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I thought it was normal, but it isn't. I was talking to some others a few days ago and it seems my brushes aren't lasting as long as they should - about 10 models before the bristles start to lose their shape. What am I not doing? I do clean the things when changing paint colours but it seems I am not getting all the paint out. How often do you clean brushes, and how?

Thanks all in advance.

I clean mine as I use them, by just swirling them around in some water, and then wiping them on some paper towel.

And I usually get a couple of years out of a brush, even when I'm painting regularly.


How you use the brush is often more important than how you clean it. Make sure, as you paint, that you don't get paint up into the roots of the bristles. It's practically impossible to clean it all out again, and is the largest cause of brushes losing their shape, as the paint sets in there and pushes the bristles apart.

Rinse your brush out constantly as you paint. If you're going more than a minute or so in between rinses, your paint is setting on the bristles. Get yourself into the habit of painting a little, then rinsing. Painting a little, then rinsing. It will help make your brush last, and as a nice side effect keeps the paint flowing better as the brush stays moist.

Each time you rinse the brush out, dry it on paper towel or a cloth by dragging it along away from the bristles (kind of like you're painting a line of water down the paper/cloth/whatever, with the brush held almost parrallel to it) twirling the brush slightly as you go to push the bristles back to a point. You don't need to get all of the water out. You're just trying to remove the excess and restore the bristles' point.

Likewise when you're painting... Dip the brush in a little paint, then twirl off the excess paint on a piece of paper to make sure the point is restored.

And make sure you store your brushes somewhere where the bristles aren't getting bent.

I use high quality Matre Kolinsky brushes. I always wash them with dish washing liquid and warm water when I stop painting and during painting regularily shake them in water. They last 2-3 years, and I always use the new brushes for standard paints and "retire" the older ones for metallics, which ruin brushes much faster.

There are also some excellent brush cleaners out there that can actually be left of the bristles to dry and hold their shape.

To expand on Scarab's point, I use a brush cleaner that's like a paste that comes in a small jar (looks like hair product, really).  I've had it revive brushes I thought were long dead and had been used as drybrushes.  I got it at Michael's, a big crafts store, so check yours locally and you should be able to find it.

That's the same one I use and with similar results.

So what's it called? It sounds usefull.

Ive never had brushes last as long as some people above me are saying - but I have noticed that recently my brushes don't last anywhere near as long as they usually do. I've put it down to the foundation paints I've started using, assuming that the extra pigment is causing the pain to dry faster and nastier on the bristles. May be wrong, but s the op I've seen new brushes also deteriorate badly within a few hours which they didn't use to.

"The Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver"

gotta see if I can get some in the UK.

The Master's stuff is good stuff.

To echo others' comments in this thread, brush life is one part brush care and one part brush quality. If you're just not inclined to care for brushes, then keep buying and throwing away the white nylon cheapos. If you're prepared to take care of them properly, buy high quality brushes and they'll actually save you money. My Windsor & Newton Series 7 Miniatures are a few years old and they point like new brushes. They're pricey, but you can get them at a steep discount from www.aswexpress.com.

To the OP: I'm guessing you're using synthetic brushes. In my experience, synthetic brushs are absolutely wonderful for a very short period of time, before their tip starts to curl. I used to use them almost exclusively, and I got around this by trimming off the curling part, usually to a sort of chisel point. Over time this results in an increasingly imprecise brush, so you can use it for less precise work, or just retire it.

Lately I've found a some natural hair brushes at the FLGS, which work well for me. I don't know the brand, I'm sure they're nothing special, but they do work pretty well. The trick with them is to not give up on their sorry initial appearance, nor their periodic stubbornness.

The nice thing about synthetic brushes is that they will sit in a perfect point and look all dandy and appealing for use. But, as I said, they curl pretty quickly.

The natural brushes, in my experience, tend to want to splay, have loose hairs, generally look awful, particularly when they're dry. That can be enough to put you off right away. But If you wet them, smooth them out with your fingers, or on your cleaning towel/paper, eventually they'll take a point. At that point they'll work great, with only a little maintenance to keep them in line. A bit more hassle than a brand new synthetic, but they'll last a lot longer, and I find long term consistency to be more important than anything. You'll have to repeat this every time you start painting, when they dry out they get all frizzed out, but as long as they're wet, they'll hold a point.

The only other downside I see with these natural brushes I'm using lately, is that they slowly lose bristles over time. There are a lot of tips on keeping brushes going (keep paint out of the ferrule, clean them frequently), but I find a lot of it to be impossible to accomplish and still get anything done. So I let paint get into the ferrule, and I clean them when I'm done. I try to keep the paint as wet as possible, so it's not clumping up, but it gets into the ferrule and it needs getting out. That leads to some pretty harsh cleaning, and that in turn leads to lost hair. Over time (and this is a pretty long time) the brushes get thinner and skimpier until I retire them.

I have mixed experiences, using both cheapo brushes from Wal-Mart and really nice sable fur brushes I pick up at conventions, and everything in between. I am also fairly poor at maintaining anything.
The comments about cheap synthetics is very true. I have had some from Michaels curl after just 9 hours of painting (to be fair, it was all at once.) I still use them, typically for larger or imprecise painting, and occaisionally to take advantage of the curve since it is handy to hard to reach spots (or places I don't want to put the nice ones.) I also tried the more expensive "natural" brushes from Michaels. Those were more dissapointing than the cheapies, as when they went to pot I was more surprised. Still, it took them longer to lose shape than the synthetics did to curl.
The best brushes I have found though are natural red sable fur, and run for 10-15$. (I can't recall the brand I use. I will try and remember when I get home to post.) They keep their tips fantastically, and even the broader brush can be used to make reasonably fine details. I have had my current pair since March or so, and they still are as pointy and soft as the day I took them home.

Maintenance wise, I always clean the brush while painting to avoid paint drying. I generally wash every 1-2 minutes, or more, depending on how I am paining. I wash them almost constantly when using the Foundation paints though. I also avoid getting paint anywhere but the bottom 10-20% of the brush, which helps keep the bristles shapely, and also makes it easier to control where the paint goes. While painting I keep them pointy by washing and shaping while moist, and the occaisional lip shaping. I only use non-toxic paints because of that habit.
I used to be really careful about using brush conditioner (or hair conditioner in a pinch) after cleaning up for a day, but I got lazy and didn't notice any difference one way or the other, so I mainly just make certain they are nice and clean before putting them in their plastic caps to rest. Like the occaisional blood sacrifice, I think the special cleaning agents are nice, but not needed on a regular basis.

Now that said, I use my curled, crappy brushes for probably 30% of the work, mostly highlighting and detailing, while I use the cheapo's for anything they fit on easily. That probably goes a long way towards keeping my nice brushes in prime condition. Still, I think 2 excellent brushes are really worth the investment, since it is those details and highlights that really make a model pop, and when taken care of reasonably well last a really long time.

Random aside: Anyone ever try to make a brush out of cat hair? I have piles of the stuff in orderly clumps thanks to my cat's bizzare grooming habits, but I never tried making a brush before.

Cat hair is not nearly stiff enough for a good brush.

BTW, Migs, I just started using my first Kolinsky brush (co-branded with Vallejo) this weekend. So far, so good.

Second to the statement that brush care > cleaning.

A big second to the Master's Brush Cleaners. That stuff is top notch, and works well with both cheap brushes and expensive ones.