Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Remove any excess paint from the brush
• Method 2 of 3: Clean the brush with soap and water
• Method 3 of 3: Maintain good brushing habits while painting
• Tips
• Necessities

Acrylic brushes are almost useless if they are not cleaned properly, so it is important to wash your brushes thoroughly after each use. Neglecting to clean your brushes can make them unusable as the bristles harden and stick together, especially when using quick-drying acrylic paint. Fortunately, cleaning acrylic brushes only takes a few minutes of work. Cleaning your brushes will allow you to use them over and over again and will extend the life of your brushes.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Remove any excess paint from the brush

1. Wipe paint off the bristles with a paper towel or cloth. This step is optional, but can help.Before cleaning the paintbrush with water, wrap a paper towel or cloth around the bristles of the brush and gently press the brush to remove any excess paint. Wiping away the excess paint will make it easier and faster to rinse the brushes.
   • Do not wait to clean after painting. It is important to clean your brush immediately after use.
2. Brush with the paintbrush over the paper towel or cloth. Brush the bristles of the paintbrush over the paper towel or cloth until the brush no longer leaves any paint. This will help remove as much paint as possible before washing the brushes.
3. Stir in a cup of water with the brush. Lower your brush into a cup of water and twist the bristles of the brush around the bottom for a few seconds. Do not submerge the brush for too long, but stir with the brush to remove even more excess paint.
   • If you used a cup of water to rinse the brushes between applying the different colors, you can use this water or work with clean water. After this first wash, you will wash the brush with soap and water, so it is okay if the water is cloudy.
   • After you wipe off the paint and submerge the brush, your brush will be cleaner. However, this is not enough to clean the brush completely. You should use soap and water to clean the brush and keep the bristles soft and flexible.

Method 2 of 3: Clean the brush with soap and water

1. Hold the brush under lukewarm water. Drain lukewarm water from the tap. Then hold your brush under the tap for five to 10 seconds to rinse and scrub gently, rotating so that the water can reach all sides of the brush.
   • The pressure of the water will help loosen paint that you may not have been able to get rid of just by wiping the brush.
2. Squeeze the hair to loosen the last paint residue. After holding the brush or brush under the tap for five to ten seconds, gently squeeze the bristles with your fingers.
   • At this point, the brush may appear clean, but it is still necessary to continue cleaning with soap.
   • You can try using a brush comb at this point to get all the paint off.
3. Put mild soap on the brush and work it into the hair. Turn off the tap and then put a teaspoon of mild soap or brush soap on the bristles of the brush. Massage the soap into the bristles of the brush with your fingers.
   • You can also use shampoo instead of soap.
   • If you wash a large brush, make sure to massage the soap into both the inner and outer hairs.
   • It is important to get the soap on the areas of the brush where the bristles meet the metal sleeve, the canister, around the handle of the brush. If you skip the bristles around the sleeve when cleaning, the bristles will eventually spread, harden and change the shape of the brush.
4. Rinse out the soap. Turn the water back on until it is lukewarm. Then place the brush under the water. After no more soap suds come off the brush, massage the hair with your fingers to remove the last soap residue.
5. Move back and forth with the brush in the soap. After rinsing out the soap, put a small amount of liquid soap in the palm of your hand. Hold the brush in your other hand and swirl the bristles of the brush in the soap.
   • Swirling the paintbrush in soap helps to reach hard-to-reach paint residue in the bristles around the sleeve.
   • The swirling motion mimics how you used your brush while painting, with the result that the soap reaches areas of the brush where paint can still be present.
6. Rinse the brush. After moving the brush around in the soap in your palm, the brush should be completely clean. Hold it under lukewarm water and then massage the last soap out of the hair.
7. Dry the brush. It is not good for brushes to be wet for long periods of time. After you have finished rinsing out the soap, wrap the bristles of the brush in a paper towel or clean cloth and squeeze gently to soak up water.
   • Let your brushes dry horizontally. When stored vertically on their bristles, they can be bent out of shape.

Method 3 of 3: Maintain good brushing habits while painting

1. From time to time, dip the brushes in the water when using multiple brushes. There are several habits you can apply while painting that will make cleaning your brush easier and can protect the bristles from hardening or damage. One of the most important things to remember is not to let the paint dry on the hair.
   • If you are using multiple brushes while painting and you take long breaks between each session, remember to dip the brushes back into the paint every now and then to keep them from drying out.
   • Dipping the brushes in water and swirling to remove excess paint will keep the paint from drying on the bristles.
2. Be careful not to soak the brushes while painting. If you are using multiple brushes, you may be tempted to just leave the brushes in the water. However, letting the brushes rest in the water can cause the bristles to spread out and bend them out of shape. The best way to preserve your brushes while painting is to place them horizontally on a rag or paper towel.
3. Try to keep the sleeve free of paint. If you are painting you may be tempted to dip the bristles of the brush completely in the paint so that the entire head of the brush is submerged. However, doing this will cause paint to get around the brush sleeve, making it extremely difficult to clean the brush bristles, which will eventually damage the brush and spread the bristles.
   • Instead of dipping the brush into the paint up to the sleeve, try to dip only ¾ of the bristles into the paint.

Tips

• Nail polish is an aggressive product, so your brush will be slightly damaged, but more useful than before.
• Soak the brush in very hot water for three minutes and then in acetone for five minutes.
• Keep in mind that cleaning your brushes should only take a little time, which is a small cost to keep your brushes looking good, especially if they are of good quality.
• If you haven't cleaned your brush and the bristles are hard and stuck together with paint, you may be able to save the brush by soaking it in nail polish remover for a day.
• Soaking a brush in pure Murphy’s Oil Soap for 24 hours will remove most of the set paint.

Necessities

• Mild soap, brush soap or shampoo
• Clean rags or paper towels