Thoroughly cleaning brushes and rollers after painting is absolutely essential for their preservation, allowing their prolonged use.
Brush maintenance is different depending on the type of paint used (oil and synthetic paint, nitro paint, wall paint), so the brushes must be cleaned using the appropriate solvent to wash the bristles. When the solvent has removed most of the paint, place the brush under running water to remove the remaining paint. To obtain satisfactory results and also guarantee brushes and rollers will have a long useful life, we suggest purchasing high-quality products that also allow you to apply the paint more evenly and without losing bristles.
What you need :
- Synthetic or nitro solvent
- Rubber bands
- Plastic wrap or aluminium foil
- Flaxseed oil
- WD-40 Multi-Use
Step 1: washing the bristles
If you used oil or nitro paints, the bristles must be washed with the appropriate solvent (synthetic or nitro). Once it has dissolved most of the paint, place the brush under running water with the bristles facing upwards: the flow of water removes the paint trapped between the bristles, but now diluted with solvent.
If you used water-based acrylic or wall paint, all you have to do is thoroughly wash the brushes under tap water (always ending with the bristles pointing upwards) to eliminate any trace of paint.
Step 2: make the brushes compact to protect them
After the brushes have been carefully washed they must be carefully dried, especially if the ring nut is not chromed and the water could lead to the formation of rust, with the consequent loss of bristles during painting or even dirtying the walls. To avoid this inconvenience, spray a few drops of WD-40 Multi-Use to avoid the formation of any rust. While the brushes are drying, we recommend giving the bristles a pointed or flat shape depending on the type of brush, so that they don’t spread out, making the brush lose its shape and therefore rendering it unusable. A good system that helps keep the bristles compact is placing a rubber band around them not too tightly, which helps keep them in “shape”.
Step 3: eliminate any hardened bristles
If you weren’t able to immediately clean your brushes and the bristles have hardened, bring them back to full functionality by placing the brush in a jar with a mixture of synthetic solvent, nitro solvent and flaxseed oil (40% + 40% + 20%), leaving it for a couple of days. Once this has had a chance to do its job, wash as described. If you need to start painting again within a few hours (or a day), instead of cleaning the brush as directed, simply wrap the bristles in aluminium foil or plastic wrap, then put it in the fridge. The brush will stay quite damp for a few days. Then perform the general cleaning once the work is finished.
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