I can't believe no one has mentioned Borax yet. Borax kills mold and makes the spores non-viable. Mark mentions it on his video his video about cleaning brushes, albeit briefly, but the instructions with my C&E BBB mention a Borax bath for their brushes every 6 months.
Hmmm... maybe just look for something with the same ingredients then: Ingredients -- Borax Chemical Formula: Na2B4O7 Synonyms Sodium borate decahydrate, Sodium tetraborate decahydrate, Sodium biborate, Sodium pyroborate
Can you mail order? Or get someone to send you some, hidden in something else... but mailing white powder may look fishy. Cheers. J
Mold is a fungus, however it doesn't always behave as a fungus. Some molds make their own antibacterial and even anti-fungal agents. The penicillin mold for example makes a great antibiotic agent to keep itself clean. Also a misconception about mold is the you can kill it with anti-fungals. Most cannot be killed that way. The best way to kill fungus, and mold/mildew in your brush is a borax soak, then a thorough drying. The absolute and only way to eradicate mold is with bleach, but that would ruin your brush, so don't do that. FYI Triclosan has bleach in it, (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol), so be careful with it. It may ruin your brush, or at least breakdown the bristles. Borax is a desiccant, meaning that it draws out water. Borax is infused into mold cells during the soak and as they dry the desiccant draws the water out of the cell causing it to die. My post is not meant to discount any theories, but moreover to add to those that have already posted. I used to work for the Mold Abatement team at UCSB before I went into the Marine Corps, so I know a thing or two about mold. Good luck with your brush.
Sooo...the fan is a no-go Good info on killing mold. Are we trying to kill or prevent it? Now we know how to kill it, what would be the best way to prevent it?
You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the VERY useful information--I actually found some borax powder using your chemical info, Zen. Sweet.
There's a service to mail order stuff like that, but I have to buy it by the case, and they quadruple the price. Nope.
Just be careful if you do this. If you use any heat you can fry your brush! The nice soft tips end up curly over in little hooks. Trust me, I did this to one of my brushes and wish I hadn't. Now I just hand it up to dry and rotate brushes daily. Borax soak once a month. No mold/mildew that I'm aware of.
