what's the proper way to clean a paintbrush?

Question

I found a trim brush that I absolutely love, and want to maintain it properly. I'm painting with latex paint. what's the best way to clean my brush?

Answer 1

Use hot water and 'plunge' the brush up and down in it, bristles down.
Continue, changing the hot water several times until it remains fairly clear.
Add some washing up liquid to the water, or directly into the bristles, and keep plunging the brush in and out of the water - you are forcing water high up to the root of the bristles.
When the water remains clear, rinse the brush in cold water - shake it thoroughly to get rid of as much water as poss - wrap a thin rubber band loosely round the bristles and hang up to dry by the handle. (Drill a small hole through the handle and thread string to make a hanging loop).
Any remaining water in the brush will drain down the bristles and the band will keep them in good shape, not like )(.
Make sure you also clean the metal housing and handle.
Taking care of your brush will make it last for years and in good condition.

Note - water wash for water based paints/emulsion -
- turpentine (paint thinners) for all oil based paints.
The cleaning method is exactly the same.

Answer 2

Check the label of your paint. There should be a "clean up" section. Some paints require mineral spirits/paint thinner (I think latex ones do). For those that don't use warm water and soap. Most important is to rinse all the paint and cleaner residue from it. I like to dry mine in the sun, but that's probably not so necessary.

Answer 3

it ant that hard run your water over the brush into the brush and us a wire brush to clean off any build up that has hardened on the brush while painting .it cost less then 20 bucks for a really good brush so trash the thing and bid in a new brush with every job adding 20 bucks to a bid well not lose you the bid .

Answer 4

Put it in a bucket of water.. let it soak,, then put your waterhose on high pressure and wash it out,,take your fingers and work the paint out,,and after it is almost out,,take it inside, and use the sink and add a small amount of detergent to really get it clean. Make sure most of the paint is out,,so you won't make a mess.

Answer 5

you will possibly desire to purchase a product pronounced as "brush cleanser" it fairly is a soup of countless solvents plus methylene chloride, a paint stripper. put in a field, upload your brush, cover and soak in one day. Rinse out day after on the instant and use a broom comb or coarse hair comb to interrupt out residue from the bristles. different innovations incorporate doing a similar an NMP-based paint stripper (consisting of Citri-strip).

Answer 6

ALL LATEX PAINT NEEDS FOR CLEANING IS SOAP AND WATER. PREFERABLY NOT IN THE CRAPPER...AND IF YOU WERE STUPID ENOUGH TO DO THAT IT PROBABLY MAKE A VERY NICE MESS.

Answer 7

for oil based paint use paint thinner then clean
for water based use hot soapy water

Answer 8

Wash with soap and warm water when you are done, then dry your brush.

Answer 9

I think plain old water should do for latex.

Answer 10

Put it in the toliet and swoosh it around so that the toliet gets clean to