Save the Brushes

I wandered into my art space today and something tragic caught my eye. A paintbrush that spent the night silently pleading for help that never came. A casualty of the battle between student and time lay alone, dried up, and forgotten at the bottom of a sink.

I have spent endless hours, throughout the years, teaching the basics of paintbrush care. These fundamentals are repeated each time the paints come out, and while some of my student artists can repeat word for word… “and remember don’t  just run water over the brush, but use a little finger power (and soap) to work that paint out of it, and make sure the water runs clear before you call it quits.” Others remain forgetful of how, even why, one would clean out a paintbrush.

If your budget is like mine, you’re willing to try anything to ‘SAVE THE PAINTBRUSHES!’ Fortunately, I have found that there are a few ways to resurrect those forgotten and ignored paintbrushes with some very common place  and economical items.

Murphy’s Oil Soap - is my number one go to for getting dried out pigment out of the bristles. Let the brush(es) soak for a day, and it not only helps get the dry paint off, it helps condition the bristles.

Isopropyl Alcohol – works if you have time to work with it and if you massage it with a little soap into the bristles. (It also helps with those unforeseen paint stains when a student walks into you with their paintbrush.)

Vinegar – warm it up a bit and let you brushes bask in the warmth of their little hot tub for a minute or two. It’ll loosen the paint and refresh those bristles in no time.

Pam