Today’s blog installment is a tutorial on how to properly clean a paint brush. I actually just laughed out loud at how incredibly lame that sounded. But I’m still going to blog about it, despite it’s high risk of blog suicide. Scott was doing some painting today (that’ll come later in a more thrilling post) but it got me thinking about how awesome it is that we’ve done so much painting in this house and have managed to keep the same 2 paint brushes. This brush cleaning advice comes down from my very tidy father, who did some professional painting waaaay back in the day. He instilled this process of cleaning brushes in me at a young age (which I hated at the time) but it’s something that I’d like to pass on to anyone who is still reading this post after the captivating first line. It’s an easy way to save 10 bucks each time you paint and prolong the life of your brushes – now who doesn’t love that?
First, I like to start with this little number. I figure it’s best to rinse the brush in every way possible – having the water rush straight down to the base of the brush really helps to get all that caked paint out of your brush. The rinsing part should go on until it looks like all of the paint is out of the bristles… and then the piece de resistance comes into play; the wire brush.
Oh, how this little $3.00 wonder can make heavenly angel voices ring in my ears I will never fully understand. A wire brush!? Yes, this lovely little thing is a lifesaver for your paint brushes. If you don’t have one, pick it up now. Or borrow mine. If you can pry my loving hands off of it. Honestly, using this tool is the only way to get those little bits of dried paint out of your brush that will dry up and make your brush too stiff to use on future projects.
Use this little method to give your brush some tough love. Start at the base of the paint brush and run the steel wire brush up to the end of the bristles over and over, but put some elbow grease into it. Don’t be afraid to kick the pants out of your brush – it’s what it needs to really clean it. After this, just rinse the brush again and repeat if necessary. You shouldn’t see any little dried bits of paint in your bristles when you’re done with this process. Easy, right?
Now, doesn’t this post make you wanna run out and clean some dirty paint brushes? It’s either that, or you’re questioning why you’re friends with someone who would dedicate a blog post to cleaning paint brushes. Hey, there’s more where that came from, baby. Maybe next week I’ll tackle toilet cleaning or unclogging a drain, if you’re lucky.
Really, please come back. I swear next time will be better. :)
OMG Where did I go wrong? How did I not protect you from this? Actually, just kidding. This IS great information for everyone to know but it still makes me smile. (MOM)
Great piece. You learned the dreaded lessons of brush cleaning very well many years ago. Everyone who follows these directions will benifit nicely.
Dad
Nice Audrey! Why don’t you just give me a flashback of my childhood why don’t you?? Just kidding. I only learned about the wire brush thing from Dad a few years ago. Either that, or I just blocked it out!!
Hey – found your blog through TYH – I like it! Great ideas… definitely want to clean my brushes with the wire brush now. :)
Thanks Beth! Hope you come back around for more thrilling entries like this one. :P
[…] in the orange for the 2nd portion of the canvas, then followed with the red. I used my handy dandy paintbrush, but you could certainly pick up a cheapo foam craft brush from Michael’s to take you over […]