I gave the girl-child a cheap Escali brush identical to mine...and immediately regretted it. Sixteen-year-old girls are not famous for taking good care of their stuff, and she has some serious "first child syndrome" going on (re: If I can see it, it's mine; if it looks like something I owe or owned, it's mine; if it's in my territory, it's mine...) so I told her to put a dot of nail polish on the top so we could tell which was which. She didn't want to, so I started to paint the end of the handle....and then I just kept going. A couple of coats later, I am seriously crazy about how this thing looks...so pretty!
Very cool! It's like a custom paint job. And it's neat that your daughter is a brush-using wet shaver. I can't wait until my boys start shaving.
It occurred to me, after I was done, that it would have been wise to rough up the finish on the handle a little before I started, but I am a spur-of-the-moment kind of person. It's quite expensive nail polish, so that may help. I have never in my life used up a bottle of nail polish, ever, so it's nice to get some non-nail mileage out of it.
Thanks--and you can already see why I did NOT elect to share a brush with the child in question.....she must not have rinsed hers properly last night, on her second shave ever, because it's already looking a little "gunked up". Sigh...
"FANTASTIC" paint job K!!! Although judging from the looks of your daughters knot, I think it will be pretty easy to tell the difference between the brushes ...The blade bank is "VERY" neat also,I'm loving the elephant theme as opposed to a donkey
Quick update: the nail-polish finish on the brush is holding up very well indeed, even through soaking in hot water and being banged around. Nail polish is formulated to have quite a bit of flex without cracking or crazing, and obviously has to stand up to hard wear and moisture, so I can see why it's working out so well. Nifty.
Many nail polishes are based on Acrylic. Sounds familiar to those who know the composition of certain types of handles. As you have found out, this is a high cost approach but as long as the dissimilar surfaces, (the polish and handle) can maintain their bond, you will be able to enjoy your work unless your girl-child ...
Oh, and be careful, brush restoring can be addictive and costly! I cannot tell you how I know this ...
That is really awesome looking. Having never used nail polish myself is there a problem with brush marks in the finish?
No problem with brush marks if you work quickly and in thin layers, the way that nail polish is intended to be applied--I used the brush that comes attached to the top of the bottle. These brushes have tiny, flexible bristles so they can spread out to lay on a quick coat without leaving marks. GDCarrington, I must admit to having an itch to try this again. Girl-child won't let me paint her brush, she likes the wood finish, so I'm out of luck for now.
Who told you that 1 brush was all you could own. It's good to know I can use the supplied applicator brush. I'm sure my wife and or daughter might have some extra nail polish kicking around
I actually did order a synthetic brush from star shaving. I'm looking forward to it and I DO plan to pretty it up--I'm thinking I'll get one of the emery blocks they use to rough up the surface of acrylic nails before they paint them....seems like the same basic process.
Use "Wet" grade 300 or 400 grit sandpaper instead (400 is finer grit). Wet grade can be found in an auto parts store. Run the handle under water and get the sandpaper wet and sand the brush that way the grit is washed away and does not double grind or grind too deeply to create scars.
