Home Made Brush Carrier

Home Made Brush Carrier

When Plein Air painting, at the end of the session because I keep all my brushes in one holder in my backpack, I sometimes cannot recall which are the clean and which are the dirty brushes since they have become mixed up. I know I end up cleaning brushes that are actually clean. I have tried taking the dirty brushes and putting them in the tube of my paper towels for the ride home, but they sometimes become loose and the hairs of the brush can end up bent.

This prompted me to make a simple, very inexpensive, lightweight carrier that fits in my backpack to place the dirty brushes. I bought all the materials at Lowes. 

Materials Needed:

1) 16" PVC Double Ended Extension Tube Kit - $4.19

    They also make a 12" Tube kit, but I like the longer size as some of my larger bigger brushes are      long handled. 

     (the kit comes with washers, but I did not use them)

2) Rubber Packing Sheet - $1.99 (Also found in plumbing aisle)

3) Glue - I used Gorilla Glue, but you can use any glue that works on plastic and rubber. If you don't have it on hand, get the tiniest bottle you can. 

4) Scissors 

Step 1 - I am creating a top and bottom solid cap with the "Nuts". (There are no solid caps that I could find in the plumbing section that go over the ends of the tubing and this makes sense as in plumbing they want open ends for water to flow.) I used a sharpie and the Extension Tube Nut to make a guide to cut the rubber sheet. I added about 3/16" outside of the guide all around so the rubber goes to the edge of the the inside of the nut. Scissors easily cut through the rubber and there is plenty of left over. (If you happen to own a compass that has an exacto-knife attachment, you can use it to easily make your circle cut on the rubber to the exact size of the inside of the nut.) 

                                                                            Step 1

Step 2 - Using the Gorilla Glue, I placed a few dabs within the edge of the nut and then pushed the rubber circle down tight. The rubber circle does stay in tight without the glue, but placing the glue insures it won't fall out when on location. Make sure you do this step on newspaper as Gorilla Glue does stain. Let caps sit and allow glue to harden for around 2 hours before screwing on the top and bottom caps you created so any residual glue won't inadvertently glue your tube shut and not allow you to unscrew your caps. Once dry, easily place your new caps on the end of the tubes. I used a marker after and place a T on the top of one end, so I know which side to keep up when placing in my backpack so hairs of the brush do not end up getting bent. I like the rubber ends as there is some give when the carrier is in my backpack

                                                                          Step 2

Final Lightweight Inexpensive Slim Wet Brush Carrier