How to Clean Oil Paint Brushes - Toxic Free!

[@linewise215]

A lot of tutorials still say to use solvents for brush cleaning and even dip the brush into a solvent during painting. This kept me away from oil painting for a long time. I'm so glad I joined Evolve and can now explore those beautiful (non-toxic) oil paints😊

[@evolveartist]

Yes!! This is so awesome to hear 😊 I'm glad that we could help point you in the right direction. There is so much information out there and sometimes we don't realize how someone's well-intended advice can weigh someone else down with more things to worry about. That's why it's so important to get the RIGHT information, at the RIGHT time 😊 ~ Daniel

[@centradragon]

It's kind of weird people don't think they can clean brushes with soap! I've cleaned some pretty caked-on oil from dish pans, and I never ended up having to break out the Gamsol.

[@martinsodyssey]

I guess if people knew this a whole industry of chemical production stops and someone very rich stops making money.

[@cookworm6]

So glad to see I can use something easily accessible and nontoxic to clean brushes! This video was thorough and very helpful. Thank you!

[@powderriverfarrier]

Daniel's right with his instructions. I'm starting block four with the same set of brushes I started using in block one. The instructions for reshaping after washing that he provides have kept my brushes very close to their original shape. This video is the sort of instruction that is just one more reason to join Evolve. Somehow Daniel manages to provide very useful content with every video. It's starting to look like he one of those people who's alway right. Thanks mate!

[@evolveartist]

I'm not always right 😂 but I do appreciate the compliment! Thank you 😊 ~ Daniel

[@amysbees6686]

I personally love Escoda bar soap (after using Palmolive dish soap)! My natural bristle brushes are not only clean, but conditioned!

[@evolveartist]

Good to know! Thanks for sharing Amy 🙂 ~ Daniel

[@amysbees6686]

Daniel, You are very welcome!🖌️

[@apequestrian2066]

Thanks for this helpful video! One of the reasons I was scared to try oil painting was that I had heard you have to use solvents and mediums that are toxic, and then worrying about how to dispose of them properly. Watching this video really eased my mind knowing that I can clean my brushes with just soap! Does it need to be ivory or dish soap, or would a bar of dove soap work just as good? Also, during your painting sessions, do you just pinch the paint on your brush into a paper towel to clean your brush before dipping your brush into a different color since you don’t use solvents?

[@kr6302]

Another really helpful video. Bless you Daniel, I was gonna buy all kinds of unnecessary stuff to keep my brushes clean.

[@evolveartist]

Glad to hear we could help K R! ~ Daniel

[@RivkaMacales]

Great and helpful video! How do you recommend to clean a 2" brush (Bob Ross)? The same as the tiny brush?

[@kikibiddy2927]

Hello, first-time oil painter here. What is a good non-toxic method to clean brushes WHILE painting? For example, the brush I just used to paint something orange, I now want to use to paint something blue- what can I use for the in-between cleanings? I cannot use turpentine or anything with fumes for health reasons as well as having animals in the home that's not very well ventilated. Any recommendations?

[@evolveartist]

You could use linseed oil to thin down and pull the orange out of the brush and gently wipe it on a rag / paper towel until most of the color is gone. Then you could dab the brush into the blue paint until the blue overpowers and remaining contaminates. (You could also create a separate blue mixture that you can use to mix the orange out, then clean the brush again with linseed oil before going to the uncontaminated blue mixture. For a faster workflow, however, you could have two of the same brush and use one for one color/light group (like "oranges") and the other for for another color/light group (like "blues"). That way you can easily and quickly alternate between both without having to clean the brush between those opposite colors. Hope that helps! Let me know if I was able to answer your question or if you have any follow ups 😊 ~ Daniel

[@finleydavis118]

I’ve been using this method since high school art (Sr. 1977). The first project each year was soap carving, you guessed it, we had to bring in a bar of Ivory soap. Mrs Buchanan insisted we save our shavings, which she pressed into squares…there you go, blocks for brush cleaning!

[@danaraleysim483]

Thank you for sharing this method of cleaning our brushes. I'm someone who doesn't want to use toxic chemicals in my home especially since I live in a small apartment...

[@evolveartist]

Glad I could help Dana! 😁 ~ Daniel

[@martinsodyssey]

No way!? Game changer. I’m away to buy some soap!

[@YouCanCallMeT-lb4wn]

I've tried it ever since I started oil painting, when I thought my brushes were clean next time I wanted to paint I found them hardened. Any tips? Also to save my favourite brushes that are already hard? 🤠

[@jerrywintrob2563]

I have found dawn dish soap works fine. Thanks for the video - is there anything else I should do to maintain the brushes. Very happy I don't need to use turpentine or turpenoid.

[@marshallallan8907]

can you wash the brushes this way when using liquin? is there some non toxic alternative to liquin if not?

[@manuelrodriguezalmeida]

This is exactly what I do! However, I learned this through trial and error hehe good advise!

[@evolveartist]

That's awesome 😊 glad to hear that you also found the same solution! ~ Daniel

[@thrashingmoose28]

Brush cleaning might seem like a menial thing to make a video about, but I bought so many solvents and spent so much money and worried about how I would get rid of the solvents when done (because you can’t just dump them down the drain) because I didn’t know that just soap would do the job (and I watched a ton of ‘trying oil painting for the first time’ videos by KZbinrs who bought all of it). You guys really take the extra fluff out of oil painting.

[@evolveartist]

Yes!! Not all information is equal. Taking the extra fluff out is very important to us because we've seen how it hinder and hold someone back from consistently painting at the easel. I talk about that in more depth in my mini-course on reaching pro art skills (bit.ly/get-pro-art-skills). Good knowledge is the right information at the right time (one step at a time). It's the difference between asking someone to take a massive leap from no skills to mastery, compared to walking up a flight of stairs and getting success with every step. 🙂 thanks for sharing thrashing moose! ~ Daniel

[@sylvialagerwey7752]

Great advice, the whole cleaning bit of oil paint brushes had turned me of oil painting, shall now give it a go, however for thinning down oil paint for under painting ( fat over lean etc) what do you advise for doing that. Thank you for you helpful advice. Sylvia

[@phite4534]

Ivory soap takes forever to clean your brushes. I prefer to use Murphys Oil Soap as it works faster.

[@SophiahKoikasWindyQueen]

good idea. I was washing mine with eco friendly soap. what can you do for brushes that weren't cleaned properly and became hard?

[@evolveartist]

Hey Sophiah, in my experience I've had to throw out brushes that weren't cleaned properly and became hard. That being said, I have been able to clean paint-hardened brushes simply by following the same process as in this video, particularly for brushes that I forgot to clean the night before. But it takes much, much longer and doesn't always get everything. I make an intention of planning out my time to clean brushes after every session so that I don't leave them out to dry overnight. Hope that helps Sophiah 😊 ~ Daniel

[@SophiahKoikasWindyQueen]

@@evolveartist thank you.

[@reubenrutland4537]

Daniel I’m a new artist. I have learned so much from your videos. Thank you! I actually joined Evolve because of your videos. I noticed that you use to do critiques, do you still do them?

[@evolveartist]

Hey Reuben! Thank you, that means a lot to me that you decided to join 😊 yes I still do them, though sometimes it can take me a day or so to respond 🙂Here's the link! bit.ly/evolve-art-critique

[@samuelmatthews2972]

I'm so glad I watched this video, thank you

[@evolveartist]

Glad I could help Samuel 🙂 ~ Daniel

[@RocksCryOut777]

this works great and fast

[@europeanroyalty4778]

Really appreciate these video's Daniel, from both yourself and Kevin. I'm a freezer man with my paint, but what Kevin is doing with his leads me to believe it's okay to leave it on the pallette, the top layer will skin up and protect the rest for weeks at a time and all I need to do is break away the top layer, and the paint underneath will be fine? Am I correct in this assumption.?

[@evolveartist]

It largely depends on what kind of paint you're using, how humid your space is, and how much paint you have out (if you have small amounts, it would dry up faster). So, you'll really have to trial-and-error your way to figure out how long you have before the paint dries underneath. You'll also want to be careful not to remix the skin back into the paint - otherwise you'll get dry gunky parts in there. You can also help slow down the drying time by covering it with a sheet of palette paper (top-side down), or putting it in an enclosed space (like a box). I would start by trying it out for a day, and then two days, etc. and see how that goes for you 🙂 ~ Daniel

[@europeanroyalty4778]

@@evolveartist thanks Daniel. As for the statistics on the amount of cadmium getting into the water, I don't have those, maybe they don't even exist. We all know what politicians are like.

[@HeleneWheatfield0549]

But Daniel, I just had a lesson last night in which the teacher told us if you want to get very fine, small strokes, "just dip your paintbrush first into the turps or Gamsol, and then into the paint. I.e. it makes for a much more fluid and a therefore, easier, stroke. How would you accomplish this without using either? Also, if you leave the linseed oil on your brush, does that just mix with the paint the next time when you start painting again with it, or should you wipe it off? Can Linseed Oil make your oil paint more fluid for easier strokes? Thanks. 🙂

[@duckandflea]

I'm in the UK and I've never seen ivory soap - does anyone know what brands here are equivalent?

[@mtehran1742]

Do I have to clean my brush between different painting or can I just deep it in from one colour to other without cleaning it!

[@evolveartist]

Clean your brushes after every painting session (every time you finish painting for the day). This will preserve the quality of your brushes and will save you money 🙂 ~ Daniel

[@tcrossfranco]

What about the oils in your fingers getting on the bristles...?//

[@rrmm2644]

This method is only good for cleaining brushes after a painting session, but it's not practacal to inbetween painting session when i need to wash my brush often to switch colours !

[@PennyBlankinship]

Do you have to have different brushes for oil and acrylic painting.

[@katielyb]

Technically I don't think so but I would personally recommend it. I've never been able to completely remove oil from paint brushes without using a solvent.

[@soulstorm8806]

Well I was doing it right but the hard way it seems. I just started painting I have always sketched and drawn with pencils but now i am exceeding into acrylics and also oil paints. And it is sooo much harder to clean oils of course. Makes perfect sense but annoying. Also I have noticed that they don’t dry quickly but over a very long time.

[@gurlycirl2010]

Honest question: So I shouldn’t worry about cadmium or any other chemicals getting into the water? Safe disposal of toxic paint or water is part of what is holding me back from getting into painting. 😢

[@evolveartist]

Good question! The vast majority of oil paint is safe. The chemicals that you have to worry about are the ones that come from turpentine & other solvents, and this video shows how you can avoid using them. There are a few oil paint pigments that are toxic (like cadmium, cobalt, etc.), but you can easily find alternatives for those colors for most reputable oil paint brands. In Evolve, for example, we give our students a full-spectrum, nontoxic, Old Holland paint set, so that toxicity and disposal is not a concern. Having a toxic-free studio really takes the worries away, and helps you spend more time on the easel 🙂 Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions 😊 ~ Daniel

[@europeanroyalty4778]

Not to go against Daniel's advice, who would I be to do so. I'm from Ireland and the European Union is talking about banning cadmium's very soon for the reason you mentioned. There worried about people washing their brushes in the sink and the cadmium getting into the water table. The banning of cadmium's in Europe is a huge concern for painters.

[@evolveartist]

@@europeanroyalty4778 Oh wow, I didn't know that. From my personal opinion (not Evolve's, necessarily), I think it's really unfortunate that it would be outright banned - I know that cadmium has special properties that artists love and can't be 100% replaced by an alternative. I certainly don't know enough to really weigh in on the matter - I'd be curious to see statistics about how much cadmium gets into the water table specifically from painters (as opposed to other sources). ~ Daniel

[@cameronsharpe6647]

@@evolveartist Its great you are teaching non toxic methods but with all due respect it would be great to know how to clean and dispose of toxic paints as they definitely still exist and no one wants to do damage to the environment

[@evolveartist]

@@cameronsharpe6647 Certainly. The paint that we use in our Program isn't toxic, so that's not a concern for our students. I also use the same palette Evolve uses, professionally. So I can't see Evolve making a video on that any time soon. Hopefully there are other good sources out there that are more experienced with working with toxic paint and have a great system for clean up. ~ Daniel

[@sharonnalls1100]

Can you use something other than linseed oil such as glycerin, baby oil, etc?

[@evolveartist]

Hey Sharon, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question. But even if you don't have linseed oil, remember that you can clean your brushes with just ivory soap :) hope that helps ~ Daniel

[@Creatamania]

How do you clean your brush while you're painting and using different colors between the different colors?

[@cckidstv2995]

@Creatamania , Daniel’s reply on comment above yours (to kikibiddy) might answer your question?

[@sewingartest2099]

I am struggling with taking it off the handle

[@MichaelBrooksmsb400]

The Soap I am using is called "The Masters" Soap.

[@d.e.m.p.s.e.y]

Can that oil/soap just go down the drain?

[@immaalien]

You still need mineral spirits for oil painting

[@a.luvonne747]

Why don't artists ever clean their paint pallets - why do they allow paint to dry on them; doesn't that contaminate the purity of any given color?

[@evolveartist]

We generally recommend that our students clean their palettes with every painting session. But I have seen other artists outside of Evolve choose not to clean their palettes. This is likely because of how the oil paint "dries." When a glob of paint is on a palette, the surface of the paint dries first, while the inside can still have useable paint. The artist could cut through the dried seal and access the wet paint underneath. This can be efficient for when you have mixed a color that you know you'll need to go back to. I hope this was informative! - Daniel

[@memoguillermomillan]

I’m sorry but I am not bringing scissors to my brushes

[@MesmerNature]

Lovely, but do not overlook the fact oil paints themselves are toxic and you are sending it down the sink.... to the waterways and oceans. You need a way to collect the sediment and dispose of it ethically. Perhaps the sludge can be dropped into a jar instead?

[@evolveartist]

Thank you for this Mesmer! The oil paints we use in Evolve are not toxic, which I why I felt comfortable letting the sludge go down the sink in this video. But even if it's not toxic, maybe it still is better to dispose of the sludge in a jar instead! Open to your thoughts on this 🙂 ~ Daniel

[@Julia29853]

Most oil paints are not toxic anymore, safety regulations have improved all if them

[@FantasyFantasy-m3d]

Brushe clean Soap 😂