Please help me be kinder to my brushes.

[HerbyF]

I use plain old dish soap. I clean each brush after I have used it for a color or purpose. Swishing it in water with a little of the dish soap diluted in. I will swish it then wipe in a soft paper towel, repeat several times if nesissary til the paint is no longer showing when you wipe. I use a quality brand of soap that is fo sensitive hands, it is easier on sabal and other natural brushes. I do have quite a collection of all the sizes I use. So each brush has time to air dry before using it again. If a brush starts getting stiff around the furrule I soak it in straight dish soap for a day or 2 and then clean it with water to break up any old paint. I have brushes that have lasted for over 10 years. And some that wear out after only a few monthes. I usually buy less expensive brushes at art & craft stores.

[FramFramson]

i think you need to understand WHY you get paint in the ferrule.

it is NOT because you over load your brush.

The bristles in your brush act in a capillary fashion, allowing liquids to flow up and down them - thats how they work. The thinner the liquid the faster it will move in a capillary fashion. That means that liquid will flow up into the ferrule when you paint. Especially if you are using low viscosity liquids like washes and inks.

Because you are using very small brushes the amount of paint you have on the brush will be small and will therefore dry faster. So i'm not surprised you have this problem.

It's easy to solve though - just clean your brushes every time you paint with ANY of the bush cleaners. personally i use a solid soap based one.

I do think there is a different issue here though. Using a BIGGER and BETTER QUALITY brush will both limit this effect, but also give you a MUCH BETTER point of the brush to paint with. It's a myth that you need anything smaller than a size 1 to paint miniatures.

Well, it's also partly because I appreciate the finer control a smaller brush offers - larger, wider brushes carry a greater risk of dabbing paint in some awkward way when trying to paint a tight space. I know this seems like a niggling corner case, but it actually comes up pretty often.

In any case, I will probably pick up some Masters' and try that. If that works out, I can give more expensive brushes a whirl.

[westwaller]

It's a myth that you need anything smaller than a size 1 to paint miniatures.

Really? You can paint eyes on Perry miniatures with a size 1 brush. I struggle to do that with a 0/4

[Mindenbrush]

Rosemary Series 33 short handle brushes
1 jar of tap water with a shot of washing up liquid for the first clean
1 jar of filtered water for the second clean
At the end of a week's painting - about 29 hours - I clean my brushes with Tamiya X20A thinners to get any paint from up in the ferrule followed by washing in clean water and an application of hair conditioner.

[Brandlin]

Really? You can paint eyes on Perry miniatures with a size 1 brush. I struggle to do that with a 0/4

Yes.

It's a myth that you need a small brush.  It's much easier with a very good quality larger brush that holds a great point. It'll last much longer too.

[WillieB]

Agree with Brandlin and others. You never need anything smaller than a 'o' or '1'

I only use Winsor and Rosemary but I also use oil paint which is MUCH harder on brushes than acrylic paint.
Yet, I've been able to keep some of those brushs for about 2-3 years painting daily. With an average price of 10 Euro a piece I really need to do so...

'0's keep a much finer point for much longer than 5/0 or 10/0. On top of that the bristles are mostly somewhat longer, so easier to get into awkward corners. Just don't load the brush too much so that the side doesn't touch anything that doesn't need painting.

As for cleaning.
Paint with rectified turps, clean with white spirit, then linseed oil. The linseed oil used copiously really draws the paint from the ferrule.
What I've noticed is that when paintig with acrylics the linseed oil also works up to a point and preserves the brushes better. Don't let them soak in linseed oil because the bristles will swell up.
After each daily session use a brush cleaner( I use Masters), wipe dry on a soft towel, and shape the brush back to a fine point with your lips.

Once a month or so I clean the brushes as usual and afterwards give them a light coat of  my wife's hair conditioner. The tub says Nourishing Corn Oil Mask but I'm sure any equivalent will do.

Rinse the brushes before you start painting again!

A friend of mine cleans his brushes in  Revell liquid cement (glue!) and then quickly cleans them with water and soap. Seems to work well for some unfathomable reason.

[FramFramson]

Well, the local college art store had a sale on so not only did I get some Masters', I also picked up two W&N Series 7 brushes (both 00, one "miniature" - smaller also has the advantage of being a lot cheaper!). Guess I'll see how these go!

[Major_Gilbear]

Yes.

It's a myth that you need a small brush.  It's much easier with a very good quality larger brush that holds a great point. It'll last much longer too.

Totally agree - I can paint irises with my W&N size 1 that I could never hope to do with a teeny-tiny brush. It's all about the quality of the point, the flow from the brush, and the amount of paint held. That's what you're paying for when you buy a posh brush really.

As for cleaning, I use a small cake of Master's Brush Soap. So far, that cake looks like it'll last me the rest of my natural life!

Finally, washes and such getting into the ferrule. Well, I'm rough with my brushes. I don't drybrush or anything with them, but I'm not super-duper careful with them either. I only pick paint up with a brush from a palette (never from the pot), and even so, paint wicks up into the ferrule often (I also thin my paints quite a lot).
Nonetheless, if I get 4-5 months of top-quality use from a sable brush using the soap, that's good enough for me; £20 a year on brushes is a cost that I feel is acceptable for that consistent quality. Plus, more specialised bushes and more cleaning and more time probably equates to an overall "saving" of maybe a brush a year... Pretty pointless given the time and money costs of getting that "saving".

Another tip is this; save your "old" brushes (the ones that have lost their snap and don't keep a superfine point any more, but are still quite usable and come to a point okay) for metal paints. Metal paints really do wear out brushes faster, and given their nature, I never found that using new brushes made an especially big difference.

[westwaller]

A friend of mine cleans his brushes in  Revell liquid cement (glue!) and then quickly cleans them with water and soap. Seems to work well for some unfathomable reason.

I have tried this, on an old sable brush, It does (sort of) work, but I wouldn't advise it really.

Certainly don't use washing up liquid to clean it afterwards, as it reacts in a funny way with the liquid poly, making plasticky small globules appear all over the brush... I did manage to get rid of them in the end, but I don't think the brush was much improved by this method!

It is not really being kind to your brushes...

[FramFramson]

Totally agree - I can paint irises with my W&N size 1 that I could never hope to do with a teeny-tiny brush. It's all about the quality of the point, the flow from the brush, and the amount of paint held. That's what you're paying for when you buy a posh brush really.

As for cleaning, I use a small cake of Master's Brush Soap. So far, that cake looks like it'll last me the rest of my natural life!

Finally, washes and such getting into the ferrule. Well, I'm rough with my brushes. I don't drybrush or anything with them, but I'm not super-duper careful with them either. I only pick paint up with a brush from a palette (never from the pot), and even so, paint wicks up into the ferrule often (I also thin my paints quite a lot).
Nonetheless, if I get 4-5 months of top-quality use from a sable brush using the soap, that's good enough for me; £20 a year on brushes is a cost that I feel is acceptable for that consistent quality. Plus, more specialised bushes and more cleaning and more time probably equates to an overall "saving" of maybe a brush a year... Pretty pointless given the time and money costs of getting that "saving".

Another tip is this; save your "old" brushes (the ones that have lost their snap and don't keep a superfine point any more, but are still quite usable and come to a point okay) for metal paints. Metal paints really do wear out brushes faster, and given their nature, I never found that using new brushes made an especially big difference.

Yes, I will certainly not be using my new Series 7s for the metallics!

[88D]

I've had decent results using a set of £1.50/$3 chinese nail art brushes off ebay, And chucking them in an ultrasonic cleaner when they get too gunked up.