Cleaning Brushes

Small brushes are used for two general purposes: (1) to apply something, paint for example, and (2) to remove dirt. As each variety is suited to some particular service, their number is almost unlimited. Some of them are:

1. Brushes for cleaning and polishing wood:
Scrubbing brushes; Dusting brushes; Floor sweeping brushes; Balustrade brushes; Floorwaxing brushes; Window and blind brushes Dust-pan brushes.

2. Brushes for cleaning porcelain and glass:
Bath tub brushes; Window cleaning brushes; Sanitary brushes; Bottle brushes; Fireplace and hearth brushes.

3. Brushes for cleaning metal surfaces:
Scouring brushes; Radiator or spring brushes; Silver cleaning brushes; Stove cleaning brushes

4. Brushes for furniture and clothing:
Stair carpet brushes; Doilie brushes; Furniture brushes; Whisk brooms; Mud and spot brushes; Crumb brushes; Shoe brushes

5. Brushes for food:
Pastry brushes; Vegetable brushes.

Coarser fibers, which are not injured by water, are used for brushes in house furnishings. These are:
Tampico (a tropical South American plant); Rice root; Coir (the husk of the cocoanut); Palmyra (an East Indian Palm); Cocoa fiber; Piassava (a coarse fiber from the inner stalk of a palm); Bass; Bassine; Kittool; Union fiber (a mixture).

There is a wide range in the quality of the woods used in the backs because of the varying quality of the brushes. The backs of scrub brushes are chiefly made of birch, beech, and maple.

The brush-making industry centers in Pennsylvania. Ohio, New York, Maryland, and Maine are also large producers. About 13,000,000 feet of wood are used annually for this purpose alone.

Brushes should always be dried with the bristles down, not with the back down; otherwise the water is allowed to soak into the back, which loosens the set, and cracks the wood.

When brushes are used in connection with food, as for greasing pans, it is desirable that the "set" be of such a nature that the brush may be sterilized without injury.