If you do any painting , you will ultimately face the clean up issue in the end. Doing a good job cleaning out your paint brushes will keep them good as new the next time around. A poor cleaning job will render the brush less than useful next time you need it. A semi hard brush will not hold paint very well, nor will it lay paint down smoothly, or without brush grooves. "Fingering" is the term given to a brush whose poorly cleaned bristles are clinging together in clumps. If you clean your brushes properly you will avoid this, and your brushes will be useable for a long, long time.
Cleaning a latex paint brush
Clean up of latex brushes it by far the simplest. Latex paint will wash out with straight water. I find that the use of soap unnecessary with latex paint brushes. The brush used for latex paint should have been a synthetic brush, some clean up faster and easier than others, but all will clean up with water. Latex brushes are commonly cleaned out in a laundry sink under the running tap.
To clean a latex brush you simply hold it under the running tap while working the bristles (bending them to work the water into the “heel” of the brush). The heel is located at the top of the bristles at the metal ferrule. After the first initial minute or two of cleaning, turn the brush upside down with the tips facing up into the running water. This will run water into the heel and clean it out better. Next, take a brush comb and comb it through the bristles paying particular attention to the heel area. Rinse it out until the water runs clean out from the brush.
Spinning
Excess water is removed from a clean brush by spinning with the aid of a (appropriately named) “spinner”. The spinner does not completely dry the brush., so for overnight drying , I will hang the brush to dry out totally before storing or reusing. Spinning is done down inside the sink or inside a five gallon bucket. Be careful to keep in down inside or you will spray the surrounding area with water.
Hanging out to dry
I suspend a 1/4" smooth round metal dowel and place it through the hole in the handles of each brush for overnight final drying. I suspend the dowel on a “V” shaped mounting bracket on top of two or three metal gallon paint cans. You can use a wood dowel in lieu of a metal one for this purpose too. Hanging the brushes allows them to dry and permits the bristles to retain their shape while drying. See my homemade drying rack.
“Used solvent” - hazardous waste
Collect all the mineral spirits from the five gallon bucket (spin out bucket) and from the mineral spirits wash container, you will need to dispose of this waste (now called a “hazardous waste”) in accordance with your local (or federal law -as in the case with larger waste creators - painters etc…) ordinances. Many cities now have a “household hazardous waste disposal day” in which you may bring you household hazardous waste to a central location in the city and they will dispose of it for you. Take advantage of this service and bring -not only your “used solvent’ but left over oil based primers and paints that you will no longer be using. Non-household hazardous waste must follow federal waste disposal regulations. Store the waste in a safe place, in a tightly sealed, appropriate container that is clearly labeled as to what is in the container. Store this container away from sparks, furnace or flame and away from the house living quarters until you are able to properly dispose of it.
Painters see PDCA website for more information for commercial hazardous waste disposal information.
Cleaning a shellac brush
It is unknown (for some reason) to many that shellac brushes (use nylon / polyester brushes for shellac) are cleaned under running water just like latex brush cleaning except for one difference. You must first dip the shellac brush into a container (a clean one gallon paint can) with an ammonia / water mix in it. I dilute the ammonia with about 50% water (2 parts ammonia and 1 part water). Dip the shellac brush into the ammonia water mix and work it into the brush, including up into the heal. Next remove the brush and rinse it out under the running tap just like you would clean a latex paint brush. The ammonia will soften and emulsify the shellac allowing it to be removed with a water rinse. After rinsing under the tap, re-dip into the ammonia / water mix and repeat the rinse out again. Spin out, and hang dry.
Note: Shellac brushes can be cleaned out with denatured alcohol as well, but it is silly to create the hazardous waste by cleaning them out that way. Using ammonia and water followed by clear water rinsing is the “green” cleaning method.
Cleaning an oil based paint brush
Oil based paints and varnishes are cleaned with mineral spirits. You will be creating hazardous waste when cleaning an oil based brush with mineral spirits, so you'll want to keep this to a minimum whenever possible. Use protective gloves when cleaning out brushes in mineral spirits as it can cause contact dermatitis. Also, mineral spirits is a flammable solvent so you must take proper safety precautions when using it.
Throw away brushes
Minimizing hazardous waste should be your goal whether you are a professional painter or a DIY’er. The best way to minimize this waste is to eliminate it altogether when possible. Using throw away brushes is the best way to eliminate solvent waste. If you don’t clean the brush, you don’t create any waste. I don’t clean out oil based brushes or rollers anymore, I let them dry out and throw them away. I try to get the cheapest price I can for decent quality china bristle brushes and I throw them away after use.
If you must clean out and re-use your oil based brush, the following is my prescirbed oil paint brush cleaning method.
Generally, painters will do two solvent cleanings: the first cleaning is with “old solvent” and the second cleaning is with “clean solvent”. This will help to minimize waste solvent.
The first solvent (mineral spirits) cleaning
Solvent from cleaning past brushes can be reused to do the first cleaning. The solids will settle to the bottom of the storage container leaving relatively “clean” solvent on the top which can be poured into a container and reused for the first solvent cleaning. Clean the brush in this old solvent, working the solvent into the bristles including the heel of the brush.. Spin the brush out in a empty five gallon container.
The second solvent (mineral spirits) cleaning
Pour as little as needed (new) clean mineral spirits for the second solvent cleaning. Work the solvent into the bristles in the usual way, working it well into the heel etc….. Once cleaned, spin out the brush again in your empty five gallon bucket.
Final soap and water cleaning
Next, clean out the brush in soapy water and then rinse out the brush under clear running water. Spin out, and hang up to dry.
Note: Collect all your solvent together from the first solvent cleaning container, second solvent cleaning container and the spin out bucket residue, into your “used” mineral spirits container for re-use in cleaning brushes in the future or for proper disposal whichever is applicable. See above “Used solvent” - hazardous waste.
Storage of brushes
Wait until the brush is totally dry before storing it away. After the brushes have hung out to dry for 24 -48 hours they should be dry. Be sure that the brushes are totally dry before proceeding. The best way to store a brush is in it’s original cardboard wrapper. These wraps are intended for brush storage, they will keep the bristles from sprawling or bending while stored. You can either hang the brush from the handle on a peg board hook, or lay them flat for storage.
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Cleaning out “Emulsabond”
Emulsabond is a latex paint additive that helps latex wet a chalky substrate. Emuslabond is an oil (“Penetrol”) in an emulsion, making the oil compatible with a latex paint. EB does not rinse out of a brush very well with just water. You must clean out a brush with EB modified paint by first doing the usual clean out as you would with any latex brush. Once the brush is rinsed out, you need to dip it into a little bit of mineral spirits (in the bottom of a small container - use as little as required) and work the mineral spirits into the bristles and heel of the brush. Next spin out the mineral spirits from the brush inside an empty five gallon bucket. Then clean out the brush with a soapy (dish soap) water , followed by a clean water rinse under the tap. Spin out the brush and hang it to dry.
Cleaning Paint Brushes
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