How to Clean Painting Brushes at Home?

Mar 18, 2022

Painting, whether an artistic activity or a household renovation duty, many of us have done it before but let’s discuss about how to clean painting brushes after usage. We have to take some time and effort on cleaning paint brushes after using them, especially making them last for a long time.

Effective Ways to Clean Paint Brushes After Painting

Cleaning a paint brush is important to use it for the next uses. There are some methods cleaning paint brushes. We’ve compiled some of the best ways to clean paint brushes and make them last!

1. Apply soap and water

One of the simplest ways to clean brushes is using soap and hot water. Soap and hot water are two things that we use and take for granted everyday. These are also the two things you need to clean paintbrushes. It might take some patience, but water and soap are all it might take to do the job. Start by preparing some soapy water and pour it into a clean container. Then you dip the brush into the soapy water washing the brush bristles to cleanse as much of the paint. After that, put the brush back into the hot/warm water and leave it sitting there for 20 minutes or so.

2. How to clean painting brushes using solvents

There are many other ways on how to clean painting brushes. If you’re looking for a fast and effective method to do this, we recommend using solvents. Solvents work best to clean your paintbrushes just after you’re done using them. You will need a few materials when using solvents to clean the paint brushes. The correct type of solvent to use depends on the kind of paint for one thing. You will need a few materials to work with the solvent and these include paper towels, rags, old paintbrush, bucket, and disposable gloves. There are several steps that involves in cleaning painting brushes with solvent as follows:

First of all, try remove any leftover paint from the brush with a paper towel or old rag to facilitate the cleaning process
Next, pour some solvent into any type of container. You want to ensure that you clearly mark your container so that you don’t end up putting food into it. Then place your painting brush into the solvent
Start swirling the painting brush around the solvent to remove all the paint
When you’ve cleaned your brush, rinse off any excess solvent with running tap water
Reshape your paintbrush bristles, let the brush dry and store it somewhere until you use it the next time

Here are the solvents to consider:

Apply water on your brushes to remove the paint
Use paint thinner to remove oil-based paints
Water-based paint can be removed by water
Certain alcohol can be used on shellacs

If you’re unsure of what solvent to use, consult a home décor retail store to verify. When cleaning painting brushes, you should always wear plastic gloves and work safety clothes when using solvents. Also, when working with solvents, you it’s recommended that you’re in an open area where there’s adequate ventilation.

3. Using vinegar to clean hardened paint on brushes

Vinegar is normally used in cooking but you can use it in various purposes specially cleaning. Vinegar is also an ideal solution in cleaning painting brushes with tough stains of paint. You would need white vinegar along with a pot, a used painting brushes, and the stove for this task. The steps are as follows:

First, put some vinegar into the pot or use one that you might get specifically for paintbrushes at a local thrift store
Place the brush in the vinegar and let the paint covered areas to soak completed into the vinegar. Add more vinegar if necessary
Bring the vinegar to a boil then put it simmer for a brief moment
Turn off the heat to let it cool off before taking out the brush from vinegar
Use your fingers to brush off the vinegar from the bristles then rinse the brush with cold water until the paint comes off
Repeat these steps until all the paint are gone then reshape the paintbrush bristles then let it dry

4. Applying fabric softener as a quick way to remove paint

Another good method of quickly and effectively remove paint from your brushes is applying fabric softener. Here’s are the materials that you will need: 1/8 cup of fabric softener, 4 cups of warm water, a bowl or bucket, paper towel/old rag and a dirty paint brush.

Follow these steps in applying fabric softener to remove paint from your brush:

Begin the process by removing as much paint as possible from your paintbrush with an old rag preferably
Pour some fabric softener and a few cups of warm water into a container of your choice then mix
Stir your paintbrush around the until paint is removed
Once you’ve cleaned off the paint from your brush, rinse any leftover solution off with water
Then dry your brush and if necessary, wipe off excess solvent using paper towels or old rags then reshape the bristles

Pro Tips: Buy quality brushes to simplify cleaning task

Using water and soap, thinner, vinegar are some good ways of how to clean painting brushes. However, if you want to retain your paintbrushes for years, using a little extra help would do the trick. One advice is to buy high-quality painting brushes that suits best for the type of paint you’re using. Having the right paintbrush makes it easier to clean it. In order to clean it properly and ensure the brush’s longevity, follow these tips:

It’s good practice to allow only two inches of paint on brush before painting. Having less paint on your paintbrush, the less you have to clean
When done with painting, remove as much paint from the brush either on the surface where you’re painting, the rim of the paint can or on a paper towel or cloth
In addition, you can also use a brush comb to comb out the paint from the bristles

Here you have four methods on how to clean printing brushes after your paint job. As you can see, it’s not as hard as you might think in removing paint from your paintbrushes. Using the basic items in our household like vinegar, fabric softener, water, solvents and paper towels or old rags will do a fine job in keeping your brushes in good condition for years to come.