How to clean sable brushes after using acrylics

[zeus60]

I usually use ammonia to clean my paint brushes after using acrylics, and it works very well. However, I've always used synthetic brushes. I am now going to try using a sable brush, a Winsor-Newton Series 7. I'm hesitant to use the ammonia, as it may damage the sable, and these brushes are quite pricey.

Do any of you use a sable brush with acrylics? If so, how do you clean it? Just soap and water? By 'soap', do you mean hand soap? Simple Green perhaps? Or something else?

Also, I will be using both hobby acrylics (Polly Scale, maybe Tamiya) and artist-type (Winsor-Newton Galeria, or Liquitex BASICS MATT). Are these treated differently as far as cleaning up is concerned?

Thanks!

Stacey

[Matt]

Mostly just plain tap water, sometimes with a little dish soap, sometimes a 50/50 mix with Windex (some acrylics can dry really quickly and can be a bear to get off).

If you get really desperate, use Winsor Newton Acrylic brush cleaner. I wouldn't use it for everyday use, and you have to be careful as it will melt the laquer on the brush handles, but it will remove even the worst dried on Acrylic. Cleans out Airbrushes a treat as well.

Cheers,

Matt.

[rjwood_uk]

I just use plain water!

Ever day or two i put some pure soap on (dish-soap not hand soap) onto the sable and work it in a bit with my fingers, then give it a good few rinces.

Comes out a treat and the detergant seems to "condition" the sables. So you get a nice clean, soft brush once again.

I leave it to air dry on a bit of kitchen town after getting rid of most of the excess water.

Richard

[Triarius]

There is a fundamental problem with all brush bristles, regardless of whether they are natural (e.g., sable) or synthetic. What makes the bristle flexible is either a lipid or lipid-like portion of the molecule. A lipid is an oil or fat. In natural bristles, these are the "natural oils" associated with hair, fur, and even feathers. In the case of synthetics, it is a portion of the molecules making up the bristle that resembles a lipid and gives it its flexibility.

Almost anything you use to clean a brush, regardless of the brush composition, attacks lipids and lipid-like molecules to some extent (even pure water does this). The reason for this is that almost all coatings have lipid-like components (artist's oils are obvious, but the rest, enamel, oil, or acrylic all have something of that nature). To dissolve the coating, whether cured or partially cured, the solvent or cleaner interacts with the lipid like molecules or portions of them to thin, dissolve, or alter the binder so that it can be rinsed away. Unfortunately, it does the same thing to similar compontents of the bristles.

Some synthetic bristles are more resistant to this than others. Some natural fibers are also more resistant, but none compares with the synthetic in this regard. Generally, acrylic paints, their solvents and cleaners are less aggressive to bristles than enamels or oils and their solvents/cleaners, but the degree of difference varies and can be very small.

The keys to brush preservation are:

1. clean it promptly. That means never let paint dry on it, let alone cure.
   
2. clean it thoroughly. Never let paint or solvent remain in the ferrule, either.
   
3. dry it as thoroughly as possible after cleaning, even if the solvent is water.
   
4. use a bristle conditioner. Ordinary hair conditioner from your shower is fine. This will help natural bristles quite a bit. I don't know how much it will help the various synthetic bristles, but it can't hurt.
   

Hope this helps.

[Patrick_Nevin]

[*]use a bristle conditioner. Ordinary hair conditioner from your shower is fine. This will help natural bristles quite a bit. I don't know how much it will help the various synthetic bristles, but it can't hurt.

Now that in particular is a very good idea. Hmm! Thanks for sharing that

[zeus60]

Thanks for all the replies.

I had heard the tip about using shampoo and/or conditioner on the brushes. They are made of hair, after all.

[thegoodsgt]

Triarius's advice is the best I've ever seen, so I can't really add anything more.

I've been using W&N Series 7 for ten years, mostly for painting figures, but I'll just warn you that hobby paints (acrylic or enamel) are hard on these brushes. They're made for watercolors, so they won't last very long, even if you clean them perfectly. That said, they're the highest quality brush you can buy, and you'll be very happy with what you can do with them.

And remember, the smallest brush isn't always the best brush!

[mickevh]

I fell in love with Sable brushes as a teenager. My art teacher of the time reckoned they were "better" because the hairs had a 'kink' (or bend) in them which meant that they came to a point much more readly than bristle or synthetics. He reckoned that each bristle was specially selected and bound in the ferrule to achieve this (hence they cost four time as much as the cheapos.)

Somewhat born out by the fact that I could paint as thin a line with a sable than I could with the old "three hairer" I kept for extra special occasions. The difference is the sable can hold more paint than Mr three hair. (It's all in the capilliary action.)

I've even had some recent success "rescuing" an old brush from the ravages of years of glue, enamel and gouache by cleaning in Windex/Windolene (the amonia based one, not the pink stuff) thanks to ARC postings.

If you've never used a sable, spoil yourself one birthday and compare it with you cheapo brushes. If you hate it, well fine, whatever works for you, it's not cost you much to try, if you love it you'll never go back.

I love the idea of using conitioner.

[janman]

Now that in particular is a very good idea. Hmm! Thanks for sharing that

It truly sounds like a great idea.

[T-bone]

Regarding conditioning sable bristles, an artist friend of mine suggested to wipe the bristles, after cleaning, along the outside of your nose -- please note I said the outside of ones nose --to distribute the natural oils onto the bristles. I hate to admit that I do this -- somehow it seems gross -- but my brushes seem to hold up well and maintain their point for a long time.

thegoodsgt makes a good point regarding paint brush size. It seems the more I paint figures and small details, the larger the brush gets. Now, don't get me wrong, a tiny brush has a place on the hobby table for picking out that itsy bitys little detail, but I find a larger brush holds paint better which allows a better stroke. Detailed work is more about the ability to load the paint brush with the correct amount of paint and the ability to create a good point in order to create find strokes or details than getting the tiniest brush possible. I use to always grab the smallest brush on my table for details, like 10-0, but now I almost always use Winsor & Newton Kolinsky Series 7 brushes 0, #1, or #2 size. I would like to try the miniature series but since the standard round brushes work so well, I haven't been able to justify the expense.

[DewaGanaZ]

i had the series 7 brush...and i knew how u feel when come to caring these expensive brush

after each painting session, i just use normal water and shampoo... i read somewhere that since it's made of real hair, so hair shampoo can be used.

sometime i stole my wife hair conditioner to give the brush some treatment.. i used Head n Shoulder

some may laugh but believed it..

on top of that i had valejo brush cleaner and valejo brush restorer to boot... only used after heavy painting session i gave the brush these valejo treatment and especially when i leave the brushes for quite sometimes...

my 2 cents

[lgl007]

I've been using the same sable brushes for over 10 years... I use regular water to wash them. Then Dry them with a paper tower... basically squeeze the bristles together so that the shape of the brush is maintained. Then lay it FLAT on a paper towe. NEVER, NEVER stand up just cleaned brushed in a a jar (or container)... there is still alot of moisture where the bristles are glued into the metal that surrounds the handle... this will destroy your brush.

-Greg

[Julien (UK)]

Greg,

I have been standing my brushes up for years and it has never done them any harm. I hand paint everything and have some expensive brushes. I treat them well and they get a regualar shampoo but they sit on my desk in a mug with the bristles point up, always have done.

Some of the brushes are now more than 10 years old.

A good tip I got a few years ago was to clean the brushes very well at least one a year, also helps if you get paint clumping up near the ferrule (which you should not with proper cleaning). Suspend the brushes over night in laquer thinner and all the old paint etc just drops out. They need to be well cleaned with saop and shampoo afterwards. This will also rescue brushes where paint has dried on them (acrylic or enamal).

Julien

Edited July 19, 2008 by Julien (UK)

[lgl007]

Julien... hmmm that's interesting regarding the brushes lasting even though you let them dry upright... lesson #1 in any painting class is never to do that... I've taken many art courses over the years, read many art books and all say the same thing to lie them flat... /shrug... who knows... ;-)

-Greg

[toadwbg]

I use a little shampoo once in a while, works great.

[Julien (UK)]

Julien... hmmm that's interesting regarding the brushes lasting even though you let them dry upright... lesson #1 in any painting class is never to do that... I've taken many art courses over the years, read many art books and all say the same thing to lie them flat... /shrug... who knows... ;-)

-Greg

I should clarify I wipe them dry on kitchen towel before standing them up, they are not 100% dry but certainly not wet.

Julien

[T-bone]

For the past week or so I have been applying a hair conditioner to my sable brushes after every paint session and I have been impressed with how well the bristles have held up. When painting figures, I tend to clean my brushes after every color shade and can clean the brush dozens of times in an hour or so. I know this is only a week, but previously I have lost bristles and made a brush worthless in a few days on one set of figures so this is pretty cool to be able to see results with such a simple act as the use of hair conditioner.

[Old Man]

One tip I picked up, and have found helpful, is this.

When in a painting session, where I will be using a number of colors, mixing, etc., and basically suing brushes for a few moments at one thing and then at another, I keep a saucer of water with a little dish detergent in it handy, and place the brushes to rest in this when I have to set them down to pick up something else. It floats the last little bits of stuff out of the bristles, and keeps things from clogging up at the ferrule. Since they are lying pretty flat, the bristle do not get a bend.

[VMI Vince]

I've been cleaning all of my brushes with straight laquer thinner for years, and I've never had any problems (I don't use synthetic brushes). It works especially well if the acrylic has dried on the brush, or is deep in the base of the bristles. According to some of the other posts, this is bad for the brush, but it's worked fine for me. Then again, I don't use brushes for anything more than detail painting (consoles, panels, engines, fine details, etc.)

[Cagie]

Thanks for the helpful info