Tips for cleaning oil paint brushes

Keep your oil paint brushes in good condition with these easy cleaning tips!

[MontMarteArt]

🖌 Check out our range of oil paintbrushes here 🖌

[caseyallred]

My biggest hesitation for oil painting has been the cleaning process so thank you so much, this will help me push forward and actually progress as an artist!

[bonjovirocks]

This is so helpful! I've been reluctant to paint because of the brush cleaning process. This makes me want to paint again! Thank you,

[anthonytaylor]

A useful video, short and to the point, without being 'dragged' around the houses!
Tnx.

[JustMe-hgbq]

So I got three "good" brushes, I didnt knew how oil paint worked, so my first two brushes got rock hard and I didnt knew why (by he time i didnt got a solvent to clean them up with so i just used water), with my other brush I kept using acrilyc, so nothing happend to it. I research how to revive brushes and I found your video, so far the vinager hasnt done anything for me BUT using the solvent has helped A LOT to revive the other two brushes, one of them got recovered (is looking rough but im still in the process) and the other is still rock hard. I AM GRATEFUL because of your advice with the vegetable oil, makes the brushes incredibly soft and managable and with my last brush I've been using your cleaning process with 100% success, so far it hasnt got hard at all, thank you for saving my brushes from catastrophe!

[Twinniekin]

Wow, at last a very useful and clear process for cleaning brushes. It's the bane of my life. I have not used agitation before or apple cider vinegar and hair Conditioner. I'm glad I came across your video and thank you so much for your efforts.

[hipoopamoose]

Thank you so much!! I figured that dish soap alone doesn't cut it for my oil brushes, this is great thank you!

[Amayas_page]

Thank you so much! I've been using turpentine from the hardware store, because it comes in a bigger container, but had a hard time getting my brushes as clean.

[tba]

I prefer a non-toxic approach by using vegetable oil like walnut or safflower. I use one jar for the initial (dirty) application and one for a final (clean) stage, swishing and wiping until the brush is clean. The oil removes the paint effortlessly. Then I do a final wash with Murphy's Oil Soap and Master's cleaner.

[pabcakeh]

thank you (: im very new to oil paints and this video was very beginner friendly

[kdub]

Great video. Working on a large number of cabinets, I had several brushes soaking in mineral spirits. Went about cleaning them as per your video and now all brushes look great.

[shreyasshankar]

Oh wow, I got more solutions than I wanted with your video! Gonna try them all soon!

[safi]

CLEANING FRESH PAINT
1. Wipe off excess paint onto paper towel
2. Scrub it in a jar of solvent and wipe onto paper towel. Repeat as necessary.
3. Scrub it in a second jar of clean solvent. Wipe off on paper towel.
4. Now scrub it in a third jar of vegetable oil and wipe off on towel.
5. Scrub it in clean solvent to remove any excess veg oil. Wipe off on towel.

CLEANING DRIED UP PAINT
1. Put it in some apple cider vinegar for 24 hours. Wipe off on paper towel. Repeat as necessary.
2. Dip into clean solvent, wipe away, and then into veg oil, again wipe away.
3. Shape the brush by applying hair conditioner on bristles, and shaping it onto your palm.
4. Wash conditioner out before starting a painting.

[Quindr]

Great video well explained. What to do if I only have white spirit? Will it be enough if I just wash the brushes with that?? Can I use any other oil instead?

[seidenschnabelfederflugel]

And what do you do with the dirty solvent jar? You cant throw it away am i right? Because its so toxic for the environment. And where do you store your terpentine? I'm new to oil paint and super scared that i burn my house down by using those solvents.

[Tyler]

The hair conditioner part made my day lol I’ll definitely try ❤️

[garyji]

I didn't see the tip about hair conditioner coming. Brilliant!

[vhhjhpo]

Omg removing harden paint from the brush bristle is very useful tip. And I feel regret that I threw away many brushes cuz the dry paint.

[conesaskate]

great video mate! bloody hell what a lovely voice

[nonexistenty]

Thank you so much for this video. I found it very useful especially the part where you mention about the acetic acid paint removal.

I have two questions sir
1) would you recommend cleaning oil paints off the brush this way after every single paint stroke, or after the entire day’s painting session is over?

2) can I use linseed oil in place of turpentine oil as the solvent ?