Alcohol Issues...am confused???

Someone posted this thread on one of the face painting sites, please click on it and read tip 3 http://painting.about.com/od/faceandbodypainting/a/FacePaintCindy.htm , so I know that it has previously been stated on here to use alcohol to sanitise your brushes, yet this lady is apparently a highly respected fab artist?
Have I missed something?

I have been instructed on how to clean my brushes by Infectious Disease Control at SickKids Hospital.
After washing & rinsing my brushes in soap and water, then patting them with a paper towel, I dip them in 70% isopropyl alcohol to sterilize them. 90% isopropyl alcohol evaporates too quickly to be effective. Then, I leave the brushes to air dry. I do carry almost 100 brushes in my kit. The brushes are dry before I use them again.

Cindy was, I think, edited on that article. Diluted alcohol - such as adding SOME to your water is what she is referring to, that is what then becomes a food source for bacteria.

Straight 70% isopropyl alcohol aka rubbing alcohol, right out of the bottle, is what we are instructed to use as Lisa described above, which is what I have to do here according to our health regulations.

Thank you.
What you have explained is what I had believed to be correct.
This web site just threw me a bit.
I am also glad that you have qualified where you learned this information, it gives me more trust in this knowledge.

I got some Perma Nail Cosmetic Brush Cleaner from a hair salon wholesaler, it says it cleans and sanitises, however, it says on the label that it is 70% v/v "iso Propanol" not "Isopropyl" as you have said, do you know if there is any difference or if it is safe for sanitising your face paint brushes?

you should be able to get rubbing alcohol from the bandaid area at the drug store, it's generally pretty inexpensive stuff. It's the same thing you would use to clean a wound.

Dex wrote:Thank you.
What you have explained is what I had believed to be correct.
This web site just threw me a bit.
I am also glad that you have qualified where you learned this information, it gives me more trust in this knowledge.

I got some Perma Nail Cosmetic Brush Cleaner from a hair salon wholesaler, it says it cleans and sanitises, however, it says on the label that it is 70% v/v "iso Propanol" not "Isopropyl" as you have said, do you know if there is any difference or if it is safe for sanitising your face paint brushes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

according to wikipedia, they are different names for the same product

Hi Perry, I looked in the Chemist (as we call the drug store in Oz) and could only find the wipes, like they rub your arm with at the doctor before giving you a needle.
There is another product at the supermarket called Isocol, but I couldn't find what % of alcohol it had in it.

Thanks Noella! This link was really helpful. I have only just been able to hunt this stuff down and was a bit hesitant to use it but now, its all good.

Dex I got the PDS from Isocol it is between 70 to 73% already.
You have to email them to get the PDS / MDSS

you can find it in the antiseptic section at Coles and some chemist green bottle with an alligator/coocodille on it-for those who don't know what it is, where to find it

Thanks Elantaura, I have seen the Isocol, but yeah couldnt find the v/v % alcohol so thanks for clearing that one up. The hair dressing wholesaler sells it for about the same price but you get 500ml instead of 375ml, but now if i'm ever stuck I know where to get some quickly! Thank you.

Priceline have it where I live (I'm in Australia too) - in the green bottle as Sue described, as 'Isocol'

I use isocol undiluted to sterilise my brushes, but something I wonder about is how to get around going from paint to face, paint to face & back to paint again with the same brush. With sponging I use a clean sponge for each person, and a single load per sponge, which is easy enough. But I can't figure how to get around returning to the paint with a brush that has touched a face, unless you cut pieces of paint and transfer them to another (clean per customer) container for use...which seems like an incredibly laborious process, plus you would be constantly throwing out leftover paint!

At SickKids Hospital, I never "double dip". I do not go back into my paint after touching the skin. I carry a lot of brushes with me. (I have a brush addiction, so having a lot of brushes feeds my addiction.)
Double-loading a brush with two colors is ok. Just no to double dipping.

Outside the hospital, I do go back into my paints to re-load my brush. I do not paint anybody who is obviously ill. I do not paint over lesions. If the child has runny eyes, I send them away. ( I gave PinkEye to seven little girls from my New Mother's Group in my first attempt at face painting. Never again.)

^ so if you don't double dip, how do you work it? I'm assuming you can't line a whole design with one brush load. Do you remove a piece of paint to a separate container and work from that? or do you get a fresh brush every time you need more paint?

Fresh brush every time at the Hospital.

At a birthday party, or a festival, I do go back into my paint to reload.
After every child, that brush gets washed in my brush basin with a surgical scrub brush in the bottom to winnow the paint out of the brush, rinsed in clear water, dried off and shaped with a paper towel, then dipped in 70% isopropyl alcohol and set aside to dry. Typing all the directions takes way longer than actually doing the process. The 70% isopropyl alcohol evaporates quickly. I keep adding more to a teeny little cup.

I have taken white nail polish and put happy little white dots on the ferrule of some brushes to show that these are my dedicated white brushes. I have taken black nail polish and made happy little polka dots on some brushes that are my dedicated black brushes.

I have a lot of brushes.
That being said, I am always looking out for new brushes.
I am addicted to brushes.
I am addicted to bling, too.

You can scoop paint onto a pallet to avoid double dipping as well. Then, you go back and forth only to the pallet. Sterlize when done with that person.

Shannon, how do you handle brush reload?

I do the fresh brush/scoop with my paints too - I don't have separate kits so I use my paints on set (I've needed to do full face designs for a music video), on immune compromised kids, and at events or festivals. I find it far easier to scoop when the paints are wet - Metina's dippy pot was a fantastic boon for me - it's goopy, it scoops with a palette knife easily! I do airbrush most often, so if I have to do a large area of a single colour that's what I'd use anyways. Switching brushes and moving onto a clean one is easy enough though so if I don't do one of the two other things, that's what I do.

I have a menda bottle with alcohol that I dip clean brushes that need to be sanitized in - then it only has a single brush worth in the reservoir on top. I have another one with water - that's how I get clean brush water - then I don't actually have open containers except my dirty wash water (keeps bugs etc out and keeps it from being spilled if someone knocks my stuff over)