I generally paint with humbrol enamels and I just use ordinary white spirits to clean the brushes..i'm not too happy with it,and i was wondering what other people use/????(I hand paint.....)_

For day to day cleaning I use off the shelf thinner for oils and enamels and water for acrylics. Periodically, as gunk builds up, I'll put some nail polish cleaner in its bottle cap and deep clean the brushes, carefully pushing any residue from base to tip witha finger nail and repeating until the brush is thouroughly clean.

On top of what you do after using white spirit I just was the brushes with warm water and liquid hand soap until no more color comes out from them. After rincing them throughly my brushes are always nice and soft...
Ciao

Agree with Scoccia-

Clean up with soap and water is very helpul at the end of a long acrylics session.

Actually, I have brush cleaner soap that I got as a gift. Good way to keep the brush shape!

Keith

I mainly use enamels. I have two jam jars with lids. Both contain mineral turps, one is the 'dirty' jar, one the 'clean' jar.

When I have finished painting a colour I remove any left over paint from the brush on a piece of scrap card or paper, then give the brush a stir around in the 'dirty' turps, drain it and then clean it in the 'clean' turps.

When the clean jar gets dirty it becomes the dirty jar and I start a new clean jar.

(The more I post in Armorama the more Irish I sound!)

The brush is then clean enough to start another colour. However if I am finished painting I will give the brush a thorough wash in warm soapy water, rinse it in clean running water, put it inside its protective sleeve (or a drinking straw) and leave it somewhere nice and dry and warm (the wifes airing cupboard - beside my arc welding electrodes!) till next needed.

I only buy top quality brushes, which by my standard cost an arm and a leg, so I look after them and get long service.

If you have a case of a brush getting gunged up the use of harsh solvents such as MEK to clean it can damage the bristles. I find the best way to clean both modelling and household paintbrushes that are starting to accumulate paint is to soak in a kitchen cleaner called Handy Andy. It is ammonia based, and seems much kinder to the brush while dealing to the paint - both enamel and acrylic. (As it is made by Unilever it is probably available worldwide.)

Regards Dave

When I am in the "zone" a simple swish is good enough for me. In lacquer thinner for the brushes I have used on oil base paint and water for the acrylics. Every so often I deep clean all of the brushes in lacquer thinner and hot soapy water and lay them out flat on a paper towel to dry. I do, however, keep the expensive brushes that I use for figure painting and detail work separate and take way better care of those. Everyone has a favorite dry-brushing and detail brush, right? God, I hope I'm not the only one. My wife already thinks I am far too anal. Now I realize I have favorite paint brushes...

Shaun

Thankx.Ohh and Kiwidave...To be sure to be sure....

I clean my brushes like this: (enamels)
1. Dip in thinner
2. Rinse
3. Dip in a soapy water
4. Rinse
5. Dry