plastic container that contains some metal clips halfway down that you can clip your brush handles in. A pouch on one side contains the 'vapour pad' that's a little smelly, but you can't smell it once the lid is on.Having read other peoples reviews and questions I purchased some wooden handled brushes to use with it, and so far I've not had any problems. Before I put a brush away in the Brush Mate, I will remove any excess paint on a bit of paper towel. I will then give the brush a quick wipe down once I take it out again. This is so much easier than trying to clean brushes with white spirit or brush cleaner.For your average home DIYer this is a brilliant piece of kit and I cannot recommend it highly enough!

The build quality is average. Not a lot of thought has gone into it and the result is a very expensive tub.