This is a messy way to go. You need a thinner bucket. I don't understand why commercial painters love to fling thinner around, it's a toxin and a fire hazard. Anything you aerosolize, you breathe.
- Cleaning Brush With Mineral Spirits
- Cleaning Oil Paint Brushes With Mineral Spirits
- How To Clean Old Paint Brushes
- Cleaning oil-based finishes from a brush requires solvents and a little more time than water-based finishes. Pour about a quarter-inch of mineral spirits into a glass or plastic container. Then push the bristles into the liquid–fully wetting them up to the ferrule–and work the brush around to remove as much paint as you can.
- Mineral spirits or turpentine to remove oil-based paint Hot water and mild liquid dish soap to clean paint brushes that have been used to apply latex paint Immerse the paint brush in the solvent.
- Consequently, how do you clean paint brushes with mineral spirits? Pour about a quarter-inch of mineral spirits into a glass or plastic container. Then push the bristles into the liquid–fully wetting them up to the ferrule–and work the brush around to remove as much paint as you can. Additionally, how do you clean hard paint brushes?
Another good choice for gentle cleaning is denatured alcohol. Naphtha is another solvent that is a good step between mineral spirits and the more aggressive acetone. When you are done painting, many folks use mineral spirits or lacquer thinner to clean up their paintbrushes and equipment. In this video I will be showing you how I clean oil based paint off my paint brushes - using a simple technique that uses very little white spirit - and AMAZ.
Not being snarky - being concerned for your health. And your pocket book. I get that.
I was trained to clean those brushes after the day by wiping them out, giving a good rinse in a thinner bucket to knock off any solids, and shampooing with Murphy's. Every Day After Painting. There's no reason for a brush to get to this state. The next morning, it's dry and clean and ready to go. You can also knock off any cruddy build up through the day in a thinner bucket. Which is a zinc or steel bucket, with a lid, with a grate inside to run the bristles over. Paint solids fall to the bottom and the thinner can be used until it's exhausted. No breathing micro droplets, none on the skin, and the fire hazard stays contained. Yes, paint thinner is a fire hazard. It comes from the same cracking tower as motor oil and gasoline, it's very dirty stuff. It often contains lead and other nasty things too. You don't want to breathe it.
You can also give most brushes a 72 hour soak in Murphys as a maintenance deep clean. Every six months or so. This can also rescue brushes you've already trashed. No scraping or grinding needed if you clean up every day though. That's time out of your life. Go watch a game! The five minutes to wash brushes is worth having a clean dry well conditioned tool at hand the next morning. But a Saturday afternoon? Nah.
I'm trained as a portrait painter, but I renovate houses too. And I have a brush fetish, I have over a thousand high quality ones. I clean them all the same way, studio or house. They're all in great shape. Washing daily is not a problem, the oil in oil soap is a great conditioner for natural hairs. Just let them air dry out in the open, they could mildew in a closed container. Takes them inside in freezing weather. Love them and they'll love you back.
Cleaning Oil Brushes
For anyone that has picked up an oil painting brush and used oil paint the worst thing is cleaning the brushes afterward. You can never seem to get all the crud out of the brush that will harden in the ferrules of the brush. Oh sure you can try to use mineral spirits and then try forever to get the oil out of the brush and then go to the sink and try to get the rest out with soap. I have done all that with the right special art soaps and the mineral spirits and still had oil still hiding in the brush.
The best that I method that I have found to clean your brushes and get all the paint out is the following. After you are done painting for the day or week or whatever.
First I saturate the brush with oil usually vegetable oil and then pull out all the paint I can. If there is some paint still left I wash it in vegetable oil again and pull out the remaining oil in a cloth or tissue paper.
Cleaning Brush With Mineral Spirits
Second I wash the brush out with dish soap. After using the oil the soap breaks down the paint and oil very quickly. That is not the case if you still have mineral spirits in the brushes.
Third After the soap and water wash I pull out as much of the water that I can into a cloth or tissue paper. The I use petroleum jelly and saturate the brush with the jelly and pull out the excess. This allows you to reshape your brush if needed and won’t dry.
Cleaning Oil Paint Brushes With Mineral Spirits
This is the best way I have found to clean up oil brushes thoroughly, help them keep their shape and not dry out.
How To Clean Old Paint Brushes
Give it a try and Have fun painting.