Cleaning Oil Brushes
- Mineral spirits is a very versatile cleaning solvent, properly cleaning paint brushes, with tons of many other uses you might need cutting grease, grim, of course oils on anything from lawnmowers, to cleaning parts of any motorized tool in your garage.
- For oil-based paints, stains and varnishes, soak the bristles in a cup of mineral spirits or paint thinner in a well-ventilated space for a few minutes. Swirl the bristles through the solution and then remove and lay the brush flat on a rag. Comb the bristles and periodically stir them in the solution to rinse the loosening bits of product.
Wipe the brush with a microfiber brush or cloth. Use a dry microfiber brush or clean cloth to wipe off the mineral spirits and any varnish left on the brush. It's okay if a little varnish residue is left on the brush, but try to get as much off as possible.
For anyone that has picked up an oil painting brush and used oil paint the worst thing is cleaning the brushes afterward. You can never seem to get all the crud out of the brush that will harden in the ferrules of the brush. Oh sure you can try to use mineral spirits and then try forever to get the oil out of the brush and then go to the sink and try to get the rest out with soap. I have done all that with the right special art soaps and the mineral spirits and still had oil still hiding in the brush.
With most of the primer scraped away, and the rest of it completely softened, I followed up with my normal routine for cleaning oil-based products — pour mineral spirits onto the brush, work in thoroughly, squeeze as much out into a paper towel as possible, put a generous amount of grease-fighting dishwashing liquid onto the brush, work into the bristles thoroughly, and rinse with water. I have done all that with the right special art soaps and the mineral spirits and still had oil still hiding in the brush. The best that I method that I have found to clean your brushes and get all the paint out is the following. After you are done painting for the day or week or whatever.
The best that I method that I have found to clean your brushes and get all the paint out is the following. After you are done painting for the day or week or whatever.
First I saturate the brush with oil usually vegetable oil and then pull out all the paint I can. If there is some paint still left I wash it in vegetable oil again and pull out the remaining oil in a cloth or tissue paper.
Second I wash the brush out with dish soap. After using the oil the soap breaks down the paint and oil very quickly. That is not the case if you still have mineral spirits in the brushes.
Third After the soap and water wash I pull out as much of the water that I can into a cloth or tissue paper. The I use petroleum jelly and saturate the brush with the jelly and pull out the excess. This allows you to reshape your brush if needed and won’t dry.
This is the best way I have found to clean up oil brushes thoroughly, help them keep their shape and not dry out.
Give it a try and Have fun painting.
Your Brush.
All of our brushes are hand-crafted with great care and attention to detail. Each brush has three (3) main parts: handle, ferrule and head. Inside the ferrule are two (2) epoxy barriers. One at the top to hold the hair together and a second at the bottom of the ferrule to hold the head on to the handle.
Prepare Your New Brush For Painting.
When you are ready to start using your brush, and before you start painting, it’s important to properly prep the brush to help minimize unnecessary bristle shedding. It’s worth mentioning that with every new natural hair paint and wax brush it’s perfectly normal to have a few loose bristle hairs, even after prepping. I assure you, once your brush has gone through its break-in period bristle loss will be nominal with proper ongoing maintenance care.
*TIP - If you do lose a hair from the brush while painting, we recommend not using your fingers to pick off the loose bristle. Using your paint brush, approach the hair at an angle and swoop up the loose hair, then pick off the bristle from your brush head and continue with your painting project.
Five (5) Steps: How To Break in Your New Chalk Paint Brush.
Removing loose and rogue bristles.
STEP 1 (Slap).
Slap the brush head against the palm of your hand several times or firm taps against a hard surface (i.e. table) to nudge upwards any stray bristles. Not a lot of force is required, so use caution to avoid unncessary damage to your brush or impacted surface area.
STEP 2 (Pluck).
Using your finger tips, gently pull at the bristles in a plucking manner across the entire head of the brush to remove any visible/hidden loose or stray hairs. We don't recommend twizzers for removing bristles, as they can accidentally damage or loosen perfectly good bristles. Next, examine your brush and remove any bristles that are bent and sticking out by cutting off with a nail clipper.
STEP 3 (Knife).
Knifing is a simple and quick process that involves using the back (dull side) of a knife, by pulling the hair gently in a repeating sweeping motion over the entire head of the brush. Do this several times to remove any loose hairs and remember to do it gently, but firmly.
For your convenience, a #4 palette knife is included with our Signature Pro Brush Set and is ideal for this step.
STEP 4 (Rinse & Condition).
Rinse your brush under warm water while gently squeezing the bristle hairs and lightly pulling the hairs down from the ferrule to the tips of the brush hairs. Be sure to remove any excess water from the bristle head before painting.
Note: If you're not ready to begin painting after this step then we recommend wrapping the bristle head with a cloth or paper towel (see instructions) and allow to dry on a flat surface. This will help your bristles from natually fanning.
For those wishing to soften their bristles, we recommend our Bristle Cleaning and Conditioning Soap during this step (see instructions). The moisturizing soap is included with our Signature Pro Brush Set and also sold separately in our store.
STEP 5 (X-ing).
Dip the brush in paint (1/3 of the bristle length) and paint back and forth diagonally over old newspaper print or brown kraft paper in an 'X' pattern several times. This step should remove any last remaining or potential loose bristles.
+ 5 STEP BRUSH PREP GUIDE
Prepare Your New Brush For Painting Guide
Grab your own copy for future reference. Follow our five (5) steps for the care and removal of loose natural hair bristles.
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+ BRUSH GUIDE
How to Remove Those Loose Bristles
Grab your own copy for future reference. Follow our five (5) steps for the care and removal of loose natural hair bristles.
Download PDF
DID YOU KNOW? (Fun Fact)
It's not uncommon for natural hair bristles, like boar hair, to have a slight odor and on the rare occasion a more noticeable scent. This stronger smell can be associated to the natural and also edible ingredient, Camphor (Bhimseni Kapoor), used to clean and eliminate insects and germs found in natural hair. Camphor is derived from trees/plants and has an inherit strong odor. Camphor is also commonly found in popular vaporizer brands for its healing agents. The smell will naturally dissipate over time or after a few rinse and cleaning cycles. For those who wish to minimize the smell we recommend soaking just the bristles (not the ferrule) in vinegar for no more than 15 minutes and then rinse and clean. It's important to note that many of our competitors have chosen to use a chemically produced Camphor extracted from turpentine, which we have chosen not to do.
Note: Soaking the ferrule in vinegar can damage the ferrule and weaken the epoxy securing the bristles in place.
Cleaning Your Brush.
All Vintage Tonality brushes are entirely made from natural double-washed boar bristles. Unlike synthetic brushes, our brushes can hold up to a lot of wear and tear, however, it’s important to point out, just like the real hair on your head, using harsh cleaners (including bleach) will damage your bristles. Since the overall care for your brush is quite simple you won’t need anything that harsh to clean your brush.
Our handmade cleaning and conditioning soap was created especially for our brushes. With ingredients like coconut oil, shea butter, lavender, and lye, your brush will keep in top shape. Don’t expect a ton of suds, just superior cleaning and conditioning power.
our all-natural handmade soap will clean and condition your brush
Alternatively, a mild grease-cutting dish soap or hair shampoo and conditioners can work well. Over time, the use of standard dish soaps will cause the bristles to dry out and become brittle. If you rinse your brush immediately after painting, just warm water is often enough to do the job effectively. But the use of harsher solvents on your natural bristle hairs will cause unwanted breakage and shedding.
Removing Wax.
Paint Brush Cleaning System
Wipe off all the excess wax from your brush. Pour Mineral Spirits into a glass jar just enough to soak the bristles without submerging the ferrule. Let the brush soak in the Mineral Spirits for about a minute or until all the wax has dissolved.
For speedier results, swish and press the bristles against the bottom of the jar to help dissolve any remaining wax. Once the wax has been thoroughly removed you can now clean and condition your brush using the steps listed above.
Additional Cleaning Notes:
- It’s important to highlight that natural hair can/will dry out. For best results – after every use apply our cleaning and conditioning soap.
- We strongly recommend not soaking your brush in water for any extended period of time and/or submerging the brush’s ferrule under water. Over time this will degrade the epoxy that bonds the hair bristles to the brush, causing bristles to fall out prematurely.
Drying Your Brush.
Let your brush dry on a flat surface, wrap the bristle head using our cotton cloth, a household rag or a paper towel so the bristles retain their shape. This will also guarantee that water doesn’t continuously drip down to the ferrule, degrading the epoxy that holds your bristles and handle in place. Alternatively, you can drip dry them by hanging them upside down from a hook. Avoid blow drying, they’ll air dry on their own overnight. If you want to start a new project right away, just take a dry clean cloth and squeeze out the excess water.r.
Maintaining Your Brush’s Shape.
Natural hair bristles will eventually want to fan out over time. To prevent this, we recommend training your brush after every washing. After your brush has been cleaned, gently wrap the bristle-end of your brush using a cotton cloth, tie with string, and allow to dry. This will help train any bristles that want to fan out to straighten up.
Shaping: After cleaning your brush gently wrap the bristle-end of your brush with a cotton cloth and allow to dry.
Alt. Brush Training.
After your brush has dried (or nearly dried) there are a variety of brush shaping methods to keep your bristles straight and looking like new.
Rubber BandApply a rubber band gently around the head of the brush.
Paper Towel / Clean RagWrap the head with half sheet paper towel or clean household rag.
TapeApply masking or painter tape, with the sticky side facing out, around the head of the brush.
Additional Info:Mineral Foundation Brush
• Download our free eBook guide: How to Prep, Clean and Maintain Your Brushes.• Chalk Painting Basics -
Mineral Spirits For Gun Cleaning
The Beginner's Guide To Painting Furniture• Review our Frequently Asked Questions
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