Cleaning Paintbrushes?

Ok, I'd just like some tips on how you guys clean your brushes. That's all. Thanks.

Apparently a good thinner will do the major job, then you can use some face soap. (That's what I read off the new brush I got today) :)

Ok, I guess I'll add more. I soak my brushes in thinner for about an hour, then I wipe them on paper towel, and you're supposed to keep dunking them in the thinner till it runs clear on the towel, but I can't ever seem to get some colors off. It's so strange, how some colors just will not come off. Hmmm... That's what I'm asking about. Again, thanks.

Is it necessary to use the same brand of paint and thinner? I am using the Tamiya acrylic and I am wondering whether I can just buy some acrylic paint thinner from Home Depot instead of the more expensve Tamiya paint thinner.

Acutally, ideally I would have something to suspend the bristles in linseed oil while i'm not using them. It's a mild paint thinner that really conditions the bristles.

I need to make something up so i can leave them in the linseed oil without having the bristles squashed against the bottom of the jar of thinner.

But as for actual cleaning of the brushes, i use generic laquer thinner.

for me, I do like that :
for enemal, after having finished painting, I wipe the brush on a toilet paper. Then I put my brush in White Spirit, then I wipe it on the toilet paper again. I repeat this action until my brush isn't clean enough.

Regarding the acrylic paints, I do the same but with methylated spirits instead of white spirit.

But what you should never do is to let your brush in the thinner bottle.
the poiles of the brush will yield and the brush will be unusable.

Originally posted by Ben L.
Is it necessary to use the same brand of paint and thinner?


Yes !

Tamiya with Tamiya
Testor with Testor
Testor Acryl with Tamiya or Wather.
Humbrol with ?? i don't know.. i use testor but didn't work great... humbrol didn't have thiner (not in the hobbyshop here !)

you guys are too complicated, for acrylics I just clean it in runninf water, comes right off, no prob, then i dry it with a paper towel

for enamel I keep a small amount of enamal thinner I just stick the brush in, move it around a bit and its clean as new, you can even see the water turn the color of the brush i just painted with......

for cleaning/soaking brushes, I like to use a test tube
with thinner in it, and suspend the brush using those
triangular black metal paper clips, the ones that bite onto
a thick set of papers. Then adjust the brush so the bristles
are sitting in the thinner but not smashed against the bottom
(which will eventually deform them)

Originally posted by rcmaxx
you guys are too complicated, for acrylics I just clean it in runninf water, comes right off, no prob, then i dry it with a paper towel

for enamel I keep a small amount of enamal thinner I just stick the brush in, move it around a bit and its clean as new, you can even see the water turn the color of the brush i just painted with......

Same thing like I do and I agree it works well.

I use testors Thinner for my testors oil based paints and for my Tamiya acrylics, because they are water based, I use water and rubbing alchohol sometimes on the brushes but lots in my airbrush. Water based paints DO NOT come off with thinner very easily, use water!:flipa:

I use enamels mainly so i clean the brushes with thinner. I clean the brush first in one jar then have another jar to rinse and that gets rid of all the paint.