If you've ever forgotten to clean your paint brushes and found them firmly encased in rock hard dry paint, this simple, chemical free How-To could save your paint brushes and have you painting again before anyone is any wiser to your dry paint dilemma. Yay!
What You Need
Materials
Just your unmoving paint brush and some trusty white vinegar!
Equipment
A saucepan and your stovetop.
Instructions
1. Soak the brush in vinegar for an hour or so until you can bend the bristles.
2. Fill a saucepan with vinegar until the brush bristles are covered.
3. Bring the vinegar to a boil and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a minute before removing the brush.
5. Gently comb the brush with your fingers. The paint will still be attached but will fall away as you comb it.
6. Rinse the brush under running water to release the loose paint.
7. Depending on how much paint there was you may need to repeat steps 5 and 6 a couple of times, but before you know it your paint brush will be ready for another round!
Additional Notes:
This method can involve an open flame so only use this for water based paints.
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(Images: Sarah Starkey)
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Cool tip - but vinegar is not "chemical free." It is an industrial chemical, made in factories. For that matter, only vacuum is chemical free.
Wikipedia: 4% to 8% acetic acid by volume for table vinegar and up to 18% for pickling vinegar. Natural vinegars also contain small amounts of tartaric acid, citric acid, and other acids.
@mjs - good point acetic acid is a chemical. "Chemical Free" is really a stupid phrase we need to jettison. Toxin Free? I dunno - how much acetic acid is bad for you?
Great tip! I will have to try this.
does this work for both nylon bristles and natural-hair brushes? not that I would let my expensive hair brushes dry with paint on them, mind you! hmm-hmm-hmmm-hmmm...
100% acetic acid is very dangerous and must be worked with in a lab hood (not on your head, it's a machine that pulls the air inside of the machine up and vents/filters outside of the building) to prevent inhalation.... It is also very bad on your skin. Fortunately, most of your readers won't have to worry about this...
I tried this and it did NOT work!! My paintbrushes are still rock hard and unusable. Guess I'll have to try something else :-(
I tried this on half a dozen brushes in various stages of hardness. It was amazing. May not bring the worst back to original condition, but they are usable.