Brush Clean up
Alexander Master Artist Tom Anderson shows you how to conserve paint and how to clean up your brushes with an environmentally friendly solution you can make yourself. (We show you how.)
NOTE: Since creating this video, Tom has suggested you might want to use 1/2 vegetable oil, 1/4 soap, and 1/4 water rather than the proportions in the video. In fact, in the video, he mentions that you might want to use more oil. We’ve corrected the titles in the video. See what works for you.
Paint Salvage
Save your paint. Tom shows you how.
Hi,
What kind of oil is used to store the paint in the fridge?
Thanks so much for your help. You have no idea how much I’ve learned and how much I enjoy painting following your instructions.
Best regards from México.
Laura
What would you do during the painting process if you need to clean the brush what would you use ?
Is this liquid just for a final clean up I assume this cannot be used while you are painting, do you use wipes to clean your brushes for immediate use again.
I use industrial wipes for hand and tool cleaning at work they are like a commercial baby wipe,will these be suitable.
I use turpenoid natural as my cleaner its a non toxic brush cleaner and also conditioner. It makes cleaning your brushes and cleanup real easy and plus it conditions my brushes at the same time. No toxic fumes so you don’t have to worry about painting in a well ventilated room you can find it here.
It’s probably not more natural but i use it mostly because it cleans well and it doesn’t slowly kill you like other solvents. After i dip it i wash my brush in soap and water just so i don’t get any of it on my paint.
I have used odorless paint thinner for 15-20 years. I have fallen in love with your cleaner; however I do have a problem with the cleaner during a class when students use too much paint and leave a large amount of paint is left in the brush, and baby wipes will not remove the excess and there is very little time for drying. Zane
PS. Waiting for the Master Class.
Can I use baby oil first to get paint out of the brushes and then use Tom’s formula? Or vice versa? I have used baby oil for years.
Thanks, Patricia
Baby oil does not dry and is not archival. It should be avoided.
True, but if they do not “clean” out the baby oil it can get into the painting. Just a precautionary point of interest.
Thank you for this valuable information,
I like the sound of your formula and will give it a go. With the cold cream applied to the brush at the end of the procedure – do you clean this before commencing to paint with your solution or anything else? I’m thinking it would leave a residue.
Thanks for the great advice!
Can we use this oil/soap/water mixture to clean all types of oil paint out of our brushes?
hi..have tried this soap+oil+water mixture for cleaning brushes with oil paint and found it good for cleaning ..only have to wait till the brush dries. but my daughter has found this very good for cleaning her palette and brushes which have dried after doing painting in acrylics. another point i would like to mention here..baby oil (johnson and johnson) is very pricey in INDIA for use for cleaning brushes. but since baby oil is after all c10-c12 hydrocarbons and diesel oil is also a similar mineral oil so i tried diesel oil for cleaning brushes while doing oil painting and it is economical.also it doesnt smell so bad as kerosine or turpentine oil. diesel also doesnt catch fire at room temp .is for information only.
What type of pallette is Tom using?
What is the “clear” oil that he is using in the salvaged paint?
Thanks..
John,
Some of us practice proper material handling, studio safety, and proper disposal and we are not so concerned with “toxic”-“non-toxic” issue’s but are more concerned with archival issue’s. This is why we would like to know what you are using in your medium’s and I can not find any pigment numbers used in your paints. Not asking for formula’s.
I used the 1/2 vegetable oil, 1/4 dish soap and 1/4 water mixture and shook it up. I haven’t used it yet but my mixture is a lot more sudsy than the mixture that Tom made on the video. At least that is the way it looks. I used regular dish washing detergent not dishwasher detergent. Should I be OK?
Can I assume that the brushes are thoroughly rinsed of soap residue after cleaning? If you don’t use facial cream, do you do anything else special with the brush to make sure it does not ‘fray’ or splay out as I have had some do when using water based cleaning. I used hand lotion to fix one of these incidents. I also assume that wiping the cold cream is adequate to allow painting with no worries?
A bit confused – in the video it says concentrated dish soap but in comments it says don’t use concentrated dish soap. Please clarify. One of the comments says to use dishwasher soap – also please clarify – is it dish soap as one would use for handwashing or is it dishwasher soap.. Thanks.