Brush Cleaning (advanced techniques)

WARNING, ANY PERSON ATTEMPTING TO REPLICATE THE FOLLOWING DOES SO AT THEIR OWN RISK. THE AUTHOR CAN NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY ACCIDENT, INJURY, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, ORGAN FAILURE, AND/OR ANY OTHER UNDESIRABLE OUTCOME WHICH MAY RESULT FROM FOLLOWING THE PROCEDURE OUTLINED BELOW.

A clean brush is a happy brush, and I go nuts with the fancy brush soap and warm water at the end of my painting sessions to really try to de-gunk the brush. I find that doing this has really improved the lifespan of my brushes. The reason is strictly financial, a Windsor & Newton Series 7 #2 round $30 here, you gotta make that last.

Despite all this good treatment, all brushes eventually start getting a little ratty, so today I thought I'd try something a little different. Enter dichloromethane (DCM).

DCM is not a friend to you or the environment so before you give this a go be sure that you have a suitable way of disposing of the waste. Wear proper PPE and read the safety data sheet before you do anything. Also, it dissolves some plastics, so if you have synthetic brushes it might not be wise depending on the composition. It also dissolves glue, if you brush has glue inside holding it all together, it wont be there for long. DCM is very volatile and should only be used where suitable ventilation is present. Avoid inhaling fumes. Avoid contact with skin. Try at your own risk.

With the above warnings out of the way, we can continue. 

I grabbed some old brushes and figured I honey badger it. DCM and an ultrasonic bath. The result was amazing. Mountains of junk out of an otherwise clean brush. 

The picture shows the second (left) and first (right) treatments. The one on the right has so many particles that its scattering the light! 

Now, this isn't a fix all, and your brush won't magically be perfect, but it will be better than it was.

As I stated earlier, this is a bit of a gnarly treatment, so if all your brushes fall apart, and/or you get cancer, and/or you poison the environment, and/or you spill the DCM and strip the paint off the floor, it's all on you. 

Good luck,

HMP