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Cleaning brushes


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I would like to know what you guys use to clean brushes from enamel paint. I have tried to use wal marts cheap thinner and it has not cleaned them. Is there any other product I can use to strip those brushes of paint and make them useable once again?

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Kleen strip is not wrking for my brushes lol, it just makes them hard and leaves paint in them. Normally if I had restored thinner it will strip out pair immediately. Testors thinner is expensive for what you get. Idk what to do at this point.

I use Gun wash for cleaning my brushes as it removes both enamels and laquers

most automotive paint places have it and its cheap

So gun wash? That's the name of what u use? What is it?

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You're right, don't let paint dry on your brushes. I agree with Carl, keep a small bottle of mineral spirits on your bench. As soon as you're done with a brush, swish it in mineral spirits and roll it on a paper towel. Your Wal Mart thinner might work just fine used that way.

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Erik,

Many factors go into cleaning a brush, First don't let your paint dry in your brush!!!!! LOL we all have been there and done that. Is the brush worth cleaning? if it's one of those buy one get a hundred free!! pitch it.

Much of my livelihood is made with a brush in my hand, this is how I clean my brushes. I first try to clean them in the solvent that would be used to thin the paint, this may take a good soaking, I use a very soft tooth brush soaked in thinner and stroke the hair from the heel of the brush to the tip to remove the gunk, if you need to move to a stronger thinner to dissolve the dried paint do so, I do this until the brush is clean. I have used big box brush conditioner with some success. I condition my brushes when clean with a brush oil(all my brushes!!!!any medium) I hope this helps. jwrass

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Erik,

Many factors go into cleaning a brush, First don't let your paint dry in your brush!!!!! LOL we all have been there and done that. Is the brush worth cleaning? if it's one of those buy one get a hundred free!! pitch it.

Much of my livelihood is made with a brush in my hand, this is how I clean my brushes. I first try to clean them in the solvent that would be used to thin the paint, this may take a good soaking, I use a very soft tooth brush soaked in thinner and stroke the hair from the heel of the brush to the tip to remove the gunk, if you need to move to a stronger thinner to dissolve the dried paint do so, I do this until the brush is clean. I have used big box brush conditioner with some success. I condition my brushes when clean with a brush oil(all my brushes!!!!any medium) I hope this helps. jwrass

Erik,

Many factors go into cleaning a brush, First don't let your paint dry in your brush!!!!! LOL we all have been there and done that. Is the brush worth cleaning? if it's one of those buy one get a hundred free!! pitch it.

Much of my livelihood is made with a brush in my hand, this is how I clean my brushes. I first try to clean them in the solvent that would be used to thin the paint, this may take a good soaking, I use a very soft tooth brush soaked in thinner and stroke the hair from the heel of the brush to the tip to remove the gunk, if you need to move to a stronger thinner to dissolve the dried paint do so, I do this until the brush is clean. I have used big box brush conditioner with some success. I condition my brushes when clean with a brush oil(all my brushes!!!!any medium) I hope this helps. jwrass

Thanks for the helpful hints, I wasnt aware I had to clean brushes immediately!. I guess I will just buy a few more brushes and start from there, follow your steps

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Dried Paint in brushes is the pits! If it were mine I think I'd try a soak in the Purple Pond. Better yet if you have an ultrasonic cleaner, try Purple Power in the reservoir, I have heard of people using thinners in the reservoir. I'm sort of leery of that one though.

If you manage to strip the brush with the Purple Stuff, you most definitely will need to condition the oils back into the brush, try loading it with mineral oil dip it and hang vertically brush end down for a day or so. Clean as per normal prior to use. If the Purple Pond caused the brushes hairs to be frizzy load the brush with a mild hand soap, run the brush along the bar then shape by hand. Let the brush dry that way then do the mineral oil conditioning. Hope this helps.

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  • 1 year later...

I know this is really old, but I've found WD40 and/or Lava soap (with WD40 in it) works really really well. Most of the time I can get by with just running the brush over a bar of Lava soap under a warm tap until it's clean. If that doesn't do it, a 10-20 minute soak in some WD40 does the trick. The best part is that it's really cheap. I can get Lava soap for about $1.50/per bar and a gallon of WD40 for $20 at the hardware store. A bar usually lasts for 6 months to a year (depending on how often you use it obviously), and a gallon of WD40 should last a lifetime if this is all it's used for.

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  • 2 weeks later...

How about straight 90% alcohol?  It's cheap and it'll dissolve just about any paint.  I've even stripped bodies with it.

Works well for many acrylics, and can work for many enamels if they're still wet. I'll stick with cheap lacquer thinner, though.

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