How to Clean Acrylic Paint Brushes: Quick and Easy Steps

One of the “special” traits of acrylic paint is the fact that it has water solubility, which means that it’s relatively easy to clean brushes and palettes with just soap and water. While this sounds amazing on paper, a lot of people who actually use these brushes might feel like this isn’t so in their particular case.

This is because of their other trait - fast drying time, which is amazing for workability but makes the maintenance and cleaning a bit more difficult to handle.

So, if you’ve ever wondered how to clean acrylic paint brushes the right way, here are a few quick and easy steps you should know of.

1. Buy acrylic paint brush cleaners

As early as the introduction, we’ve mentioned the fact that you can clean acrylic paint brushes with water and soap, so why would you need a special solution for cleaning it?

First of all, you can clean your hands with just water, yet you’re still using soap. You can also wash your hair with water, but you’re still using a shampoo. In order to clean something as thoroughly as possible, you need a special cleaner, one that will remove all the residue, as well.

Also, remember that, despite their nature, not all paints are made the same. There are some pigments that can be particularly stubborn. Since they’re harder to remove, you need something extra to help you out.

According to specialists from Number Artist, a paint brush cleaner can significantly prolong the life of your acrylic paint brushes.

Although, on paper, it may seem like you’re wasting money on an extra product you may not need, the reality of the matter is that it means that you’re actually saving it this way. How? By postponing the need to buy a new brush. This way, you’ll (for instance) go through three brushes in a year instead of five. When maintained well, an acrylic paint brush can last you anywhere between one and five years (depending on the use).

The types of these cleaners are split into a few categories:

• Cleaner and preserver
• Cleaner and reviver
• Nourishing soap
• Solvent-based cleaners

Depending on your ambition, you can go with one or a few of these.

2. A few extra cleaning gadgets

As stated before, if you want to take the simplest route possible, you can clean it under the water. When looking for an answer to how to clean acrylic paint brushes in the most efficient way, you should probably get an item or two to help you out.

First, you need an aluminum brush washer. This accessory has a spiral handle and suspends your brushes to soak them or dip them dry. It’s basically a well for your acrylic paintbrushes.

Instead of carrying a glass around (and you’ll need a glass to rinse your acrylic brushes), you can get something like a dual-compartment cleaning jar. This way, you get one compartment for rinsing and another one for clean water.

A brush spinner is an interesting tool that rapidly spins the brush in order to remove excess water and paint. It is hand-operated, but it’s much more efficient than just drying it by hand.

Keep in mind that there are certain people who use acrylic brushes to the extent that these gadgets would actually make a huge difference.

Maybe painting calms you down, or maybe you’re just addicted to those paint-by-numbers kits and ordering them in droves. Sure, these kits often come with their own sets of brushes, but maybe you want to use your own. Either way, the frequency of use makes all the difference and justification.

3. Step-by-step process for cleaning your acrylic brushes

Now, we come to the most important part, the breakdown of steps on how to remove acrylic paint from your brushes.

You start by preparing your cleaning space. Have all the jars and tubs ready since you want to be pretty quick with it. If there’s some leftover paint on the brushes, it will dry up. The better you set it up, the quicker the process will be.

First, get a towel or a rug and blot excess paint from your brush. This may sound unnecessary since you’ll wash it afterward anyhow, but even a gentle squeeze on a paper towel can make your cleaning much easier and more efficient.

Next, you should rinse the brushes thoroughly with tepid water. This is the process where you actually remove most of the residue. Once you’re done, just shake the excess of water.

Then, you should swirl your brush into your soap and gently build it up on your brush. When trying to build up the latter, you should avoid using your palms since the brush can (and probably will) drive pigment into the skin.

Give your brush a final rinse in completely clean water. You know that you’ve done your job right when there’s very little discoloration left.

Just remember to reshape your brush before leaving it to dry.

That’s it; the acrylic paint clean-up process is done.

Also, keep in mind that if you have a specialized cleaner, the process might be slightly different. However, the best use will probably be described on the container.

4. Getting rid of acrylic waste

What do you do with the acrylic waste?

Your first impulse might be just to pour it down the sink; however, it could be bad for both your drains and the environment. So, you should learn how to dispose of it appropriately. You see, this paint contains small particles that have no place in the water systems. They can be bad for marine life (which is always where your wastewater ends up)

The best way would be to use biodegradable paint. If not, you should let the paint settle and then dispose of the solids.

It’s also worth mentioning that you should reuse this water as many times as you can (for rinsing).

5. Extra tips and tricks to follow

Lastly, when looking for answers to the question of how to clean acrylic paint brushes, there are a few hints and tips that you should definitely consider.

• For instance, you don’t want to let acrylic paint dry on your brushes, so clean them as soon as you’re done.
• You also never want to leave your brushes sitting in water because this might misshape the tips. It might even make the glue rot.
• Another thing you need to avoid is washing brushes under running water, which goes too hard.

These three tips alone will make a world of difference. This is also a great

Great maintenance of your equipment will transform your painting experience

Let’s be honest: when looking up how to clean acrylic paint brushes, you’re not really thinking about the long-term outcomes. You’re not really calculating how much you’ll postpone the need to buy a new brush or what the brush will feel like when you use it next time if you don’t clean it properly. However, if you enjoy activities like popular paint by numbers, great maintenance is crucial to making all of it work.