paintbrush cleaning

How do you guys clean your caked up paintbrushes? Let's hear your ideas and methods.

Gabe

If you mean dried out, I never let a good brush get like that. I clean them religiously after use with mineral spirits if it is oil base, and a good brush cleaner for latex paint. Good rinse, then wrap carefully in several layers of paper towels to shape the bristles. Lay it out to dry. Replace the towel wrap at least once within a day.

I also never let my brushes get paint caked in them. While painting, I make sure not to get paint more than 1/3 the way up the bristles. Above that and you start having problems getting them clean. I rinse thoroughly with warm water, while gently squeezing the brush and straightening the bristles until the water runs clean. I lightly tap the water out, straighten and smooth the brush and then hang it, brush down to air dry. Once it's dry, I put it back in the cover it came in. An old painter taught me to do it that way and my brushes last through several years of moderate use.

A special comb is essential to cleaning, because a good brush by design absorbs paint deep up into the inner bristles.

Cleaning paint brushes - a pros approach

I agree with the men above. Your brushes are some of the most important tools you own. They need to be broken in, taken care of and you can get years of service from them.

One trick we use is to have three brush and roller buckets onsite and in the van for our painting supplies. The oil brush bucket is a Gallon Paint Can filled with 5" of paint thinner sitting inside of a 5 gallon pail. With little wire hooks you can suspend the brush in the paint thinner but keep it off the bottom of the can.

This is great for pre cleaning your brushes and letting them soak. After I get home I can bang out the excess thinner and drop them into a fresh jar again suspended let them sit overnight. In the morning i bang out my brushes and wrap them in Newspaper to help them keep there shape and then it's back to work for another day.

Good Luck