299734 Thu Jan 27 16:55:13 -0800 2005 11 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1662319 How do you do this? Also get rid of any odor? Thu Jan 27 16:55:13 -0800 2005 0 nikki 1 1662322 Lots of detergent and water, and then leave out to air dry. Never have a problem, but sometimes it takes a day or two to really dry out before I can put it in the drawer. Thu Jan 27 17:04:46 -0800 2005 1662319 0 coll 1 1662323 lotsa soap and water, AND LEMON JUICE!!!!! Thu Jan 27 17:06:01 -0800 2005 1662319 0 Scott Anafas 2 1662359 Vinegar. Same idea. Fri Jan 28 10:11:05 -0800 2005 1662323 0 neighbor 1 1662325 Soak it in a cup with detergent. Thu Jan 27 17:06:28 -0800 2005 1662319 0 Peter 1 1662327 Finally got really disgusted with the old school ones. I was never certain of the cleanliness, couldn't stand those dang stray bristles that shed at the most inopportune times... So I fast forwarded to the new millennium and got a Silicone Pastry Brush. It works great and is easy to clean! Yippeee! Link: http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/items/item7219.html Thu Jan 27 17:20:13 -0800 2005 1662319 0 Anne in SF 2 1662333 Amen! Pitch those old thigs out and get the silicone brush. It goes through the dishwasher beautifully and does not leave any hairs on your food. Thu Jan 27 18:53:23 -0800 2005 1662327 0 Candy 1 1662345 I clean my pastry brush the same way I clean my sable artist brushes. Get a nice lukewarm stream of water running in the sink. Apply a few dots of dish detergent to the brush close to the ferule (the metal part) then put brush under running water. MASSAGE the brush from the ferule toward the brush tips. Repeat til nice and clean. Then wrap the brush in a few twirls of paper towel and press down, removing as much water as possible while keeping the shape of the bristles intact. Press on new sections of paper towel until you've squeezed out all the water you can. Take the brush out of the paper towel and place on a surface with the bristles in the air, not resting on the surface. Next morning, flex the bristles once or twice and voila! nice and supple. Fri Jan 28 02:04:29 -0800 2005 1662319 0 Mnosyne 2 1662390 Ideally, brushes should hang downward while drying; this helps prevent the degradation of the glue that holds them in their holes. I learned this from my boars-bristle shaving brush, btw: let it dry upward, and it might last 1-2 years -- let it hang to dry, and it will last 20 years or more. Fri Jan 28 17:04:24 -0800 2005 1662345 0 Karl S. 3 1662400 Gosh! Now I know two people in the world who use boar bristle shaving brushes: my SO and you! Fri Jan 28 22:34:42 -0800 2005 1662390 0 Mnosyne 4 1662408 Actually, when used with good shaving soap, they are much more economical over the long term than spray cans. And much more effective. Despite the comparatively steep front-loaded cost, they are actually frugal. Sat Jan 29 07:33:32 -0800 2005 1662400 0 Karl S. 1 1662358 Once I put a brush through the dishwasher. This got the bristles beautifully clean, but they also got spread out in every direction and bent. I had to pitch it. If there were some way to keep the bristles from moving more than was necessary for cleaning, I think that would work. However, I don't know of any way to do that. A snug band would not allow enough water through for cleaning; a loose band would allow the bristles to escape. A bag would let the bristles bend. Fri Jan 28 09:58:21 -0800 2005 1662319 0 Lee