How To Properly Clean a Paint Brush

Hi, I'm Jeremy Vassar. I've been painting homes for over 20 years, and I want to help you with your painting projects. My brother Josh and I work together to make painting easy for DIYers and homeowners like you.

I've painted everything—from small rooms to entire houses—and I've tested tons of different products. On this channel, I'll show you all my tips, tricks, and honest reviews.

I know anyone can say anything online, so here’s my story to help you see what I can do.

Jeremy Vassar's Painting Journey
Age 15-21: I started painting schools in the summers with my brother Josh. This is where I learned the basics.
Age 21: I graduated from Temple University and started painting full-time with Josh.
Age 21-27: I worked up to 60 hours a week, painting high-end homes and a large retirement community—up to 60 units a year.
Age 24: Josh and I became co-owners of Handyworks Painting LLC, making our painting business official.
Age 24 (also): We started working with Danken, a company that does kitchens and baths. We still work with them today.
Age 25: We began working with Gemmi Construction, a high-end company. We still work with them too.
Age 28: I learned how to stain wood like newel posts, handrails, and steps
Age 28-38: I kept getting better, learned to work faster, and delivered even better results. We were also able to charge more for our work because of the quality.
Age 34: I started this YouTube channel to help DIYers and homeowners with painting projects.
Age 38: I launched "Paint Your Home Now," a community to help people paint their homes quickly and easily.

How many rooms I've painted (Best Guesses):
Bedrooms: 2,000+
Bathrooms: 1,000+
Kitchens: 300+
Exteriors (partial and complete): 300+
Family Rooms, Living Rooms, Foyers, Hallways: 2,000+
Closets: 3,000+
Wallpaper Removed from Rooms: 100+

I hope I can help you make your home look amazing with paint!
- Jeremy Vassar

[YesiPleb]

I have a large dog and always have poo bags with me, bunch of them in the car. If I need to rest a brush for a bit I place it inside one of these and wrap the top of the bag tight around the handle. I've had them wrapped for a good couple hours (oil and water based) and been able to clean the brush thoroughly afterwards. Definitely a lot easier than wrapping with cling film although that is best for the large brushes. If I'm working out I like to bag my brushes and clean them at home. The Best thing I bought recently was from B&Q (UK) which is a little tray designed to assist in cleaning brushes and at one end has a triangular-shaped raised row of "slices" that go through the bristles of the brush. At 9:47 that's how I dry my brushes out all the time.

[karenjjx]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge in most genuine way.

[azilmae]

You deserve more subscribers. I’m learning a lot!! Thank you

[katrinaknotts]

This was great! I wish I had this video a few weeks ago when I was painting a friends office. We definitely left the brushes until they started getting dry, only used cold water, threw away those covers that we had no idea were supposed to be kept. Great tips for future reference! Loved the editing! Gus is adorable :-)

[AntonVanDerSar]

I love your choice of background music!!

[johnhughes]

Great tip..we use newspaper or grocery bags..even for our rollers. The roller Keeper by obvious solutions works great if you will be in the same color for a week, month, etc. Great product.

[equipman]

Put a rag on the edge of that sink a put the ferrule of the brush on the edge of the sink to support the brush while holding the handle. Take a sturdy wide wire brush and brush down and out as hard as you can from the ferrule out to the end of the brush. Do the same thing on the edges you won't hurt it. If you leave paint in the heal down in the ferrule it will make the brush start to flare and lose it's shape. Rub the bristles together under water between your hands. Use Dawn dishwashing soap and do it more. Put the bristles strait up into the water stream and hold your hand around the stream and blast the water in there until it runs clear. Use a stiff nylon scrub brush to clean the handle and the ferrule. After spinning, shape the brush with your hands and put it right into the holder, don't let it dry first.

[Wotan-Born]

Pro Tip—— Once my brush is cleaned and the bristles are fairly dry and before it goes back into it’s holder I always spray a tiny bit of WD-40 on the bristles and work It in to the form. Keeps all my brushes clean, nicely formed and the handle conditioned.

[BerlyJ]

I was today years old when I learned all this helpful info! I never knew! Thank you!

[numberpappy]

Good video! Ive got into the habit of giving my brushes a qwick dip into mineral spirits after cleaning with hot water. I got into this habit after noticing that my brushes were stiff after drying after using a hybrid paint like advance trim paint. Whats really nice about using mineral spirits even after laytex is that it removes even the dried paint high on the bristles. 😊

[arifmunshi]

Actually some practical tips in there. Many thanks

[elizabethc]

I've been using plastic store bags for paint brushes overnight, but love the idea of cling wrap because I usually have up to 4 brushes going and the plastic wrap would make it SO easy to see which brush it is without unwrapping. There were so many great tips in this video. I'm always trying to learn better and easier ways. Thanks!

[cblankenship]

I like the wire brush. Going to get one. The wrap is a great pro tip so you can wait until the end of the job for just one brush clean. Less waist paint in the environment that way! I have a septic, so I hate washing paint down the drains. I like to use a dry paper towel or two to get as much paint off of the brush as I can before the sink clean. Then throw the towels and a most of the paint in the trash. Latex in the pipes can’t be good for sewer or septic systems?

[fairamir]

To ge tthe water out I do not use the whip method, I bang against a tree and then swip fast back and forth to remove all water. Also rubbing the brussh quickly over q chair link fence works great.

[clarkg]

I haven't been good to my brushes : ( Thanks for the teaching video, very helpful.

[ffwemtiv]

Jeremy, have you ever used KrudKutter to clean your brushes? I'll give mine a cursory rinse, then soak just the bristles for about 5-10 min. After that, I hit 'em with a Wooster brush comb and brass wire brush which gets rid of nearly all traces of dried paint. Then i spin dry with a Shure-Line 5200C brush and roller spinner. Cheers

[pjmlegrande]

Genius level stuff, man! Thank yew kindly

[pattydowell]

Great Video. Just came across your page and love it! This video you posted 2 amazon links for the Corona cortez brush 2 and 2 1/2. In the paint brush descriptions they say paint type Oil. I mostly use latex paint. Can I still use either brush with interior latex paint? Thanks in advance for your response.

[justindearmond]

i use plastic grocery bags...they work great for brush/roller wrapping and are free. will keep longer if put in the fridge or so ive heard, not sure if thats true or not as i dont like putting off cleaning them. They can even be used to cover a 5 gallon bucket. sometimes ill drop the screen and roller in the paint and put a bag over it, you have to stretch them some but will work, then i put a folded up drop or a lid on it...sometimes a wet rag in a pinch for extra protection. painter for 25 years. all brushes will splay or 'finger' out eventually. putting water down the bristiles is a must when working with brushes outside in the heat all day. they just wont come clean otherwise. I use a brush comb as well as a wire brush and clean the brush until when i squeeze them the water runs clear...if the water is cloudy in my hand i keep going. then spin the brush well, a brush spinner makes it way easier(that being said ive yet to buy one!). put it back in its cover. If you use the brush every day it wont last too long as it needs to dry out well before being used again, but that cant be helped sometimes especially when a 3in Corona Silk green bristle is over 30 dollars.

[Alllllll]

When you use hot water, will it not make only worse? That can make paint to dry faster or get some chemical reaction that will make paint stay on brush? No?