Old timer told me to stop washing my joints and my corners got tighter

Been laying brick for about 12 years now, mostly residential in the Charlotte area. I always cleaned my joints with a wet brush right after striking, thought it looked professional. Then this 70 year old guy, Bob, watched me on a job last spring. He said, "You're washing out all the fines, that's why your joints look blotchy after a week." I switched to dry brushing and only using water if the mud starts crusting. Took a few tries to get the timing right, but my last two jobs the color came out even and I stopped getting callbacks about efflorescence spots. Anyone else have an old school habit they had to unlearn?

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troykim1d ago

So did Bob mention anything about how the timing changes with hotter or cooler weather? I feel like dry brushing in July would be a nightmare if the mud dries too fast.