Re-bristling an old scrubbing brush

[Toadflax]

I'm clearing out the shed and garage and have come across a couple of old scrubbing brushes that are losing their bristles - or rather they look to be plant /wood fibre, rather than bristle.

I'd be interested in re-bristling them, as they have come down through the family, so I wondered if anyone has done this and has any advice.


Thanks in advance!


Geoff

 

[crosslandkelly]

Maybe take the bristles from a stiff broom, and perform a transplant. But you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Well is it punk! It makes me think of Triggers old broom.

[video=youtube;s1VNNbSYdt0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1VNNbSYdt0[/video]

 

[Bartooon]

I have to admire your commitment to your family heirlooms (never thought I would describe scrubbing brushes like that!), but I'm with Crosslandkelly - is it really worth the effort? You can buy new ones on Amazon for about 2 or 3 quid.

I guess you could get one off Amazon and re-use the bristles. Other than that, I'm not sure what readily available plant/wood fibre would be tough enough.

I think you may have to bite the bullet, tell yourself that they have had a long and useful life and respectfully send them off to scrubbing brush heaven!

 

[Toadflax]

Ah, but don't you ever have that feeling "I'd like to know how to do that"? Isn't that why we (or some of us!) struggle to learn things like bowdrill - it's not necessary nowadays, but nice to know how to do it.


Geoff

 

[Wayland]

I have to admit I'm watching this with interest.

It's not about the practicality sometimes, is is about "how do you do that" occasionally.

I have nothing in my library about it so I'm hoping someone can educate us.

 

[Albus Culter]

Bit basic, but best I could find

http://www.ehow.com/how_5437323_make-bristle-brush.html

 

[Wayland]

Hmm... I'm now thinking "home made snow brush" here...

Another project to add to the list.

 

[Toadflax]

Or perhaps rather than re-bristling, we should be looking at original manufacture? I found one or two bits that mentioned various vegetable fibres. This company has a good list of what they use: http://www.gordonbrush.com/material_descriptions.php

I've seen suggestions that each bundle of bristles is tied and then fixed into the hole with something like pitch - so perhaps easier to make a new brush than trying to drill out the existing tufts.


Geoff

 

[Wayland]

I would guess that with care you might be able to melt the pitch to get rid of the old tufts.

 

[Imagedude]

Did you people not make a brush at school! Brush making was a 1st year woodwork project.

1) drill holes in broom head to required depth
2) cut bristles to 2x required length + 2x hole depth
3) add glue to hole
4) bend bristles tightly in half and push through special tool (a block of metal with a round hole in it) to form a tight 'u' shaped bunch of bristles
5) insert bristles into hole blunt end first
6) repeat until all holes are full
7) final trim