A Simple Solution

At some point, every DIYer has the experience of picking up their favourite paintbrush, only to find that, either it wasn't cleaned properly last time, or it wasn't cleaned at all (also known as the "I'll finish this up after lunch" syndrome). Your once-supple painter's friend is more like a sculpture of its former self. What to do?

Unless you can convince your local Guggenheim that they need a life-size sculpture of a paintbrush, you may seem to have only two choices: either throw it away and buy a new one, which is a rotten way to treat a friend, or resort to strong and hazardous chemicals, which, let's face it, is a rotten way to treat the earth.

Since I've found myself in this situation more times than I care to admit, let me tell you that there's a third solution.

Here's what you do. Dunk the brush in whatever it was you were using it for last- paint, varnish, glue. Then put it in a plastic bag and seal it up. Leave it for several hours (try not to forget it this time) and when you get back to it... Voila! A nice, soft brush!

And if you're in a real hurry, you can dunk the stiff nasty thing into your paint and start working with it. The first few swipes will be pretty ugly - you'll need to go back over them later, but it will eventually soften up.

Cool, huh?

A New Use For Old Windows

When life got a little complicated a few years back, my husband and I bought one of those huge two-months-at-a-glance erasable calendars.

I love the thing. We fill it up with all of our appointments and dates to remember and at the end of the month, we get to wipe it all off and start fresh.

There's not much room on it for shopping lists and "don't forget to drop the keys with the neighbours" notes, though. So when I saw a framed glass whiteboard in a catalogue, it started me thinking.

Old windows are a fairly common find on the second-hand market. When you have one, decide which side will be the front. On the back of the glass, paint a coat of high-adhesion primer (see "A Great Product" June 4, 2007). Then add a couple of coats of white paint.

Refinish the frame if you like, or leave it rough. You can add a wire for hanging or just prop it on a desk. The glass makes a very smooth erasable surface.

Organization never looked so good!