Cleaning brushes

[nadine]

I\'d like to invest in a nice sable brush or two but I can\'t bring myself to do it because I have a chronic problem with getting paint up toward the ferrule.

I clean up when I\'m finished using Pink Soap but this still doesn\'t get the upper bristles clean. It seems to me that it\'s capillary action carrying pigment up there because I don\'t dunk the brush in paint.

I\'d hate to invest in some nice brushes only to ruin them in a month but my taklon brushes just don\'t hold a fine point all that well. Any suggestions? Apparently I\'m not doing something the right way.

 

[ScottRadom]

I made the switch late last year and have never looked back.

I don\'t get the paint up to the ferrule though. Are you using a palette, or straight from a paint pot? I think if you just use clean water, and maybe check out the \"Ten Commandments of painting....\" thread Einion suggests a double jar cleaning method which I thin i will give a shot.

Also he advises not to use soap after every session due to potential brush damage. He\'s knows his stuff, but I don\'t know all the potential risks.

Get a sable brush, a good one. If it\'s not going to break the bank get a couple and you won\'t regret it!

 

[airhead]

The Masters soap is very good, lots of lanolin to condition the fibers. I use it after every session.

W&N have a brush cleaning fluid - wicked evil stuff. Do not let anything more than the brush fibers in it. It will eat the laquer paint off the handle and will tarnish the chrimed furrel. I use a small paper binder clip to hold a brush just to the furrel touches. Let it soak for a couple of hours and then to a regular brush soap cleaning and be amazed at the stuff that comes out of up in the furrel.


Yes, lots of it gets up in there by capillary action, but some of it gets up there by standing wet brush up on their butts, letting moisture and trace bits of paint get up into the furrel.

***
cleaning:

a half quart container would be about the smallest amount of cleaning water I\'d use. I like empty cake frosting tubs. Put a few drops of dish soap in the water.

Swish brush in the water. DO NOT stab the bottom of the water tub with the brush, this will damage the bristles. Instead roll the brush against the side of the tub. Swish some more.

Pull across a paper towel. If lots of color comes out, repeat. (I like the blue shop towel rolls - less lint than regular paper towels).

Final rinse in second tub of clean water.

(some people have a separate primary tub for metal.)

***

End of session

Clean brush as above, but do not dry on towel. Instead swirl brush across The Masters soap. Side to side putting a little pressure on the bristles like you are trying to pick up that last bit of paint on your pallet.

Now, take your brush to your palm and swirl it around until you have a nice later from the soapy brush. Again putting slight pressure on the bristles so as to work the soap up into the furrel.

Now go back and rinse in the clean water and pull across your towel.
Lots of color? Repeat the soaping.
Clean? Make sure the tip is nice and leave horizontal to dry.

TIP:
if the brush tip does not want to stay nice, get a bit more soap - not a lot just a bit. Form the tip and let dry as above with the soap setting the bristles.

If the tip still does not want to stay formed, go for a soak in the W&N Brush Cleaning Fluid.

Still no good? you now have a new drybrushing brush.

I\'ve managed to keep several W&N S7\'s for several years with this method.

 

[freakinacage]

sounds like you are loading your brush too much. try wiping the excess off. brush cleaner when done and clean it with water often

 

[nadine]

Thanks for all the advice. I\'m certainly guilty of overloading with this particular brush because atm I\'m just mixing paints on a tile to see what the resulting color is.

I\'ll get a bigger jar and try the double rinse thing. This paint seems really pigment-rich and the water gets dirty so easily.

You\'ve been a big help, thanks!

 

[TKNY]

I\'m not so gentle

I beat the hell out of my brushes

I don\'t stick them in the pots, but I definitely use them to mix and get plenty of paint in the ferrel. I wash them out afterwards, semi-gently, with dish soap and shape them with a bit of regular hair conditioner.

A couple of them are getting a bit rough, but I\'ve had them about a year. I mainly use 2 brushes to paint, so replacing them once a year is no biggie, $8 each.

 

[mickc22]

Originally posted by airhead
The Masters soap is very good, lots of lanolin to condition the fibers. I use it after every session.

W&N have a brush cleaning fluid - wicked evil stuff. Do not let anything more than the brush fibers in it. It will eat the laquer paint off the handle and will tarnish the chrimed furrel. I use a small paper binder clip to hold a brush just to the furrel touches. Let it soak for a couple of hours and then to a regular brush soap cleaning and be amazed at the stuff that comes out of up in the furrel.


Yes, lots of it gets up in there by capillary action, but some of it gets up there by standing wet brush up on their butts, letting moisture and trace bits of paint get up into the furrel.

***
cleaning:

a half quart container would be about the smallest amount of cleaning water I\'d use. I like empty cake frosting tubs. Put a few drops of dish soap in the water.

Swish brush in the water. DO NOT stab the bottom of the water tub with the brush, this will damage the bristles. Instead roll the brush against the side of the tub. Swish some more.

Pull across a paper towel. If lots of color comes out, repeat. (I like the blue shop towel rolls - less lint than regular paper towels).

Final rinse in second tub of clean water.

(some people have a separate primary tub for metal.)

***

End of session

Clean brush as above, but do not dry on towel. Instead swirl brush across The Masters soap. Side to side putting a little pressure on the bristles like you are trying to pick up that last bit of paint on your pallet.

Now, take your brush to your palm and swirl it around until you have a nice later from the soapy brush. Again putting slight pressure on the bristles so as to work the soap up into the furrel.

Now go back and rinse in the clean water and pull across your towel.
Lots of color? Repeat the soaping.
Clean? Make sure the tip is nice and leave horizontal to dry.

TIP:
if the brush tip does not want to stay nice, get a bit more soap - not a lot just a bit. Form the tip and let dry as above with the soap setting the bristles.

If the tip still does not want to stay formed, go for a soak in the W&N Brush Cleaning Fluid.

Still no good? you now have a new drybrushing brush.

I\'ve managed to keep several W&N S7\'s for several years with this method.

bloody hell Kev, we must be twins lol well except for the bit about the W&N brush cleaner.......
oh, I don\'t have Masters soap either, don\'t actually know the name of mine off hand.....
I prefer the blue paper too

 

[airhead]

Most of that I have picked up by hanging around better painters than me...

I\'ve noticed that UK brands tend to be different. But W&N tends to stay the same.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by nadine
I\'d like to invest in a nice sable brush or two but I can\'t bring myself to do it because I have a chronic problem with getting paint up toward the ferrule.

Good rule of thumb: rinse thoroughly, and often.

Rinse your brush(es) out frequently, even during a single painting job, and then reload and continue work. Plus, use a double-bath system for rinsing; some dishwashing liquid in the first jar at least helps things along.

If you do this you\'ll find the requirement to actually wash a brush greatly reduced.

Einion

 

[boristfrog]

I have a crappy old brush that I love to death. I use it for taking paint out of pots and mixing. I don\'t like being mean to my nice brushes - but this one takes the beatings like a pro, and has the looks to prove it.

 

[Backstabbeth]

I never mix the paint with the paintbrush I am using... Thats what my tons of old and useless citadel brushes are for.. and what the have een for since i got them with my paint set.

This may be overkill but i dont want to ruin a brushi spent so much money on if i can avoid it.

Also, I always thought dishwashing fluid would be too harsh on my brushes... is this just not the case?

Cheers

Tim

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Backstabbeth
I never mix the paint with the paintbrush I am using... Thats what my tons of old and useless citadel brushes are for.. and what the have een for since i got them with my paint set.

This may be overkill but i dont want to ruin a brushi spent so much money on if i can avoid it.

Not overkill - friction is friction. Everyone mixes a bit of paint with their brushes but you should never use a quality detail brush to mix a large volume of colour, it\'ll just force pigment up near the ferrule and you can ruin a brush in days.

Originally posted by Backstabbeth
Also, I always thought dishwashing fluid would be too harsh on my brushes... is this just not the case?

Nope.

You\'re only using a small amount for a start so even if it were a bit harsh it\'s kinda like caustic soda - you wouldn\'t want to eat it, but the residue in cocoa doesn\'t harm us when we eat chocolate

Einion

 

[Nell]

I used dishwash soap on my first good sable brushes. The soap seems to have stripped the oils from the brushes and made them poof up terribly. The brushes got better after cleaning with Masters and then applying hair conditioner afterwards.

Dishwash soap, at least the stuff that I use around the house, is geared towards stripping off grease and oils. I wouldn\'t recommend using it except for washing minis (before priming). Washing synthetic brushes probably would be okay though.

 

[airhead]

Let me re-iterate, I put one or two DROPS of dishwashing soap in my rinse water (about 16 oz. or .5 Liter). Just enough to help break the surface tension.

 

[ScottRadom]

I\'m using a pink soap called \"mona lisa\" I think. I use it after most sessions just to get the tip back. The double rinse system works great. Thanks for that guys!

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Nell
I used dishwash soap on my first good sable brushes. The soap seems to have stripped the oils from the brushes and made them poof up terribly. The brushes got better after cleaning with Masters and then applying hair conditioner afterwards.

Dishwash soap, at least the stuff that I use around the house, is geared towards stripping off grease and oils. I wouldn\'t recommend using it except for washing minis (before priming). Washing synthetic brushes probably would be okay though.

I think you\'ll find that nobody recommended using dishwashing liquid to clean brushes. As I say above, the small amount added to rinsing water is quite different to lathering up with the stuff.

Incidentally, I\'ve seen The Masters turn a decent Kolinsky round into a drybrushing brush, after only a few uses. No amount of conditioning would get it to go back to original condition. This is why I don\'t recommend it for our type of brushes (it was made originally to clean brushes for oil painting).

BTW, some brushes can naturally go \'hairy\' with use, when they\'re dry. But this doesn\'t actually mean they won\'t hold a point when wet; this is why pointing ability should always be judged wet, never when the brush head is dry.

Originally posted by ScottRadom
I\'m using a pink soap called \"mona lisa\" I think.

Heard good stuff about that, supposed to be very gentle.

Einion