Artists' Essential Guide: Proper Cleaning and Care for Oil Paint Brushes

You have finished oil painting for the day and now it's time to clean and care for your brushes. But how...? When we first start there are a ton of unanswered questions and questions we don't even know to ask yet, such as: "Is there a different way to clean natural bristles compared to synthetic?," "Should you use turpentine or odorless mineral spirits?," "Can you use an artist oil to clean?," "Can you use dish soap?," "Is there a way to restore older worn-down brushes?" Let's answer these and many more questions together.
In this video, I discuss and demonstrate the materials and procedures to properly clean, restore, and care for your oil painting brushes. I go through temporary cleanings all the way through long term cleaning and storage. Also, I demonstrate the materials and procedures of how to restore and reshape a hardened or damaged frayed brush.
At the end, I walk you through my favorite oil painting brushes that I use the most. They are listed below.
- Utrecht Manglon Synthetic Brushes
- Robert Simmons Signet Bristle Brushes
- Connoisseur Hog Bristle Brush
This video is meant for all skill levels.
Here is the chapter list...
00:00 - Introduction
00:29 - Anatomy Of A Brush
01:26 - Cleaning Materials
03:42 - Temporary Clean
05:08 - Temporary Storage
05:34 - Long Term Clean + Care
07:00 - Brush Restorer
08:08 - My Favorite Brushes
Enjoy and thanks for watching!
CONNECT WITH ME:
Instagram: / michael_john_nolan
Website: www.michaeljohnnolan.com
LIMITED ARTIST PRINTS:
www.michaeljohnnolan.com/store
GREAT NOVELS... I might have illustrated the covers...
www.starsyspublishing.com
Music:
- "Homer Said" by Dyalla
- "Okey Dokey Smokey" by Audionautix
- "No.1 A Minor Waltz" by Esther Abrami
- "Blue Cream" by Cheel
- "Robots a Cometh" by Dan Lebowitz
- "Music Box" by Brian Bolger

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Learning how to oil paint? Check out my playlist, "Oil Painting Basics" kzbin.info/aero/PL74fFkdTaHAjFKbih_nnpuEJQvG9jUaA7

[@AutumnForestFox]

Absolutely perfect guide! Just bravo!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thank you! I appreciate your support. I am so glad it was helpful. Happy painting and cheers!

[@caitlynswift542]

A great video I never knew I needed. 🙌🏻

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Wonderful! I am so glad it helped. Our brushes are our friend! :)

[@yaromcohen]

Btw man, 600subs?! U need to make more vids and push more content cause with this quality vids you make, A lot of people would like to know and see! I’m on YT only for oil painting vids and in the past year never came cross Your channel which is a shame, cause it’s awesome. Any way, I suggest to play the YT algorithm more cause You have gold in your hands. And others deserve to enjoy u.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

James! Thank you again. I really appreciate your kind words. They are humbling. Thank you. And you are right, I sure do. I have rededicated myself to this channel. Lots more content is one the way. Thanks again!

[@morcocaine]

Fully agree with James 👍

[@fl7210]

The production value of these are great

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Very cool! Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it. Thanks for watching.

[@MotorCentaur]

Decent tips. I just clean my brushes in turpentine in a Silicoil jar. I don't wash them with soap at all. If they are stiff when I go to use them again, then I will soak them in turpentine for a few minutes, and they will loosen up and be ready to go . This works even if the brushes have sat for years without use.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thanks for sharing! Appreciate you giving a view and comment. Cheers!

[@user-ft1mz7hy7y]

Learned some great new tips and alternatives to what I've been doing, thanks for sharing!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting and letting me know. Thanks for watching. Appreciate you.

[@lizestefaniayenquequispe2235]

I wish I had been taught cleaning brushes this way before! Thank youu!!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Excellent! I am so glad that the video was helpful to you. Thanks again and happy painting.

[@kidslearncentral]

Excellent video !❤

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Awesome! Thank you again. I appreciate your kindness and support. Cheers!

[@christophermahon1851]

I like the oil soaking for brushes that will be used again soon. Agreed that you don't want to spend your time cleaning up when you don't have to.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Excellent! Truthfully, I have become so lazy with cleaning brushes. I might let them soak in oil for too long. Yikes. Anyway, thanks for watching. Appreciate the comment.

[@MayFire55]

I had no idea I could just Not use solvents! Even odorless ones make me feel sick and it drives me away from oil painting. This is great to know! Also, I think I'm going to be saying "remove this modernity from me" for the rest of my life lmao

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Yay! Me too! Walnut oil is absolutely perfect. Hahah! Say it loud and proud. Thanks, May!

[@DeaDerV23]

Very informative vid bro! I didn't like terpentine, too much husle and danger, so recently i bought this eco thinner. No fumes, safe for the environment and cleans my brushes well. Green for oil it's nice brand if someone looking for eco products!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Appreciate your time and for the great information and suggestion. Thanks again!

[@DeaDerV23]

It is me who should thank you! For self taught artists videos like this are priceless! I'm surprised your channel is not huge already. Again thank you for sharing your knowledge! 😊

[@michaeljohnnolan]

@@DeaDerV23 Thank you very much, Alan. Again, you are very kind. I am so glad the video was helpful. Thanks again to great people like you, the channel is well on its way. Cheers!

[@jennym.9099]

Do you have a link to the thinner? Thanks.

[@fayee8986]

Yes thank you very much it helps a lot. What about storing your brushes massage and with Vaseline.? Thank you so much for sharing your expertise . appreciated!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thanks for the watch and for the question. Anyway, I would not recommend storing your brushes in Vaseline. It will cause too much build up on the individual hairs and will be very difficult to clean up. I would use baby oil or vegetable to store your brushes in until your next cleaning. Thanks again.

[@yaromcohen]

Absolutely gold, I loved it. Now I kindly ask for a bit of clear fixation due to the fact that Not a lot of oil painters use walnut oil. As I learned, which obey to the fat over lean rule, I start premature with solvent, and than, each stage I add more linseed oil. So let’s say grisale would be 75 thinner 25 oil And each layer afterward with the same downgrade ratio..75/25 seconded layer 50/50 third 25/75 And so on. So I wonder how walnut oil come to play with those old techniques which I learned. How does it separate from linseed oil in all the stages and beyond. I’d love to see a vid of you explaining a-z and comparing it to other solvent or / and other oils. Sorry for the long message. Sending love from Israel ! ❤

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thank you for the kind words. They mean a lot! My apologies for my delay in posting. Thanks for your questions. The way you learned is very traditional and wonderful. Walnut oil could replace just the linseed oil and work the same way you have described with the thinner. Or you could replace the thinner and the linseed oil with just walnut oil. To adhere to fat over lean when replacing both the thinner and the linseed oil with walnut oil, just use less oil and more paint as you build through the latter layers. I don't personally use walnut oil and linseed oil together. I just use one artist oil per painting. Linseed can also be used to clean your brushes, but unlike walnut, linseed dries thicker and faster than walnut. Thus, linseed oil tends to gum up the hairs of the brush only after a few days. And thank you for the idea for the artist oil and medium video. That sounds like a super fun video to make. Also, I will make a thorough video of my oil painting process. I appreciate your comments. And thanks for giving my video a watch and for the questions. Hope that helps. Cheers! Michael

[@lisavento7474]

we use OIL TO REMOVE MAKEUP so it's a good thing. I use clove oil and safflower oil to COAT MY BRUSH after wiping and I don't "clean" the brushes until i'm done with the painting. These coated and hanging on a horizontal wrack can last weeks!

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thanks for sharing!! Good to know. Thanks for watching and for the comment.

[@nicholasdileo2011]

next brush video, include "cutting old brushes to new forms, (specialty, or just different,ie-say from a flat to a chisel...) I also sometimes thin out a bristles or nylon to create depper furrows for paint loading, resulting in deeper troughs in the applied stroke. Of course the modification of old brushes can be a creative rabbit hole itself. Explore this in your upcoming shorts please. I would be interested to see if you have come up with any novel modifications I have not considered. Thanks, I like your straight forward explaination of basics oil principles, that most people ,(even Old greybeards with decades of "Oils"experience will sometimes lack those foundational tools, and I see them struggle through transitional phases of a work with brut force.I myself was classically trained in an American University with 16 hours of Figure drawing a week, 4 of which was at the med school morgue, extensive courses based on Ralph Mayers "Bible" of painting methodologies,

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thanks for the watching and for the commentary. I really appreciate your kind words. While that is a very good idea for a video, I do hate to disappoint. Honestly, I rarely cut certain shapes into my brushes. 9 times out of 10 when I cut into a brush is to narrow the tip and or cut away any stray hairs. I would love to know of your modifications. Tell me your secrets! :) By the way, that is quite the resume. Wow! Humbly, I should be watching your videos. Thanks again for the insight and passion. Cheers!

[@vv1083]

This vid is an amazing resource, tysm! What do you do with dirty solvent and walnut oils? I’m not really familiar with how to properly handle them

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your comment and thank you for watching. I am glad you enjoyed the video. In regards to used solvents, I recycle them and reuse them. When my solvent is full of paint, I dump it into a large jar and cap it. After a week or so, the paint settles to the bottom and the solvent rises to the top. Then I pour that solvent into another air tight jar until I want to reuse. I just keep following that procedure. As for the dirty oil, I scoop it out with a rag and then keep the rag in an air tight metal container, glass is also fine. Then I transfer the oil waste into an airtight sealed plastic bag for disposal. Be cautious with oil filled rags, when not disposed of properly, they can spontaneously burst into flames. I hope this helps.

[@vv1083]

@@michaeljohnnolan Thanks so much it totally does! Your channel is a big help to me, looking forward to future videos!🤞

[@michaeljohnnolan]

@@vv1083 Awesome! Thank you so much! That made my day. Honestly, I was doing this channel part time, but now I am going to start pushing a lot more content. The next video should be out next week. Working on finishing it now. Thanks again! Happy painting.

[@randolphfriend8260]

🩷 Thank you.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thank you!!! I am so glad you liked the video. Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@randolphfriend8260]

@michaeljohnnolan Mom was an artist 50 years ago. I really liked the smell of the studio. In recent times, concern from the harmful vapors of art supplies has been brought up, with new "non-damaging to brain cells" brands becoming available. I've been wondering about the cleaning of brushes. A long time ago, I used to use gasoline to clean oil based house paint from brushes. Yet, I knew that was probably bad for my skin. So, thank you for helping me to understand a smidgen more of the clean-up process.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

@@randolphfriend8260 That is just too cool about your mother. How inspiring. What was her artwork like? And you are so right, an artist studio has such a charming smell. I tend to romanticize it too much. Also, as a kid I loved the smell of gasoline. Yikes. My earlier art practices were not always the safest, but as I have aged being safe is the name of the game. Now I mainly just use walnut oil for everything oil painting. And thank you so much for the comments and for the watch. It is nice getting to chat. Cheers!

[@fayee8986]

@@michaeljohnnolan . Gasoline? Wow I hope you guys don't smoke LOL really bad stuff for smelling, inhaling and whatever's. We live and learn thank you for sharing your experiences very much appreciated!

[@bunnie12345]

i have started painting again and sadly my dad is not around for me to ask . thank u .

[@michaeljohnnolan]

I am overjoyed that I am able to help in anyway. Thanks for watching. Happy painting! Cheers!

[@nvrnvrmnd]

11:11 sana makapasa sa upb fa!!!

[@isabel301]

Yikes! I’ve been making a few mistakes with my brush cleaning. Also Hermès needs a scarf or sweater to go with his glasses

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Right!! That would very much complete his look. Haha. You could never make any mistakes. :)

[@Sky34official]

can you answer should ı use turpentine for brush before hit to oil paint? thank you. ı mean to make it wet.

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Yes you can! I start that why all the time. Thanks for watching and for your question. :)

[@Sky34official]

@@michaeljohnnolan thank youu❤️🙌🏻

[@user-lg5gq2he9g]

What do you do with the dirty oil and solvents?

[@michaeljohnnolan]

Thanks for the question. In regards to used solvents, I recycle them and reuse them. When my solvent is full of paint, I dump it into a large jar and cap it. After a week or so, the paint settles to the bottom and the solvent rises to the top. Then I pour that solvent into another air tight jar until I want to reuse. I just keep following that procedure. As for the dirty oil, I scoop it out with a rag and then keep the rag in an air tight metal container, glass is also fine. Then I transfer the oil waste into an airtight sealed plastic bag for disposal. Be cautious with oil filled rags, when not disposed of properly, they can spontaneously burst into flames.