Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting The Technical Forum Cleaning brushes with just oil?

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  • #465367
    chamisa
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        Have any of you used just oil successfully to actually clean oil brushes?
        There are some You Tube videos showing the use of baby oil and safflower or linseed oil to clean them.
        I’ve been experimenting with wiping brushes with paper towels and then dipping my brushes in linseed oil and reusing them the next day, sometimes for a whole week. It works pretty well, and I don’t have to spend so much time cleaning brushes.
        But haven’t tried to actually clean them thoroughly with oil.

        #736087
        chamisa
        Default

            Have any of you used just oil successfully to actually clean oil brushes?
            There are some You Tube videos showing the use of baby oil and safflower or linseed oil to clean them.
            I’ve been experimenting with wiping brushes with paper towels and then dipping my brushes in linseed oil and reusing them the next day, sometimes for a whole week. It works pretty well, and I don’t have to spend so much time cleaning brushes.
            But haven’t tried to actually clean them thoroughly with oil.

            #736079
            Anonymous

                absolutely yes.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhOzqI0mWmA&t=397s

                I also paint with dirty brushes all the time.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Araawn17o6k

                #736099
                Raffless
                Default

                    Unless you using ‘power’ colours(very high chroma) you dont have to clean your brushes. Just wipe with a rag and the remainder onto the palette then just pick up the colour you want next working well into the bristles. If you want to use a few days later just add a bit of linseed oil to the bristles.

                    #736090
                    Humbaba
                    Default

                        There are many posts about this topic in the forum, do a search.

                        #736092
                        Dick
                        Default

                            That’s exactly what I’m doing as well with the exception of my puffy blending brush. I clean that with OMS after each use.

                            Dick Hutchings
                            Daniel Smith Essential 6 colors and Arches 140#

                            #736085
                            AllisonR
                            Default

                                I’ve been experimenting with wiping brushes with paper towels and then dipping my brushes in linseed oil and reusing them the next day, sometimes for a whole week. It works pretty well, and I don’t have to spend so much time cleaning brushes.

                                This is a good habit. Over cleaning actually ruins brushes faster. However, when I am going to seriously clean brushes (end of a painting, not going to paint again for a while… ) then I do use turp. You don’t have to. But to really clean them I find just oil or soap leaves a paint remaining bound to the bristles. So I use warm water with a bar of white soap, lather them like crazy and keep soaping and rinsing until all tints are gone.

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                                #736088
                                chamisa
                                Default

                                    Thanks everyone this was really helpful!

                                    Allison, I m confused as you say you use turp when you are finished for a while painting, but then say you use soap. I’ve used an ivory bar before — is that what you use instead of the turp, or do you use turp and then the soap.
                                    Thanks!

                                    #736089
                                    chamisa
                                    Default

                                        Mods can you delete this thread —it apparently got moved from another place, and I already had same thread posted here.
                                        Thanks

                                        #736095
                                        contumacious
                                        Default

                                            Another thumbs up for cleaning with oil and leaving oil in them between sessions. The thinner and more slowly drying the artist’s quality oil the better. It is better in my view to use an oil that is compatible with your paints. Baby Oil is most definitely not.

                                            There are hundreds (thousands?) of threads on cleaning brushes on WC, many of them deal with using oil.

                                            Google Site Search for Cleaning Brushes with Oil on WC

                                            #736091

                                            Spectrum Walnut oil works great for cleaning while painting. A little dip and wipe with paper towels…swirl the brush on the towel.

                                            When done for the day or several days use liquid dish soap to work out any build up. Rinse well and press the bristles back into shape with a paper towel to remove excess water.

                                            Do not under any circumstances leave brushes soaking in fluids…no turps are needed period. No OMS needed either. I use top of the line strong colors in my work and the walnut oil works beautiful…I can go to my next color and use the same brush over and over in a session. Cleaning brushes has never been easier. Don’t make cleaning more difficult than it needs to be. I have brushes that are more than 30 years old and all are in great shape! :clap:

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                                            #736096
                                            contumacious
                                            Default

                                                Do not under any circumstances leave brushes soaking in fluids…no turps are needed period. No OMS needed either.

                                                Do you mean you shouldn’t leave your brushes saturated / soaking in clear oil? What is the reason for that? I have been doing that for years with zero adverse results. It is no different than painting with them with oils.

                                                As for leaving them soaking in OMS I have also done that for many decades. There has only been one issue I found with the OMS soak. Unlike soaking in oil, which tends to hold the bristles in place, OMS over several days will often make the bristles splay out a bit. Cleaning in Masters Brush Cleaner and shaping them sets them back to normal. I prefer soaking in oil to OMS but neither has ever damaged any of my brushes.

                                                #736073
                                                Garland
                                                Default

                                                    Gamblin makes two different types of Walnut oil, their regular walnut oil cleans better than the other walnut oil. They a long page on this.

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                                                    #736093
                                                    Pinguino
                                                    Default

                                                        Gamblin makes two different types of Walnut oil, their regular walnut oil cleans better than the other walnut oil. They a long page on this.

                                                        Did you mean M. Graham, rather than Gamblin?

                                                        #736074
                                                        AnnieA
                                                        Default

                                                            My experience with leaving some brushes soaking in oil seems to bear out Seaside Artist’s caution. I read something about it a while ago but when I tried it, there was a problem. They became gummy and it took me quite a while to get them back in shape – some of them even now haven’t fully recovered. I’ve heard others here though, say it works fine for them, so I wonder if there was some step that I took or didn’t take that made a difference.

                                                            One other concern of mine when cleaning with oil has to do with the use of alkyds. They seem to dry so quickly, and given my earlier problem with gumminess in my brushes, I worry that there will be an alkyd buildup in the bristles that oil is just not capable of dealing with. OMS seems to remove alkyd better than oil does. But this may be a reason not to use alkyd rather than not use oil to clean. Any thoughts from others on this concern would be appreciated.

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