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So I have got my first brushes. They are Army Painter. I know I need brush cleaner, so what brand would be good? I will be headed to a Hobby Lobby this Saturday. I called in and checked, and they don’t have the Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver. They said they had a Mona Lisa something and something Gemini, among others. Any suggestions for what to look for?

 Apple Peel wrote:
I will be headed to a Hobby Lobby this Saturday. I called in and checked, and they don’t have the Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver.

Do you mean that they're just sold out? I've gotten Masters at Hobby Lobby and it's available on their WEBSITE.

 Ghaz wrote:

 Apple Peel wrote:
I will be headed to a Hobby Lobby this Saturday. I called in and checked, and they don’t have the Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver.

Do you mean that they're just sold out? I've gotten Masters at Hobby Lobby and it's available on their WEBSITE.

Nah, they said they don’t carry it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I went on the site, so I know that.

I use The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver. Finding a stockist was hard until I simply ebayed it from a supplier.

Really good stuff

It seems everyone and their mom uses the Master’s, but does anybody use anything different?

How about the combination of these two:

http://amzn.eu/0aSANSo

http://amzn.eu/3GSjMAS

Vallejo brush cleaner and restorer, two separate products.

Rik

 Rik Lightstar wrote:
How about the combination of these two:

http://amzn.eu/0aSANSo

http://amzn.eu/3GSjMAS

Vallejo brush cleaner and restorer, two separate products.

Rik

Do you use this? I will look around for it tomorrow.

You can always try your local art store. They're sure to have that sort of stuff if you just tell them you're working with tiny brushes and acrylics. Usually it's great value for money because they're not especially cheap but you get a HUGE tube/pot of it.

 Apple Peel wrote:

Do you use this? I will look around for it tomorrow.

I've got the restorer, but not the cleaner, I still have some old Tamiya cleaner that I'm working my way through.

Rik

 Apple Peel wrote:
It seems everyone and their mom uses the Master’s, but does anybody use anything different?

Usually no, but if something has gone horribly wrong, I'll break out the Winsor and Newton restorer/cleaner. Which is a different beast than the masters. And will strip varnish off of brush handles or wood tables, so needs some care in it's use.

The masterclass brush cleaner soap is more of a conditioner; I like to use ‘Turpenoid natural’, it’s known more of a oil brush cleaner, but it cleans acrylics just fine; great for stripping metal models too. You should get one of those metal cans with sieves to store it, also use old cloth to wipe away the paint after about 15 min soak; then rinse in clean water and brush soap.

Edit: you want the 'Turpenoid natural' not 'Turpenoid'; the latter is a water like mineral spirit; the former is a oil like solvent.

Cleaning your brushes after every use is absurd, I clean mine after every batch, you'll inevitably lose some brushes to ware, so I recommend getting mostly cheap brush sets, and a few high end detail brushes.

I'm sorry but you don't REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLY need a brush cleaner/solvent unless you try and purposely allow your brushes to get to the stage where you need to actually use solvent to get the gunk out.

A quick tip to preserve your brush - never dunk your detail brush to get paint out of the pot - use a larger brush or paint knife to transfer the paint onto the palette.

Wash the brush in water can before it dries. Better to "waste" more paint than it is to waste a brush.

Never ever used a brush cleaning solvent. I use room temperature water. Nothing else. The key trick is to keep the brush clean before paint dries on them.

Dulux? Or whatever the equivilent over the pond is (sherwin williams?)

I should add to my prior post and say that rarely I will also use acetone. I leave the bristles in it for a couple of minutes, rinse and then back to the Masters soap.

I tend to do this to extend the life of my brushes as they start to fray out from dried paint within the bristles

Masters all the way. And you are asking about hobby lobby etc, you can normally get it on Amazon easily enough.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Pencil-Masters-Preserver-24-Ounce/dp/B0049UZ8Z4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529701991&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=the+masters+brush+cleaner+and+preserver&psc=1&smid=A3SBDOAENTRT1F

 Apple Peel wrote:
It seems everyone and their mom uses the Master’s, but does anybody use anything different?

Room temperature water. If the brush is really messy for some reason, a touch of hand soap and uniform motions in a single direction on my palm, so the bristles don't go askew.

If you're mass painting, it's much better to pause and clean up the brush regularly rather than just accumulate layer after layer of paint, and push it up into the join area between handle and bristles.

Voss wrote:

 Apple Peel wrote:
It seems everyone and their mom uses the Master’s, but does anybody use anything different?

Room temperature water. If the brush is really messy for some reason, a touch of hand soap and uniform motions in a single direction on my palm, so the bristles don't go askew.

If you're mass painting, it's much better to pause and clean up the brush regularly rather than just accumulate layer after layer of paint, and push it up into the join area between handle and bristles.

Seconded. Y'all pro-brush cleaners are just buying into a big scam.

 skchsan wrote:

Voss wrote:

 Apple Peel wrote:
It seems everyone and their mom uses the Master’s, but does anybody use anything different?

Room temperature water. If the brush is really messy for some reason, a touch of hand soap and uniform motions in a single direction on my palm, so the bristles don't go askew.

If you're mass painting, it's much better to pause and clean up the brush regularly rather than just accumulate layer after layer of paint, and push it up into the join area between handle and bristles.

Seconded. Y'all pro-brush cleaners are just buying into a big scam.

Not really a big scam when it only costs a couple bucks and works exceptionally well. If you can treat your brushes without it, then good for you! For the rest of us, it’s a tiny investment and I know it’s brought old brushes back to life for me as well as kept new brushes in amazing shape for years.

In addition to masters, I recently started using Jentastic’s Drunken Brush Goop.

The masters stuff is pretty good at cleaning. The drunken hoop is fantastic at keeping everything pointy. Love that stuff.

An update for everyone. Got back from Hobby Lobby. They did have one thing of the Master’s left. Lady on the phone must not have found it. Thanks for all the suggestions though.