The first order of business is what type of solvent should you use to clean your brushes?  The answer is simple: use Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS) which is a petroleum product.  There is absolutely no reason to use turpentine, which is made from tree resin and is highly caustic to both brush and your lungs.  You will read many arguments regarding turpentine verses mineral spirits, and most of it is nothing more than mental masturbation.  Stay away from turpentine, it is damn dangerous to your health and your brushes. OMS is not necessarily safe in terms of vapors, but it is a much less of a risk than turpentine.

The first approach to care of your oil paint brushes is to keep two separate groups of brushes.  The first group is what you use when starting a painting.  These brushes are used for initial background on a raw surface.  They will take a beating and will actually wear down due to the aggressive tendency when getting those first thin coats of paint on the canvas or board.  Also, if you are going to cover the entire canvas with one color (foundation paint) before painting give consideration to using a small sponge roller.  If you are painting on the typical size canvas (24 x 30 or smaller) you only need two or three wide brushes (one inch) in this first group.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to use anything expensive in this first group since the assumption is they are somewhat disposable.  The second group is of course all the brushes you use for completing the painting after everything has been roughed in and these may very well contain duplicates of the first group.

Regardless of what brush you are using take care to insure that the paint you pick up off the pallet is only on the very tip of the brush.  You do not want to have paint soak up into the base of the brush.  One way to prevent clogging in the base is to constantly clean the brush (with OMS) while your are painting.  NEVER  leave your brush with the bristles down in your jar of OMS.  This will damage the hairs and cause them to lose shape.   As you are finished with one brush, clean it off in the OMS, wipe down with a dry clean paper towel and let it rest with the bristles pointed up or the brush laid on its side.  If you are going to immediately return to a brush, there is no need to clean it off, just lay it on its side.  Note: paper towels are handy but they do leave a residue on the brush.  If you clean your brushes as you paint, you can use a soft rag (not terry cloth) instead of a paper towel.  This is a better choice and the rag will last a long time as long as you are thoroughly swishing off the brush in OMS while you paint. 

When you are ready to stop painting the brushes need to be cleaned.  There are two steps to this.

Step 1: Swish off and wipe off all the brushes you used in OMS.

Step 2: Clean the brushes with a brush cleaner and brush conditioner. You can make your solutions using the following:

 Brush Cleaner

•  
  • 1 cup of distilled water
  • 1/2 cup of Alcohol
  • 1 table spoon of dish detergent

Mix slowly, you do not want the dish detergent to foam.  Then soak by holding brush and wiping it against the sides of the container.  (DO NOT LET THE BRUSHES REST IN THE CONTAINER WITH THE BRISTLES DOWN !)

Brush Conditioner

•  
  • Clean off each brush in shampoo then rinse off shampoo
  • Apply a hair conditioner directly to the bristles, rinse off and try to reform the shape of the hairs.
  • Optional last stage: You can use some vegetable oil to reform the shape of the hairs.  This is not rinsed off, but you must remember to clean the brush off in OMS before you start painting again.  This might be a necessary step for brushes that have not had good care, but if you use the above procedures with a new brush, this is probably not necessary.

My rough, group one, brushes are always laying on their side on the easel and never placed in my brush holder.  This keeps them from getting mixed up. 

You’re As Dead As You’re Going To Get

Woodland Star