For those that use acrylic paints

[northie66]

What is the proper care for the brushes.  Do you just use a water cleanup?

And how about if you are painting a bunch of stuff at once.  Say you have a brush that has blue paint on it but you aren't going to need it for a little while... should you put it in water?  Or something else?

Thanks!

[Russ C]

I use a 16 oz plastic cup full of water. I add two drops of dish soap to the water. It helps clean the paint from the brushes. Don't let brushes sit for more then a minute or two with paint on them, put them in the water solution. If you need it again clean, dry it off with paper towels and reuse it. 

[julief]

I use a coffee cup with water and a couple drops of dish soap, also.  You can put a brush with paint on it between plastic wrap and it will stay moist but - what a mess.  Clean it and start over.

[scrollgirl]

I agree with the above, but I have to tell you that the best brush cleaner I have found is by DecoArt and is called 'DecoMagic Brush Cleaner'.  You can get it where DecoArt acrylics are sold.  I have been painting for years and years and I just got a bottle of this about 8 months ago and I was just amazed at how good this worked.  I know I sound like I am doing a commercial for them, but I really was shocked at how it dissolved the dried acrylic paint.  I even got some of my old 'dead' brushes to see if it would loosen the paint on them and it worked great. 

I do keep a container of water and you do have to rinse them right away because acrylics dry so quickly.  I keep a 'big water' for rinsing and a 'little water' for float shading and thinning the paint.  The big water gets dirty much faster, of course, and the little one stays clean so you aren't adding colored water where you don't want it. 

Hope this helps. Sheila

[julief]

Hey Sheila,  Have you ever dipped in the wrong cup? I have.  Floating mud!

[scrollgirl]

Oh, yah, Julie!  I was going to ask you that when I saw you used a coffee cup!  I use a sour creme or cottage cheese container (the 2 cup size) because they are wider and won't tip as easily, but I STILL wind up dipping into my coffee from time to time.  

I also found that cats LOVE the paint water.  It must have something in it they love.  My friends with cats tell me the same thing. They migrate to it and want to drink it.  Good thing it is non-toxic!  Heck, my Siamese cat Jasmine lived to be 18 years old and drank more paint water than regular water I think!  (NO - I didn't give it to her, she just used to sneak it whenever I wasn't looking and the opportunity arose!)

Sheila

[julief]

I finally cleaned out my coffee cup cupboard (I had too many anyway) and now have designated cups for painting and holding brushes.  I keep them with my paints but sometimes I get in a hurry or are not paying attention and.....

[Marcellarius]

most of the time I use disposable brushes and only use them a couple of times.
I rinse out the brush in Turpin and than with a bit of hand-soap I clean it out and let it dry.
if I go to paint the next day I put my brush in a plastic (bread) bag/foil an put it in the refrigerator over night.
might even work for 2 or 3 days.
If I have a longer project I sometimes keep the brushes in raw linseed oil, (that's how  painters preserved their brushes in the old days) works well for a couple of weeks, but not for water based paint.

as I write this, I'm not sure, isn't acrylic always waterbased??

[Russ C]

Yes Marcellarius acrylic is a water base paint. There are also two types of brushes.

Water Base Brushes

Oil Base Brushes.

A real good oil base brush uses natural bristles. If you put it in water it will destroy it. Most water base brushes and made from synthetic materials.

[Dawie]

Russ never knew that. I just use water 2 mugs one to rinse and the other to clean out the durt from the water of the first before I start again. I tend to use the same brush for different colors I just clean it as I go. I have never added dish soap to the water, will try that. Learned something new again today.
David

[Judy Hunter]

I made my living for over 30 years painting with acrylics. Everyone is spot on. the only thing I would add is: find a small nail brush and tie a large metal washer on the back.  Sink it in your washing water, then when you swish your brush against it, they are cleaned better.  I used nothing but sable brushes. Never, ever leave them in the water. Swish and lay on shop towels.  Then at the end of the day clean really well with dish soap and leave just a bit in and shape wth your fingers.

[WigWag Workshop]

I also use water + few drops of soap = "wet water"  I learned about using that from the Model Railroad Hobby. 

Steven

[northie66]

Great ideas everyone!  And nice new picture Sheila!  You seem to get prettier with time.   

[GrayBeard]

I had two men in my shop that were 'free hand' sign leterrers and the Sable brushes were expensive in the 60's and I can only imagine what they are now!
We used to have to lock them up at night to keep the Art Dept. personnel from stealing out of the shop!
When working with water based sign paints it was not unusual to see the 'old timer' take a fresh brush and stick it in his mouth and get it loaded with saliva to make the paint flow better!

Way back then we used "Photo Flo" from the film processing department as an additive in the clean water to mix with the paint for more smooth flow.

~~~GB~~~

[julief]

I collected my sable brushes one at a time by using the 50% and 40% coupons from Michaels and Hobby Lobby that come in the sunday paper.  Now you can get the ads online and double dip on the coupons.  I also get a really good poly there.  It regularly sells for $5.97 a can but throw in a coupon and it makes poly very affordable.