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I know it has probably been covered elsewhere ad nauseam, but the search function here isn't fit for squigglefodder, so I thought I would ask again.

Does anyone have any advice for keeping brushes clean on the cheap? I am using the GW paints and get awful amounts of gak build up after just a few minutes use, which doesn't seem to come off when swirled in water. I've also tried prolonged soak and rubbing in basic/non conditioning shampoo but to no effect either.

Any top tips? Please don't suggest 'the master' as I cant get it in Hong Kong. I'm also wondering if being based in HK is having an adverse impact on my paints? Temp is usually around the low 30s with about 100% humidity all the time - would that explain my paints drying out so quick?

Cheers

iapedus

High humidity in the air should be delaying your drying time for your paints if anything; If your home has AC you should be perfectly fine. I would recommend you either begin to massage the bristles under running way after a soak or go to what passes as a hardware store in HK and search for brush cleaning supplies. If soaking does nothing then you might need to commit to rubbing the bristles about to loosen up the paint.

I have a bar of regular hand soap that I use to clean my brush every few minutes while painting. I give the brush a swish in water, have plenty of water on the brush and then just swirl it over the bar of soap a bit, might gently swirl the soapy brush on my hand if it's particularly dirty, then give it swish in the water again to get the soap off.

I've been using soap like that on my current Kolinsky sable brush which is about a year old and has painted about 60 or so models and it still looks as good as when I bought it and has a great tip to it. When you run it over the soap you can see how much paint comes out of it that the water alone didn't get out. The soap I use is just the most standard soap I can buy in the shop, a bar of the least scented and least fancy soap I can get.

As for your paints, I've never painted in humidity that high so I don't know how that will affect it. It just doesn't get that hot and humid any time of year here. When it is hot (30-40 degrees) it is usually dry here, but the heat alone does cause paints to dry quicker on the brush (I assume this is what you meant but now I'm thinking maybe you meant the pots themselves drying out?).

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
As for your paints, I've never painted in humidity that high so I don't know how that will affect it. It just doesn't get that hot and humid any time of year here. When it is hot (30-40 degrees) it is usually dry here, but the heat alone does cause paints to dry quicker on the brush (I assume this is what you meant but now I'm thinking maybe you meant the pots themselves drying out?).

Actually both - it dries on the brush very quickly, but also the pots are quite often semi-solid on opening (even from new) and require a bit of water and a stir to get them back to usable viscosity.

Thanks for the soap tip, will give it a try.

If I've been particularly abusive to my brushes after a rigorous and brutal painting session I usually swish them around in some vodka before putting them away to strip away anything that might be fused or crusted onto the bristles.

 Dust wrote:
If I've been particularly abusive to my brushes after a rigorous and brutal painting session I usually swish them around in some vodka before putting them away to strip away anything that might be fused or crusted onto the bristles.

Hmmm, I don't have any vodka but I do have some cheap and nasty whiskey........

Whiskey might work, but vodka is far "cleaner" so is probably better.

Cellulose / laquer thinner works (on natural fibre).
However, it sucks all the natural oils out of the bristle, so you will absolutely need to use a conditioner afterward.

Or you could buy some denatured alcohol which is probably a ton cheaper because it isn't taxed as heavily (not sure what the situation is in HK, but most countries I've been to drinking alcohol is a ton more expensive than denatured alcohol).

It's a shame you can't easily buy ethanol. We use it in the lab at work all the time for cleaning, but you can't easily buy it for home use. It's a cheap and effective cleaner.

I don't really use alcohols to clean my brushes unless I've used them for enamels or oils though and I don't use my good acrylic brushes for that anyway. I have no idea if it is the case, but I always assumed alcohol based cleaners were harsher on brushes and so just stuck to using soap for acrylics.