Cleaning Paint Brushes

Always clean your brushes as soon as you stop painting.  Never allow any kind of paint            to dry in your art painting brush

Cleaning oil paint brushes and watercolor brushes

First use a rag or paper towel to wipe paint from the brushes.

Remove remaining paint by using the proper paint solvent for your paint (water for acrylic, watercolors and gouache; turpentine or odorless paint thinner for oil paint.)  Turpenoid by Weber is a brand of odorless thinner I like.
I like to do two rounds of cleaning with the solvent.  After cleaning the brushes once with solvent, pour fresh solvent into another can and clean them again.  Both times you should wipe and dry them on a rag which gets out more of the paint.

Then finally use a bar of soap and warm water.  I hold the soap in one hand and the brush in the other.  Put the brush under the warm water, them swirl it around in the soap.  Next work it back and forth with the soap into the palm of your hand.   You’ll see more pigment come out.  Be sure to get the lather into the heel (near the metal ferrule) and interior of the brush.  Continue doing this until the water runs clear when you are working the brush in your hand.
When your art painting brush is clean, blot excess water with a clean rag and reshape the head with your fingers.  Either lay the brushes flat to dry or suspend them.  This insures that the head maintains its shape and water does not drain into the ferrule.

Once the brushes are dry, store them lying flat or with the ferrules up.  Never, never store your brushes on the hair.

It’s a good idea to use a conditioning soap every so often, such as Masters Brush Soap or Pink Soap.  These soaps  contain conditioners which help keep your brushes in good shape.

When you have a few days that you won’t be using the brushes, condition your natural hair brushes with lard oil.  It’s inexpensive and can be found in any good hardware store.  Spread out a clean  heavy rag and lay down your brushes with heads all pointing in one direction.  Gently work a drop or two of oil into the hair of each brush head, and wrap the brushes up in the towel.  Be sure the brush heads aren’t bent.  Store them for up to 2 weeks and when you unwrap the brushes, the oil should be fully absorbed. Wash the brushes gently and you’re ready to paint with them again.

Do not let your  brush stand in water or the paint solvent for any length of time. This will cause the liquid to leach into the handle and swelling will occur in the wood, causing the paint to chip off and loosening the ferrule.

A good art painting brush can be a big investment. Take care of your brushes and they’ll last a long time.