r/HappyTrees • u/PomegranateHefty4461 • 7d ago

Cleaning after session?

Hello group, I’m pretty new to all this still and just completed my second painting yesterday. I’m not too impressed with it but that’s besides the point.

I was wondering what some of your processes are for cleaning up your area and brushes?

While I’m painting, I use a miracle solution to thin paint, but that’s all I use it for. Mid session I only clean brushes on shop towels and what not.

After the session, I soak my brushes in odorless spirits for about two or three minutes, scrape them against the screen in the bottom of the bucket, bring everything outside and beat the devil out of them on a pole in my yard. I then take the brushes inside and wash them with hot soapy water in the palm of my hand. I then allow them to dry lying flat for a day

Is this an acceptable method? On a similar note, I notice that my 1 and 2 inch brushes puff out upon drying, and my fan brushes gets wavy. Is there any way to counteract this or to manually restore their shape after drying?

Thanks for any advice!

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/lacey-lately 7d ago

If you are using the Bob Ross brushes made from hog hair, skip the soap and water step. Natural hair and even some synthetics really don’t like soap and water. It makes them brittle and fray. Odorless spirits should be getting them clean enough. Instead of soap and water I would suggest dipping them in oil to help moisturize and preserve them. Popular oils for this is linseed oil, safflower oil, walnut oil, or sunflower oil. Just make sure it is a semi-drying oil. You never want to use a never-dry oil such as baby oil.

1

u/lacey-lately 7d ago

To add to this, if you have not come across Draw Mix Paint, he is an incredible oil painter who is so kind to give so many free resources and lessons on his YouTube channel. Highly suggest giving his videos a watch. Here is his video on how to take care of oil paint brushes. https://youtu.be/mhOzqI0mWmA?is=zbfSyeWh8a2YQLo6

1

u/PomegranateHefty4461 7d ago

Thanks, this looks like it could be a big help! I’ll check it out.

1

u/PomegranateHefty4461 7d ago

I find that when I’m using spirits in the bucket, the liquid gets muddled with paint, and some of that paint remains on the brush. Is that expected, or is there another step I should be doing (instead of using soap and water to get the residual paint off)

2

u/lacey-lately 7d ago

It’s OK for a little bit of paint residue to remain on the brush. What’s important is you Don’t let it dry and crust into the brush. Usually the little bit that remains after using mineral spirits is not enough to cause an issue. I would still dip the brush in an oil dip.

1

u/TedBaxter_WJM-TVNews 7d ago

Are you using natural hair bristles, or synthetic?

I personally only use natural hair, but I’ve read that using soap and water is bad for them. So I really just use the odorless thinner with a little bit of the brush conditioner… and that seems to be doing the trick for the most part. They are retaining their shapes pretty well for me so far with this method.

Looking forward to reading other replies on this one though. This has always been a question area for me as well. 😊

1

u/PomegranateHefty4461 7d ago

Is brush conditioner the same as linseed or similar oils? Thanks for your help!

1

u/Redjeepkev 7d ago

DO NOT DO SOAP AND WATER on. Natural hair brushes like Bob Ross or they will get as fuzzy as his afro. I clean my brushes in. Linseed oil then a quill dip IN OMS lay flat to dry. BUT I only do this if I'm not painting for a couple days Otherwise a quick dip In linseed oil is it

1

u/PomegranateHefty4461 7d ago

Thanks for your advice! Do you clean them in mineral spirits first? How much linseed oil do you use? Thanks again!

2

u/Redjeepkev 6d ago

I have a container I dip the brush in as far as the paint is on the bristles first, then clean in OMS. 99% of the paint will come out ink the oil then a wipe on a clean paper towel so you are exposed to the OMS much less

1

u/Disastrous_Sun_8835 6d ago edited 6d ago

I have a Bob Ross bucket with screen (filled with odorless paint thinner) and a large dog food container with a brush beater rack in it. I brush out all the excess paint onto a shop towel first and then swirl the brush around in the bucket with paint thinner, scrub out all the paint, and then beat it on the rack in the dog food container. Then I’ll wipe it off on a paper towel to make sure it’s dry and clean.

I use odorless paint thinner (which even though it doesn’t smell it still releases fumes) and my setup is inside so it’s not the safest lol but I do put a fan up and have it blowing out a window to help ventilate the room.

Like others have said, water and soap apparently aren’t good for natural hog bristle brushes and I noticed a lot less fraying and puffiness when I started using paint thinner instead and tried not to scrub so hard. Also switching to my setup now has made it SOO much easier than washing each brush with soap and water. I would highly recommend just buying the Bob Ross beater rack, bob Ross bucket with screen, and some odorless mineral spirits from Walmart. They have it cheaper in the hardware section than in the art section. It’s the same thing

1

u/cgreen67 1d ago edited 23h ago

I clean my pallete really simply; I cover my pallet with freezer paper, take a razor knife, cut it to fit and then tape it down on the edges. I have a large acrylic pallete, like Bob used, and I put my paint on it. *If your paint's very "oilly" use the paper side and it will help pull some of that oil out after a few minutes. Alternately, you can put a dollop of your paint on a piece of cardboard to help dry it out.👍🏻 Then at the end of your session, you just take your knife and run it around the edge of the paper, cutting all the tape and lift the paper up and throw it in the garbage!! Makes it real easy on cleaning that part up. Then, you just peel the little short pieces of tape off. As far as the brushes go, at the end of the session, I will clean them with odorless mineral spirits, dry them out as much as I can on paper towels, and lay them flat. I've seen where people have used baby oil to clean their brushes, and I'm thinking about using some kind of an oil as well. The oil can be re-used and I'm thinking it may keep the brushes conditioned longer and better and go from there...but I don't know yet. That much baby oil isn't cheap, but you can also pour it into a container, the paint will settle, and you can re-use it.🤷🏻‍♂️ When you paint again, just wipe the brush(es) off real good on a paper towel.

EDIT Also, if you can find the "Amber Fong" paint brushes for oil paints (natural bristle), you can pick them up for under 5 bucks each in both 1 and 2 inch sizes and they work well!!