Description
Our Counter Brush is a highly effective tool for cleaning up grout sand and glass splinters in your mosaic art studio, especially when used with a HEPA-rated vacuum cleaner. This brush is actually an extremely important piece of safety equipment. Here’s why: Most cuts in the mosaic art studio do not come from handling sharp tile. Most cuts happen when you sit or rub your hand on your work surface and encounter one of the tiny slivers produced by cutting tile. Often you can’t even see what cut you because the razor-sharp grit is so small.
When to Use This Tool
We use the Counter Brush with a HEPA-grade vacuum cleaner to remove sharp grit and dust from work surfaces. Vacuuming without a brush is not nearly as effective.
Safety in the Mosaic Art Studio
Dust
You shouldn’t breath construction dusts of any type, including glass, cement, ceramics, stone, etc. Keeping dust damp is an easy was to make sure it stays out of the air, and so we recommend misting your materials with a spray bottle during filing and sanding. You should also wear an N95-rated dust mask when needed, especially when mixing up grout and mortar.
Safety Glasses
Always wear safety glasses with side shields when cutting tile or smoothing sharp edges with a marble file. Make sure that you don’t cut or file tile around people not wearing safety glasses. Flying chips could potentially hit their eyes as easily as yours.
Slivers and Surfaces
Be aware that cutting and filing tile can produce tiny slivers that are surprisingly sharp. Never sweep off a work surface with your bare hand. Use a HEPA-rated vacuum and a counter brush instead.
How To Make Mosaics
For more advice on designing your mosaic project or mounting, cutting, and grouting tile, please see our page of Mosaic Frequently Asked Questions or our Mosaic Information Guide, which lists instructional pages described by topic. We also post new articles about making mosaics at our How to Mosaic Blog.
