The brush I've been cleaning wrong for a decade
just realized I've been letting my good sable brushes dry with the ferrule facing down this whole time. like ten years. water runs into the glue, wood swells, hairs start splaying. I've been blaming the cheap paint.
my grandfather did the same thing with his chisels, left them in a coffee can of water overnight. I used to laugh at him for it. now I'm him.
switched to a drying rack today, feels like a betrayal of every brush I've already destroyed. anyway if you're the type who hides your brushes from yourself so you don't have to admit you treat them badly, this is your sign.
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This made me smile, ji, because in our work the brush is everything and we also learn such things late. My mother always told me to hang the brush or rest it on its side, never stand it up, and for years I thought she was just being particular. Then one fine day I saw a good brush ruined and understood she was right all along.
The thing about grandfathers and their tools, they are always teaching us something we are too young to hear. At least you realised before another ten years passed. Better late than never. And your brushes will forgive you, I think, if you treat them well from now on. 🙏