What to do with our brushes after painting?

You swish the brush in the thinner, take it out, wipe it on a rag or paper towel, rinse it in the thinner again, wipe. Repeat this until the brush is clean and then reform the bristles to their origial shape and let it dry.

Or, if you have lots of money and brushes, throw the brush away and use a new one.

For enamel paint i have 3 jars. 2 have thinner and one water. The first thinner gets rid of most of the paint, the second one anything thats left. Then i dip it in the water and wipe it with tissue. For acrylic paints i just use 2 jars of water.

For acrylic paints, Windex is a good brush cleaner, too.

Only use thinner on enamels! Water for acrylics.

It bears to mention that one should never let paint dry in the brush.   You might save it, or you might have to junk it.   My main spotting brush is going on 30 years now due to diligent upkeep and cleaning.

     What about using linseed oil?  For enamels that is.  I want to say that I remember reading somewhere that after the thinner that it was recommended?  Or with the final water washing what about using dish soap like Dawn?

     How should one clean their brushes if they've used Future, or similar clear coats?

Ah, the clerk at the hobby shop make me buy thinner but I will only use acrilyc paint.

So it's great that I only need to use water for cleening my brush.  I also heard about using soap for cleaning brush.  What do you think?

I use "The Master" Brush Cleaner and Preserver I got at Hobby Lobbby.

I have stuff called "Pink Soap" for a brush cleaner.  Works well for bringing back to life those brushes that were let dry from time to time.

Yeah, what they all said  . I only have one thing to add. No matter what I've used my brush for and properly cleaned afterward (enamels use thinner ....... acrylics use water)  once I've got my bristles clean, I brush a bar of ordinary bath soap (any kind) with the wet brush. Don't know what it does or why it works but all I know is if I DON'T do this, my brushes stay stiff and gummy. When I brush it on soap, the bristles will dry stiff but fluff right up as good as new with a little flicking. Try it. Just uhhhh .... don't let your wife / girlfriend catch ya doin this 

If you can find an artist's supply store, they should have a soap for cleaning paint brushes.  Just clean your brush as you would normally clean it with your cleaner (thinner or water) and then clean it using the soap as directed.  When done, stand the brush with the bristles up (an empty, wiped out, small Pringles can will hold a lot of brushes !)  You will be amazed at the amount of crap left in the brush even after washing it out with clean thinner/water.  And the brush cleaner seems to last for years!

The thinner that the clerk sold you could be an acrylic thinner so don't get riled up with him.

gunner_chris

I have stuff called "Pink Soap" for a brush cleaner.  Works well for bringing back to life those brushes that were let dry from time to time.

GC,

     Is that "pink soap" something that is made particularly for brushes, or is it an "industrial" or "institutional" type of soap?  How do you use it?  Do you use it to remove all types of paint from a brush or a particular type?

I've also noted that some of the synthetic bristles used in some brushes will 'hold' more left-over gunk after cleaning than traditional red sable brushes, so there's that to consider as well.  

FlyItLikeYouStoleIt

Yeah, what they all said  . I only have one thing to add. No matter what I've used my brush for and properly cleaned afterward (enamels use thinner ....... acrylics use water)  once I've got my bristles clean, I brush a bar of ordinary bath soap (any kind) with the wet brush. Don't know what it does or why it works but all I know is if I DON'T do this, my brushes stay stiff and gummy. When I brush it on soap, the bristles will dry stiff but fluff right up as good as new with a little flicking. Try it. Just uhhhh .... don't let your wife / girlfriend catch ya doin this 

Bill,

     That is very interesting.  I wonder what it is about bar soap that works it's "magic?"  Has anyone else here done this?

Dre

I've also noted that some of the synthetic bristles used in some brushes will 'hold' more left-over gunk after cleaning than traditional red sable brushes, so there's that to consider as well.  

Dre,

     What about Ox?  I have a few brushes that are made out of Ox.  Does it have to be red sable or will any natural fibers clean up well compared to synthetic?

Digital_Cowboy

gunner_chris

I have stuff called "Pink Soap" for a brush cleaner.  Works well for bringing back to life those brushes that were let dry from time to time.

GC,

     Is that "pink soap" something that is made particularly for brushes, or is it an "industrial" or "institutional" type of soap?  How do you use it?  Do you use it to remove all types of paint from a brush or a particular type?

Pink soap is a brush cleaner that i got at Michaels.  I normally only use acrylics and its worked for me.  It claims on the bottle it's good for oil based too..

Just put a small drop on my fingers and worked it into the brush bristles.

gunner_chris

Digital_Cowboy

gunner_chris

I have stuff called "Pink Soap" for a brush cleaner.  Works well for bringing back to life those brushes that were let dry from time to time.

GC,

     Is that "pink soap" something that is made particularly for brushes, or is it an "industrial" or "institutional" type of soap?  How do you use it?  Do you use it to remove all types of paint from a brush or a particular type?

Pink soap is a brush cleaner that i got at Michaels.  I normally only use acrylics and its worked for me.  It claims on the bottle it's good for oil based too..

Just put a small drop on my fingers and worked it into the brush bristles.

GC,

     Thank you for the information.  I'll have to look for it the next time I go into Michael's.

Don't forget the 40% off coupon.  lol.

Digital Cowboy, I don't know about Ox hair and residual gunk, sorry.   I just use and buy Red Sable as I'm most familiar with them and their characteristics.   The synthetics were a test buy and seem to be OK with enamels (I haven't tried them with lacquers).

Dre

Digital Cowboy, I don't know about Ox hair and residual gunk, sorry.   I just use and buy Red Sable as I'm most familiar with them and their characteristics.   The synthetics were a test buy and seem to be OK with enamels (I haven't tried them with lacquers).

Dre,

     I would think/hope that as with Red Sable that they should be "better" then synthetics or at least have similar properties.  And IIARC, I don't think that I saw any Red Sable brushes at either of the two LHS' that I've gone to.

I'd say that Red Sable brushes are the best (someone will correct me shortly, no doubt) for all around use and longevity, much more so than synthetics.   I buy them from arts supply places because they usually have a better selection of brush sizes, types and price ranges.

Good brushes are worth their weight in gold and I do not try and cut costs on them as they're so valuable for detail work.

Another thought .... don't buy brushes with plastic handles. The thinner will eventually eat away the part holding the bristles and the whole thing will fall onto your model at the most delicate moment !!

Why ... its NEVER happened to me !!! LOL.  

I have three jars on my work table. One is iso-propyl alcohol to pre rinse acrylic paints, thinner for pre rinsing enamels, and lacquer thinner as a final rinse for both. The lacquer thinner really cleans out the brush. I wipe the brush with paper towel and set in jar, brush end up.  Try it you'll like it!

Ken

When I worked as a professional painter, I was somewhat anal about paint brush care.  I would not let a painter's helper clean my brushes until he could demonstrate the proper cleaning method for me.  Often, I cleaned all the brushes on the crew because I trusted nobody to do it better.  Natural bristle brushes should never be placed in water.   That will ruin them; you'll see the ends of the bristles separating like split ends on human hair.  They should be cleaned with solvent only.  Water based/acrylic products need a polyester bristled brush.  Old time painters, in the days before latex paint (DuPont Lucite was among, maybe even, the first), often kept their cleaned bristle brushes suspended in linseed oil when not in use.  It kept them soft and usable for a long time.  I have paint brushes (both natural and polyester bristled) for house painting that are more than 20 years old that probably work better than they did when new.  They have been used and cleaned countless times.   Take proper care of your brushes folks and they might even outlast you!

Gary

HI hellwarrior :

   When I use acrylics I clean my brushes with warm water and DAWN dish soap . When I clean regular oil based enamel brushes I use paint thinner in three stages .First for the worst .Then the second and lastly a clean jar .This ensures I get the brushes clean .

  I have one going on about twenty years old now .I don't waste brushes .I take the thinner bottle with the worst and clean it out with DAWN once every three months and use the refuse as a fire ant killer .Works good .

 Always re-shape the bristles to the original shape and you're good to go .       Tanker-builder

            I can attest to that.  I volunteer out at the VA in the Craft Center, and there are a LOT of brushes that have been used for acrylic paints.  Sadly, those who have used those brushes don’t always do a good job of cleaning out those brushes.  However, they do, do an excellent job of cleaning various pieces of equipment.  Such as Lazy Susans, and the like.  As the stiffness of an improperly cleaned brush work very well in this regard.  And using them to clean other equipment has the advantage of “restoring” said brushes to be used to paint with again.