High - quality oil painting brushes can be profitable, but with a infinitesimal care, they can last for years. Art suppliers like Dick Blick Art Materials and Michaels are good places to shop for cleaning supplies. Heres how to do it:
What Youll Need
Tear some memento sheets in half and keep a pile nearby while you work. Youll also need liquid hand soap, a pair of gloves, and a small can of paint thinner, turpentine or mineral spirits.
Remove Excess Paint
Wrap a piece of newspaper around your brush, firmly enclosing the metal ferrule at the top of the bristles, and pull the brush out of the newspaper. Repeat this process using additional newspaper if needed, until you get as much paint out of it as possible.
Loosen and Repeat
Dip your brush into the can of paint thinner or other thinning medium and swish it around, rubbing it against the bottom and sides to release paint from the bristles. Grab a new sheet of newspaper and repeat the squeezing process. The paint will be runny.
Wash Your Brush
Finally, put a dollop of plain liquid soap in the palm of your hand and sweep the brush back and forth in the soap. When the soap fills with paint, rinse it and repeat with more soap until no more color appears in your palm. Give the brush a final rinse and squeeze out remaining water with a fresh sheet of newspaper. Let it air dry.
