Acrylic artists need clean brushes

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If you use acrylic paint, you know how easily brushes can get ruined if not properly cleaned. Hey, those things are expensive, so let’s take good care of them! The totally fabulous technical support at Golden Paints offer these simple steps:

To properly clean your brushes loaded with acrylic paints, do the following:

1. In a small container filled with clean water, gently push the brush hairs onto the bottom and move the brush back and forth until the majority of the paint comes out.
2. Pat the brush dry, and continue painting. Resist the urge to leave brushes in the water container, as this bends the hairs.
3. Once you are done painting for the day, repeat step #1 and then with your fingertips, work a small amount of a liquid soap, such as Ivory Liquid, into the entire brush. Be sure to work the paint deep into the ferrule (where the hairs meet the wood handle).
4. After the soap has fully saturated the hairs, repeat steps #1 and #2.
5. Acrylics strip the natural oils in real hair brushes, so to rejuvenate them, take a very small amount of a generic hair conditioner, such as Suave, and work it into the brush hairs with your fingertips until it begins to feel dry. It is important to NOT use too much conditioner. Shape the brush hairs to their original configuration, like how they looked when you first bought them.
6. Hang your brushes so the brush hairs are facing downward. We use Velcro on the end of the brush handle and apply Velcro to a shelf or table end near where we paint. This will keep any residual paint from drying in the ferrule. Allow the brush to dry.
7. Before painting, wet the brush in the clean water container.

If you follow these instructions, your brushes should last for a long time before they become irregular.
Find tons more tech tips from Golden here.

Tagged as: acrylic paint, artist brushes