Cleaning Your Brushes

My Dear Friends

Before we continue with our "lessons", I’d like to show you how to clean your brushes. This is the way the pros do it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re working in oils or acrylics, you can still use this simple method.

First, "rinse" your brush in turpentine if you’re using oils; in water if you’re using acrylics. It doesn’t have to be thorough, just enough to get the massive amount of medium off your brush.
Then, scrub the brush with soapy warm water. Here’s how you do it: you can use cake soap or liquid dish detergent. I prefer the liquid. Squirt a small amount into the palm of your hand. Add a dash of warm water. Do NOT use hot water as it will melt the internal glue that keeps the bristles in place. Use only lukewarm water. Cold water only makes it more difficult to lather the soap.

Now take your brush and mash it into the palm of your hand and really scrub it. Don’t be afraid of ruining the brush, it won’t. What’s nice about this method is that the soad removes all the paint from deep within as well, you know the stuff that dries up and "spreads the bristles out".
Scrub the brush for as long as necessary to achieve a clean brush. Usually for a small brush about a half minute. For larger brushes perhaps a little longer. Use your own judgement here.

If you don’t have any liquid soap, then use a cake soap. Any soap is good but Ivory is best because it’s softer and lathers quickly. Once again, mash the brush into the soap until it lathers up, then finish the scrubbing in the palm of your hand.

Then rinse thoroughly and shake it out, like a thermometer. It will point the brush nicely.
For round brushes: if you’re cleaning them at the end of the day and don’t plan on doing any more painting, then do this-- after scrubbing the brush and rinsing thoroughly, immerse the bristles in the soapy lather again, only this time draw the brush through the lather and at the same time gently rolling it to point the bristles. Do NOT rinse. Leave the soap in the brush and let it dry overnight. The next day your brush will be like new

Of course you can clean your flats and other brush shapes the same way.

Happy painting.
--Adam