Never again hardened brushes with these 4 tips
Do you want to get painting, but your brushes have become so hard you can throw them away, or do you constantly spend way too much time cleaning them? Sound familiar? After reading these tips, you will know exactly how to clean your brushes!
Tip 1: cleaning your brushes
Fill a jar with Zest-it brush cleaner (alternatively, you can use Sansodor or turpentine white spirit). Fill another small jar with green soap and have an old rag and an empty jar or old cup ready. For example, I use an empty glass jar and a piece of an old cotton sheet.
When you are finished painting, wipe the excess paint off your brushes on an old rag.
Next, rinse out as much of the remaining paint as possible in the pot of turpentine white spirit. By wiping your brush along the rim of the pot from bottom to top (stroking in the direction of the bristles), you remove the excess turpentine from the brush. If the color of the turpentine is clear, your brush has been rinsed well enough and you are ready for the next step.
Let warm water run from your tap. Dip your brush into the green soap and then rinse it with warm water in a small jar. Repeat this until the water looks clear after rinsing. Alternatively, you can put on gloves and gently work the soap through the bristles of your brush with some water (stroke in the direction of the hair).
You can soften completely hardened brushes again by placing them in a jar of (diluted) green soap for a few days. These steps also work for cleaning brushes.
To keep your brush in shape, gently push the still-wet brush into shape with your thumb and index finger.
Extra tip ;-): want to avoid splashing while rinsing in the turpentine? You can seal it with a piece of cardboard or aluminum foil and make a hole in it that is large enough for your brushes. This way, the splashing stays in the jar.
Tip 2: this way you spend little time cleaning
You start as in Tip 1, but instead of rinsing your brush completely clean with green soap, you hang the brush in a jar with a layer of linseed oil that covers all the bristles. If you place a thicker brush in the linseed oil instead of hanging it, the bristles will even retain their shape due to the resistance of the oil.
The next time you paint, wipe the excess linseed oil off your brush along the edge, wipe the rest off on a cloth, and voilà: your brush is ready for use :-)!
Extra tips: special racks are available for purchase to place brushes in the oil or brush cleaner, as you can see in the photo. Of course, you can also simply make them yourself. Place a newspaper under your jar or container to catch any spilled linseed oil.
Note: always lay rags or paper soaked in linseed oil out to dry in the open air; otherwise, there is a risk of spontaneous combustion and ignition.
Tip 3: making hardened brushes supple again
Throwing away hardened oil paint brushes? Absolutely not necessary! Soak the brushes in green soap overnight or even for a few days. Rinse them out, and your brush will be supple again!
Throw away brushes with widely spaced bristles? That’s not necessary either. These are ideal for painting animal fur.
Tip 4: how to efficiently pick up paint on your brush
Always pick up paint from your brush by stroking the outside of the blob into the paint. Never dip your brush fully into the blob of paint. Doing so causes the paint to rise too easily towards the ferrule of your brush, where it is much harder to remove and dries out easily. It also damages the bristles of your brush.
How do you store paintbrushes?
Store your brushes upright with the bristles exposed to air dry. Place them in a jar with the bottom facing down, for example.
Hopefully, these tips have been helpful. Do you have any further questions, or is anything still unclear? Feel free to leave a message ;-).