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Home | Tools & Tips | Cleaning Your Brushes

Cleaning Your Brushes

01/24/2010 17:26:00 Vickie Rhodes

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Tips and techniques for cleaning your brushes

When using your brushes, NEVER walk away and leave paint in the brush. It's a good habit to rinse a brush before you lay it down, even if only for a moment.

Wash out the majority of the paint after every use. Use a mild, oil-free soap, such as JoSonja's Brush Soap & Conditioner, and water. Work a small amount of soap up into the bristles, and rinse it in a clear or white dish. This lets you see if any color remains in the bristles. Use your fingers to work the color out of the ferrule. Do not use your fingernails.

Rinse the soap out of the bristles. Rinse, pinch, and wipe the bristles, using a white paper towel, until no more color is released. Rinse the bristles with tepid water to remove the soap.

Reshape the bristles. Shape the wet bristles with your fingers. Then set the brushes on their sides until they are dry. You may dress the brush in a small amount of Retarder medium for storage. Storing wet brushes with the bristles pointing up will allow the moisture to settle into the brush handle, causing damage to the painted handle.

Brush Care

Do not reuse the plastic tube used on new brushes; this may bend the bristles beyond repair.
Never use a brush to mix large amounts of color.
If the bristles fray, dip them in a cup of hot water for 30 seconds, reshape them, and allow them to dry.
Protect the brushes when you are traveling by rolling them up in a towel or using a brush carrier.

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Comments (12 posted):

Eddy-Smiles on 02/05/2008 21:07:13

Thanks Bob!

Shannon on 02/06/2008 16:56:01

Again - this is the "extra" stuff that we just didn't have room for... so if you see the printed article - and think there's no need to visit the page online - you're wrong... :)

Marci MN on 02/07/2008 03:45:36

This is coming at just the right time. I am buying new brushes and would like to know how to keep them longer. After reading that article I've seen where I"ve gone wrong. :S I do have a question: what is Retarder Medium? Thanks. M.

squbrigg on 02/07/2008 08:14:28

It's great having these little extra's Bob and Shannon, thank you for including them on the site. Retarder Medium is an additave for your acrylic paint, that will slow down the drying process. It comes in bottles the same as the paint itself. It allows you to work the paint longer like when you want to wet blend colors. Bob

carvnman40 on 02/07/2008 09:55:09

I agree with Vicki that using a brush to mix large amounts of paint wrecks havoc on a brush but I've not found anything that works as well. I've tried popcicle sticks and about everything else but a brush works best for me. So I've got an old brush that's dedicated just for that. Anybody know of something better ? Mike

Hi_Ho_Sliver on 02/07/2008 10:37:54

I have always used a thin blade, narrow palette knife to mix with, and to keep the brushes,,, dip in lard oil after cleaning, the lard oil never dries....keeps the bristles moist and in good shape. That is when I was oil painting...to do this with acrylics you need to be sure to get the lard oil cleaned out before going into a water based paint.

Irishman on 02/07/2008 12:21:08

This was very helpful. Based on the article, I was doing everything wrong. Now I know why my brushes never lasted. Thanks. Patrick

Marci MN on 02/08/2008 00:49:10

Yes, thank you from me too! I know brushes were talked about in these forums before and I was keeping an eye out for that post, but this topic came just at the right time.

Definitely Wood on 02/23/2008 16:37:44

Thanks Vicki for a very informative article. I read another article that indicated that about any soap or shampoo and conditioner that one would use on their own hair would be good for our "expensive" paint brushes. How do you feel about this? Thanks, John

wildflower on 03/25/2011 10:54:48

Hi All, Wow! I'm sooo glad I found this valuable, 3 year old thread. Vicki gives such great advice here for paintbrush care, I am hoping I can bring it back to life by posting. :Bouncing S: If I may add one really important note: Never use oil-based products or conditioners in your brushes that you use for water-based paints such as acrylics or watercolours. It is nearly impossible to wash out all oil residue from the brush and this will cause your water-based paints to "fish-eye" upon application. "Fish-eyeing" is when the paint 'separates' on your painting surface creating light and dark spots. Very frustrating :eek: !!! Happy painting, everyone! Leslie

idigjars on 03/25/2011 13:07:48

Good info. Thank you for the link. Paul

wildflower on 03/26/2011 00:49:21

You're very welcome, Paul. This kind of information never goes out of style. Thank you BobD for starting this thread back in 2008! :Bouncing S: Leslie

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