Our brushes are more than just tools, they’re the bridge between our creative vision and the canvas. Cleaning them can be tedious but If we treat them right, they’ll reward us with years of precise, beautiful brush strokes. Neglect them, and even the finest brushes will eventually lose their edge.

If you’d like to learn how to quickly clean acrylic paint from your brushes I’ll share my answers to the most common questions below:

Paint drying in the bristles is the number one cause of brush malfunction. The longer you leave your brushes before cleaning them the more likely this is to happen.

To prevent this, you should immediately remove all the excess paint with a paper towel or cloth, and rinse the brush with warm water. Once this is done you should get your brush cleaner and prepare to clean the brushes.

The last thing you want to do is make your natural bristle brushes go dry and brittle by cleaning them with a harsh soap. Instead, use a specialized brush cleaner that both cleans and conditions the bristles, keeping them soft and springy.

Our Precise Brush Soap & Conditioner is designed to keep brushes in a pristine condition, and the tin comes with a silicone matte inside which can help you work the soap deep into the ferrule to remove any hidden paint build up.

So you’ve rinsed your brushes and got yourself a brush cleaner and conditioner, what’s next? Now you need to massage the damp brush bristles into the brush soap until it forms a lather. Then, using your thumb and index finger lightly pull from the base of the bristles to the tip, removing the excess paint from the bristles.

Rinse the brush in clean water and repeat this process until no more paint remains in the bristles. After cleaning, gently reshape the bristles between your fingers. Then lay the brush flat to fully dry. Once completely dry, you can store the brushes upright.

So you left your brush out overnight without cleaning it and now the acrylic paint has fully hardened on your brush. It’s okay, it happens to the best of us.

The name of the game with brush care is prevention, but when disaster strikes there is still a chance to restore the paint brush to its former glory. Here’s how:

1. Soak just the bristles in 50 / 50 diluted rubbing alcohol for one hour.
2. Rinse the brush in clean water, removing as much paint from the bristles as possible.
3. Clean the brush with the brush soap and conditioner in the same way outlined previously.
4. (If there is still dry paint on the brush repeat steps 1 - 3).
5. Reshape the bristles, then lay the brush flat to fully dry overnight. 

Sure, it might seem like a chore at first, but with a bit of routine and the right brush cleaner & conditioner, the whole process takes a few short minutes.

The reward? Brushes that stay soft, responsive, and precise for years. That’s an investment any artist can feel good about.