The most important thing you can do to maintain your art brushes is to keep them clean. The pigment particles in your paint are rock and mineral powder with sharp, jagged edges. These can be hard on your brush bristles. When left in the brush without a lubricating vehicle they saw at brush hairs, chopping them like tiny axes. This residue accumulates at the ferrule and bloats the brush to the appearance of an old broom.

Leaving brushes to soak in water or thinner will dry out the hairs, make them prone to breaking and permanently bend the ends. For late-night painting sessions followed by more work in the morning, it’s better to wrap the brush heads in aluminum foil to keep oil brushes fresh, or plastic wrap for acrylics. When a proper washing is not possible, watercolor brushes should be rinsed, blotted and laid flat to dry.

Here are some tips for washing your brushes after using oil or acrylic paints.

1. Remove excess paint and residue with a rag or heavy paper towel.

2. Rinse out all color using solvent or water, appropriate to the medium.

3. Use a safe biodegradable brush cleaning fluid such as Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer. Place fluid in a container like the Silicoil brush cleaning jar.

4. Brush the bristles across the coil spring in the jar. This gives the brush enough action to release the paint residue into the brush cleaning fluid. When satisfied, brush the bristles against the side of the jar and wipe with heavy paper towels.

5. Repeat step 4 until no color is visible in the brush.

6. Blot with a rag and groom hairs back to their proper shape. Dry horizontally to allow draining.

You might also want to consider purchasing a brush holder for safely storing your brushes when you are not painting with them.