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Paint Brush Cleaning and Care

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  • Member since
    February 2004
Paint Brush Cleaning and Care
Posted by glock232 on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 8:47 PM
Ok, ive looked a few times on the forums on cleaning brushes and cant seem to find anything other than on air brushes.. so i apologize if this has been asked..

Whats the best way to clean and care for your brushes after using them with enamel paints. I have a small jar of brush cleaner that I dip into after using and then I roll the brush on the inside of the jar while in the cleaner to try to break off any stubborn paints. Then I dry brush it onto a paper towel. I try not to smash the brushes either in the jar on on the towel. After im satisfied with that then I dip in some water and roll again on the side, and dry on the towel. This seems to work OK for me, but im not totally satisfied with how the results turn out. Sometimes it seems like the brush still has some of the cleaner in it, and other times it seems like i didnt get all the color out. I have even tried soaking in the cleaner for up to 5 mins, and that dosent seem to work all the time either.

Another issue i have is no matter how carefull I am to not bash the bristles sometimes i get stray bristles that if i dont see them because they are on the bottom of the brush while im holding it, they will add their own little lines as i paint. I usually end up carefully trimming them as close to the ...top i guess of the bristles to avoid that.. Is there a better way to keep them in their origianl form and shape?

And do you think that spending more money on a brush is worth it? or is a brush a brush a brush?
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Southern California, USA
Posted by ABARNE on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 9:52 PM
My cleaning regimen is simialr to yours, although I squeeze the brush in the paper towel after cleaning to get out all the cleaner and to shape the brush with my fingers prior to puuting it away. If you're concerned about residual paint, you can use lacquer thinner which is more aggressive than regular thinner.

As far as keeping the brush's shape, try not to bend the bristles any more than necessary, particulary when cleaning. Be careful when soaking a brush; you don't want to have it resting on its bristles. Use your fingertips to carefully shape the bristles after cleaning, prior to storage. Always store brushes on their ends, and not on their bristles.

I spend a little bit on my brushes. I used to get real cheap brushes, and have found that I get a lot better results from brushes that cost a bit more. I typically spend five to ten bucks on a brush.

Andy
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Melbourne, Australia
Posted by darson on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 2:01 AM
The way you're cleaning your brushes sounds just fine to me. The only different thing that I do is to once months (or so) give the brushes a 5-min soak in lacquer thinner. You'll be amazed at how much pigment comes out of brushes you thought were clean.


Darren
  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Utereg
Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 3:28 AM
I use two jars with thinner, I first clean the brush in jar 1, wipe on a paper towel, then jar 2 (with clean thinner) and wipe again.
I never wash enamel with water, I don't know whot that should do, oil doesn't mix with water?

Better quality brushes (red sable is very nice) giver better results, the hairs a softer an thinner, they last longer.
Use the right brush for the job: larger surfaces with a flat brush, details with a smal brush etc.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 4:22 AM
Sign - Ditto [#ditto] all of Remcogrob's comments - 2 jars of thinner and buy the best quality brushes you can afford. The plastic sleeves are worthwhile replacing over the bristles every time storage is required. Suspending brushes in thinners for soaking is much better than just standing them in the jar. 2 popsicle sticks with elastic bands at either end can be spread to grip the brush handle and suspend over the jar mouth.
  • Member since
    February 2004
Posted by glock232 on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 5:38 PM
wow, thanks for all the advice, i typicaly use testor brush cleaner to clean them, should i just use their thinner instead? and i dont know why i rinse them in water afterwards, i guess i think im going to rinse the cleaner out incase i use it right away again... Big Smile [:D]

Thanks again for the help!!
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Southern California, USA
Posted by ABARNE on Thursday, June 30, 2005 12:15 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by glock232

wow, thanks for all the advice, i typicaly use testor brush cleaner to clean them, should i just use their thinner instead?


Don't waste money on expensive thinner for brush cleaning. Use bulk paint thinner from a hardware store. I think a quart can of Kleen Strip paint thinner and a quart can of Kleen Strip lacquer thinner costs about five bucks total from the home depot, and will last a long time.

Another cost saving trick, as well as being enviromentally friendly, is to re-cycle your thinner. I have a couple of large jars. One jar holds dirty thinner, and is used as a settling basin. After several days, suspended paint sediment will settle to the bottom of the jar, leaving clear thinner on top. You then can carefully pour off the the clear thinner on top of the first jar into the second jar, stopping when the sediment in the bottom of the pouring jar starts to get stirred up. After a while the thinner takes on a greenish tint, but it still cleans perfectly. Using this recycling technique, I've only bought one quart of enamel thinner and one quart of lacquer thiner of the last five years, and I probably won't have to buy anymore for another five or ten years.

Andy


  • Member since
    February 2004
Posted by glock232 on Thursday, June 30, 2005 10:50 AM
Well, it looks like im gonna make a trip to Home Depot.. Can you tell me the diffrence between enamel and lacquer thinner? I use only enamel paints, and i think i understand correctly from someone else's post that the lacquer thinner is a little more agressive? Also can these thinners be used in an airbrush? and can u use them to thin the paint, or are you better off using the manufacturers thinner?
  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Singapore
Posted by albert_sy2 on Monday, July 4, 2005 9:09 AM
I use lacquer thinner every now and then to totally clean the brushes. But for everyday use I use industrial-grade isopropyl alcohol.

Anyway, lacquer thinner is the way to go for a thorough cleaning.

The enamel thinner is not as aggressive as lacquer thinner.

Caution: lacquer thinner contains toxic chemicals so make sure you have good ventilation.
Groovy baby
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 4, 2005 4:15 PM
After I clean my brushes with lacquer thinner. I clean them with dish washing soap or shampoo. Rinse with water, shape by hand and stand upright to dry. I use Dawn dish washing soap. You will be surpised at how much paint comes out.
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Central USA
Posted by qmiester on Monday, July 4, 2005 5:52 PM
If I'm shifting from one color to another I clean the brush in laquer thinner each time I switch. If I'm cleaning up at the end of a session, I clean the brush first with laquer thinner and dry it out using soft rags (old T-shirts work well). I then use brush soap and water to do a final clean clean up (I use Grummbacher Brush Soap which can be found in any good artist's supply store or better craft stores - a 1 pint jar lasts for years - just follow the instructions on the jar). Then I rinse in clean running water, dry and point the tip and store the brush up right (the small Pringle cans work great for brush storage). Takes a little extra work but the brushes remain soft and last longer.

PS As one who has stripped more 1 to 1 airplanes than I really care to remember, I've discovered that paint strippers tend to destroy brushes
Quincy
  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Ireland
Posted by nick31 on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 5:21 AM
is ordinary white spirit any good for cleaning enamel off brushes ?
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