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Whilst there are numerous tips on painting, I've been trying to find good tips on brush care. What are people's best tips for taking care of brushes?

Do you clean it every time paint has run it before wetting it again?
Do you "deep clean" your brush every so often? If so how?

Any other tips people can think of?

With regards to the "deep clean" I've used Dettol here in the UK to remove paint from old models, would this be ok to use on a brush as well or would it have other undesired effects?


Thanks

Masters brush cleaner all the way. My sable brush loves me for it

Exactly the same thing for me, I use this soap after every user.

I also clean my brush in water every 2 or 3 minutes to prevent paint from climbing up the brush up to the base and start drying there. (though, with the above mentioned soap, I was able to recover paint caked brushes to a usable state)

While painting, I make sure to rinse my brush in the water cup every few minutes. This is just to make sure no paint dries on the brush or gets in the ferrule. I also highly recommend the Master's Brush soap - it is dirt cheap and will remove just about anything (and then some) that might be in your brush. I tend to use the soap every few days, or every time after I've had a very long paint session. Keeping your brushes in good shape is one of the key factors to good looking minis!

I rinse it off every couple of minutes, even if I'm using the same color for an extended period of time. I never let paint sit on it for very long.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Rinse frequently enough during painting and you'll rarely have to do anything more to keep your brushes in good working order. Once paint starts building up at the base, though, even Master's can only do so much - even if you can remove all of the paint crust, bristles can be damaged beyond repair.

Think of brush soap more as preventative maintenance than a panacea and you should be fine. I don't have a set schedule for brush care, largely because I don't have a set schedule for painting. If it feels like a brush has been heavily used, if not outright abused - even if it's simply been a while since the last clean - I hit it with the Master's. Every time I clean with it, I leave some in as a conditioner. Most sessions I just try to rinse frequently, occasionally stopping to be more thorough.

+1 to oadies post