brush care

[thetang22]

I finally have my first set of "nice" brushes in the mail. I got some from Rosemary & Co., and I want to treat them well.

Over the past 7-8 years I've always just used bargain brushes from hobby stores, so I've never practiced what I'd consider good brush care. I'd always have a cup of water to swish my brushes around in periodically, and some paper towels to dry them off after, but I know there has to be better methods than this. Granted, they were bargain brushes, but they would start going downhill pretty qyick after just a couple minis.

What are detailed methods for good brush care that I can start using with my new brushes to get the longest life out of them?

[Talishko]

check the Paintrix blog. She's got some good tips there for painting too...

Edit:

google it or use the link on my site (see sig). Unfortunately I cannot access any of these sites from work and got no net at home atm..

[v22TTC]

Try to not let the paint get up into the ferule (rinse immediately, if it does).

Use cheaper brushes for the rough work (rough, in terms of what it does to the brush): taking paint from the pot, mixing, feathering etc.

After every session:-

Rinse the brushes you've used in warm water, and in the nice, powerful jet you get from the tap (to get right in there). Don't have the water too hot, since it can melt the glue that holds the hairs in;

Use a quality brush soap (from an art shop, probably) and really work that soap up into the ferule. Leave it to soak into the hairs while you do each brush;

Rinse, repeat, rinse again. [A good soap also acts as a conditioner - these are natural hairs, like yours, so should be treated in a similar way - try to avoid using washing-up liquid etc, as it can destroy the oils in the hairs.]

Lick each brush to a fine point and put it in a container that keeps it as vertical as possible.

Some people like to put the rubber tube protector, that good brushes usually come with, back on, but I find it can do more harm than good, as you sometimes catch a hair and bend it back when you do that.

I'm not particularly disciplined, generally, but totally commited to this, and my brushes have lasted years, still at peak performance [and, money-expense aside, it's well to remember that a beautiful, and harmless animal has died to give me my brush, so should be respected by my getting as much life out of that brush as possible, before it needs to be replaced... and you get used to a specific tool you use a lot - when you replace it, the next one won't be exactly the same...].

[nightgaunt98c]

and, money-expense aside, it's well to remember that a beautiful, and harmless animal has died to give me my brush,

Sometimes the hair is just cut from the animal.

[Justin]

Rinse, repeat, rinse again. [A good soap also acts as a conditioner - these are natural hairs, like yours, so should be treated in a similar way - try to avoid using washing-up liquid etc, as it can destroy the oils in the hairs.

I have been told actual shampoo and conditioner work well for this. So long as they are good ones.

[dragonwolf]

Here's a good article on brush care.

http://thescreamingalpha.com/2009/09/21/caring-for-your-brushes-with-masters-brush-cleaner/

[Wombats]

Quick tips:

The fat middle of the brush is where a reservoir of paint feeds into the thin tip.

The closer the paint is to the handle, the harder it will be to clean.

The tips becomes useless if solid paint in the thick part of the brush builds up - you'll see the tip split when this happens.

Keeping your brush fairly wet while painting for long periods of time can help prevent this.

[Sturm88]

I have always had issues with the tips of my brushes "curl" at the very tip. Any tips, suggestions to prevent this. Even though, I have learned to use the curl to my advantage for some things.

[NephilimUK]

Take a lot of care where you put your brushes down, I have occasionally found brushes that have mysteriously teleported into paint pots and cleaning jars, bristles-first. Not funny with a W&N S7.

[Joona]

I have always had issues with the tips of my brushes "curl" at the very tip. Any tips, suggestions to prevent this. Even though, I have learned to use the curl to my advantage for some things.

I don't know what kind of brushes you are using but synthetic brushes tend to curl at the tip. There's pretty much nothing you can really do about it. That has happened to pretty much every synthetic brush I have. You can try dipping the brush in boiling water and then straighten the bristles. It might or might not help. Natural hair shouldn't do that, at least not as much as synthetic, with proper care. If your natural brushes are curling, then you'll just have to suck it up and buy new ones.

[Jens]

The curling part usually only happens with synthetic ones as Joona said - to prevent it if you prefer synthetic fibers is to constantly rotate the brush while painting. These brushes are much less robust compared to proper natural hair brushes.

To clean brushes pretty much any curd soap should do - even the special soaps from daVinci and alike are simply plain curd soap. The trick here is really that it slightly lubricates the brushes and keeps the natural hair flexible - you should always do that if you should use stronger solvents to clean brushes. If the hair isn't flexible the tip of the brush wears off more quickly and you have to get a new one quicker.

Another thing to increase the lifespan of brushes don't paint with the tip.. the weight should be slightly off the tip of the brush. Drybrushing is a real killer for any brush - you can do that with older brushes as this technique really puts a lot of stress on the tip. The tip should follow the paint strokes and not lead them.

From my experience good brushes will last around ~100h and then the tip will eventually wear off no matter how well you clean them. The most robust natural hair brushes I painted with are the Raphael 8404 and pretty much anyone I met would switched to that brand after giving them a try - from our experience W&N 7, DaVinci Maestro and other 'high-end' lines wouldn't last as long and their stiffness is somewhat inbetween the W&N and DaVinci ones and they can hold more paint while keeping a perfect tip. Obviously this is a personal thing - I can only recommend giving them a try and see how they work out for you.

Concerning pricing: if you clean the brushes and don't do silly things with them, the pricier ones will often be much cheaper in the long term as they will keep a good tip for a much longer time. Since synthetic ones easily curl up if you are not very careful and rotate them constantly they are likely the most expensive choice - if they suit someone best there is no way around it.