TAKING CARE OF YOUR BRUSHES

How to Take Care of Your Paint Brushes

One of my greatest pet peeves as an artist is seeing ruined paint brushes. I work with water colors and acrylics for my main medium, and a broken/ruined brush is one of the most devastating experiences.  Below are the dos and don'ts of proper brush care! 

Brush Anatomy

Photo from Learning To Paint

Don'ts 

• Never set the brush bristle-down in a water glass... or any glass. Not even for a few minutes. This will ruin your bristles by bending them, and this isn't something you can fix. If you have a stiff brush where the bristles don't bend, it's not an exception!! The water will spread the brushes and the brush will dry frayed. 
• If you're on a small budget, simply lay your brush on your table with the bristles hanging over the edge of the table. If you're able to though, I strongly suggest getting a brush rack. You can find these cheap almost anywhere. 
• Don't let acrylic dry on your brush. I cannot stress this enough. The acrylic will NOT come off, no matter how hard you try or how long you soak it. 
• If you're painting with acrylics and you need to use more than one paint brush at a time, set your brush CAREFULLY on a paper towel and spray the brush with a water bottle, which you should do to your acrylic paints anyway. This will keep it from drying out as you use a different brush.
• Try your best to not get paint on the ferrule. This isn't the most important "don't" but it can lead the bristle to fray where they connect to the ferrule. 
• Note that even if you wash the brush, the paint can get stuck under the ferrule. Simply try your best to keep your ferrule clean!
• Don't clean your brush with warm/hot water! It causes the glue under the ferrule to become weak, allowing the bristles to fall out- not something you want!
• Cold water is the way to go!

Dos

• Squeeze off paint with a towel 
• Make sure to be careful, Don't do this too fast, you could bend the bristles. The main thing is to get rid of the excess paint.
• When rinsing the brush use your fingers to gently squeeze out the paint
• You can use brush soap, or regular hand soap. You can buy cheap brush soap here.
• Store your brushes where the bristles to no touch, and where the bristles can either stand up straight or lay down flat. 
• Easiest way to do this is to either but brushes in a roomy jar (bristles up!) or to buy a brush box/holder.

Happy Painting!

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