By Show Me Step by StepPublished
Based on a video by Goodness in you.
Acrylic paint is water-based while it is wet and turns into plastic once it dries. That is great on a canvas and terrible inside a brush. Paint that dries in the bristles near the ferrule splays them out for good. This tutorial from the Goodness in you channel shows the everyday wash with water and soap, how to rescue a brush with dried paint, and how to strip paint off the handles.
Keep a dirty jar for the first swish and a clean jar for the final rinse. The clean jar stays clear longer, so you are not painting the next color with muddy water. Wipe the brush on a rag or paper towel between colors so the water does not drip down the handle.
Hand wash, mild bar soap, baby shampoo and dish soap all work on wet acrylic. A brush cleaner and preserver bar, like The Masters, also conditions natural hair. Skip harsh detergents and hot water. Hot water swells the wood handle and loosens the glue that holds the bristles in the ferrule.
Lay brushes flat or hang them bristles down. Never stand a wet brush upright in a cup. Water runs into the ferrule, rots the glue and makes the handle crack. Let them air dry. A hair dryer or full sun dries the bristles out and can bend them.
Soak it in water for several hours so the paint softens, then peel it off with your fingers. Stubborn paint comes out with rubbing alcohol or a dedicated brush cleaner. The video uses a cap of turpentine, which some painters reach for. Rubbing alcohol is gentler, has less smell and works well on acrylic. Work in a ventilated room, and wash the solvent out with soap afterwards.
A bent tip can often be fixed by dipping the bristles in warm, not boiling, water for a few seconds and reshaping them with your fingers. Retire badly splayed brushes to scrubbing, dry brushing or glue work instead of throwing them away.
Acrylic rinse water is plastic in suspension. Pour the dirty jar into a bucket and let it sit overnight. The paint settles to the bottom. Pour off the clear water, then scrape the sludge into the trash once it dries.
Wet acrylic washes off a plastic palette with water. Dried paint often peels off in sheets. If it will not lift, cover it with water for a few minutes, then peel, or wipe with rubbing alcohol.
Good brush habits make every painting easier. Put them to work as you blend acrylic paint, mix your own colors or thin acrylics for glazes. A clean fan brush makes much crisper trees and grass.
10 steps · about 6 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Brush care starts while you are still painting. When you finish with a brush, dip it straight into water and swish it until the color leaves the bristles. Keep a second glass of clear water for the final rinse so you do not pick up muddy water. Dab the brush on a tissue or rag to remove the extra water before you dip into the next color.
Tip
Never leave a brush resting on its bristles in the jar. It bends the tip.
When your painting session is over, take the brushes to the sink and wash them one by one. Hold each brush under cool running water with the bristles pointing down. Let the water flush out as much paint as it can before you add soap. Pointing the bristles down keeps paint and water from running into the metal ferrule.
Tip
Use cool or lukewarm water. Hot water loosens the glue in the ferrule.
Put a little hand wash, mild soap or shampoo in the palm of your hand. Rub the brush in a circle in the center of your palm, working the soap into the bristles right up to the ferrule. The foam turns the color of the paint as it lifts out. Your palm acts as a scrubber without being rough on the bristles.
Tip
A brush cleaner and preserver bar works the same way and conditions the bristles.
Rinse the soap out under the tap, then lather and rinse again. Keep going until you rub the brush in your palm and see no color at all. That is the sign the paint is out of the base of the bristles, not only the tips. Paint left near the ferrule is what slowly spreads a brush out of shape.
Tip
Gently squeeze the bristles near the ferrule to check for hidden color.
Squeeze the water out of each brush with a tissue or an old towel. Then shape the bristles back to how they looked when new. Pinch round brushes to a point and flat brushes to a sharp, straight edge. They will dry in whatever shape you leave them, so take a second to get this right.
Tip
A tiny dab of soap left in the bristles holds the shape of a fine round while it dries.
Lay the brushes flat across a raised edge, like a palette or a book, so the bristles hang in the air and do not touch anything. Let them dry naturally. Do not blow dry them or leave them in the sun. Never stand wet brushes upright, because water runs down into the ferrule and loosens the bristles.
Tip
Once dry, store brushes upright in a cup, bristles up.
Forgot a brush and the paint dried hard? Do not throw it out yet. Stand it in a glass of water for four or five hours, or longer if it is badly caked. The water slowly softens the paint. You will see color start to cloud out of the bristles. If there is still a lot of paint after the first soak, change the water and soak it again.
Tip
Use only enough water to cover the bristles so the handle does not swell.
Once the paint is soft, pinch the bristles and gently pull the paint away. It often comes off in rubbery pieces, like the pink chunk here. Work from the ferrule toward the tip so you do not drag paint deeper in. Be gentle. Pulling hard tears bristles out. If it resists, put the brush back in the water for a while.
Tip
An old comb can tease paint out of a flat brush.
For paint that soaking cannot shift, dip the bristles in a small cup of solvent. The video uses turpentine. Rubbing alcohol works well on acrylic with less smell. Leave it a few minutes, then wipe the brush inside a folded tissue. The color comes out onto the paper. Wash the brush again with soap and water to remove the solvent.
Tip
Use solvents in a ventilated room and keep them away from children.
Paint builds up on handles too, and it rubs off onto your hands and the next painting. Wet a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and rub the stained areas. The paint lifts onto the cotton. Keep rubbing with a clean part of the pad until the handle looks new again. Wipe the handle dry when you finish.
Tip
Test on a small area first. Strong removers can lift the handle's printed size.
Keep going
How to Paint Shadows and Highlights in Acrylics With Color Theory
How to Clean Acrylic Paint Brushes (and Save Dried Ones)
Liquitex
Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Set (24 tubes)
Artist-grade pigment at student pricing, buttery enough to blend and thick enough to hold a stroke. The set most acrylic painters start on.
Benicci
Benicci 16-Piece Artist Brush Set
Every shape you actually reach for (round, flat, filbert, liner, fan) in nylon that keeps its point and does not shed. Comes with a palette knife and case.
FIXSMITH
FIXSMITH 8" x 10" Stretched Canvas (12-pack)
Pre-primed cotton canvases in a bulk pack so you can just start painting. The low-stakes surface for practicing before the big piece.
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