best way to clean brushes? what's your system?

Bleach will also break down the glue in the ferrule faster and cause the bristles to loosen.

I've known several people with sensitivities to Ivory, Dove, etc...many of the bar soaps. I won't use them because I have no clear gauge to prove how rinsed the brushes are.
I've also experienced people allergic to natural hair brushes (camel, horse...), so I use only taklon brushes as (to me) they feel the softest of the synthetics.

I use pink soap and the same 90% isopropyl I use to clean the practice head and skin. Cold water rinse and hang bristle side down to dry.
If the bristles ever need a bit of conditioning, I run them through a slight bit of olive oil with the soap.

I use this on all my make-up brushes as well.

Personally, using ANYTHING in your rinse water is counterproductive. It actually can be a big problem...
Shannon,
Thank you for the info. I won't be buying any more Brush Bath & I'll switch my cleaning practices. I always rinse like crazy & let everything dry completely.

Hi guys!! I know I'm new but I clean my brushes with a homemade cleanser! If you want the recipie here it is:
1 Cup Purified Water
1/4 Cup 70% Achol
1/2 Tsp. Dish Soap
1/2 Tsp. Shampoo
1/2 Tsp Spray On Conditioner
And then just stir it all in a bowl then it's all done! Hope you like it or try it out.

So what is the theory behind your recipe? Seems like diluting the alcohol would be counter productive. I'm currently in love with my Purity soap right now. Works great on "fresh" stains and leaves my brushes super soft.

Hi. I was just reading this and someone asked about bent brushes. Firstly don't leave then standing in the water ever, just rinse/clean them and sit them beside your water pot or have a brush holder and this will avoid the problem.
Secondly to fix bent brushes, fill a cup about half full with boiling hot water and whilst still holding it put your brush in so the Ferrel is covered. Hold for 15-20 seconds and remove. Problem fixed. Then cover it with soap or brush shaper and leave to dry.
Obviously you need to remove the soap or brush shaper prior to using it to paint

courtneybarker4 wrote:Hi guys!! I know I'm new but I clean my brushes with a homemade cleanser! If you want the recipie here it is:
1 Cup Purified Water
1/4 Cup 70% Achol
1/2 Tsp. Dish Soap
1/2 Tsp. Shampoo
1/2 Tsp Spray On Conditioner
And then just stir it all in a bowl then it's all done! Hope you like it or try it out.

Why would you do that?

First, the alcohol will be pointless as it has been diluted so will not serve any purpose as a sanitizer. Straight 70% it the weakest that is suggested as a sanitizer by health regulations. If you don't mean it to be a sanitizer why include it?

Second, dish soap and shampoo are equivalent as to cleaning out oil products and pigments so no point in mixing them together really... one or the other works quite well on their own to clean brushes. I would take shampoo over dishsoap to choose one as it work better on "hair."

Conditioner would only really help natural hair brushes. In make-up school they taught us to use commercial brush cleaner on the job, and then wash with shampoo at home, and for the natural hair brushes a touch of conditioner if we wanted... on the bigger blush and powder brushes it did help keep them soft. But if you mix it in with the soap it will rinse out with the soap, therefore not really doing what it was intended for.

I really think it is a waste of effort and materials as mixing them will lessen the efficacy of each component.

If you like how this mixture works it probably won't hurt your brushes.

just thought I would add for the aussies I recently wrote to Isocol for ther MSDS and advise (for airbrush ink thing - long irrelevant story) and there rubbing alcohol is already min 70% to 88% max.and purified deionised water so don't dilute it.

So we are spose to clean our brushes after every face?? ive only done me and my boys..but wow!! that just seems like more mins added on while your working!

acarreon wrote:So we are spose to clean our brushes after every face?? ive only done me and my boys..but wow!! that just seems like more mins added on while your working!

Only when your local health regulations require it. In the province of Alberta, Canada we HAVE to.

Dear Acarreon:
This is how I learned to face paint at SickKids Hospital. Infectious Disease Control demonstrated how to clean brushes, exactly how Shannon Fennell describes the method. I have a LOT of brushes and I rotate through them. They are always dry before I get back to them. It doesn't seem to add too much time to me.

Happy Painting!
P.S. I lived in Garland, Texas for a year in 1974.

Gotcha! I have to build up my collection of brushes then!

fesspenter wrote:
P.S. I lived in Garland, Texas for a year in 1974.

Until they noticed and sent you back?

Hey you Metric person!
I am American and I and from Detroit.
Now Detroit is a great place to be FROM.
My mum married a Canadian and we moved around to Garland (near Dallas) Texas, then, we moved to Altamonte Springs (Orlando) Florida.
Then, we moved up here to the land of snow and wolves. (The weather is EXACTLY the same as Detroit).
So, as you probably guessed, I was running from the draft to fight in Vietnam. (I was a 14 year old girl when we moved here).
The first year, I took French. About two months into the year THEY CHANGED THE LYRICS OF THE CANADIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM, IN BOTH ENGLISH AND FRENCH. I was very confused. I spoke with a southern accent.
I am so glad I live here. I am so happy for the opportunities my daughters have up here in Canada (like the goalie scholarship offered to my middle daughter).
I feel that the education system is much better here than in the states. There is more of a World View in the Canadian schools, compared to the US, in my experience.
I just hijacked another thread, did you notice?

xoxo

Dear Lisa,
I so enjoy your notes.
I enjoy even more when you and Shannon kibitz.
I am a born and raised Canadian and love that you love it here. In my part of Canada, it snows only in the winter (where snow belongs), and it reaches 35-40 degrees ('Celcius', 95-104 Fahrenheit for those from elsewhere) in the summer most days. We have fabulous weather (if you like true 4 seasons), and it is my personal heaven on Earth.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program....

I cope much better since I have come to the Dark Side and begun to play hockey.
It is so much fun.
It is not easy.
It is the swirling snow and howling wolves and the Metric system that get me every time.
xoxo