How do I do this? Everytime I have tried brush painting with enamels they dry on the brush and stick the bristles together. Is there a good method or chemical for cleaning brushes you have used enamels with?

what i do with my brushes is to wipe them on a kitchen towel, then swill them in turps (available from any D.I.Y.outlet ) i only have a small amount of turps in a pop bottle top, because i only use very small brushes for small detailing work, everything else is airbrushed

Thanks, I'll try that.

Hi dave

I use the same way to clean as in the other post,i use series seven brushes which are quite expensive but are wonderful it work with sable.
When i have cleaned them i dip them in hot water with some bicarbonate of soda in it and it really brings the the brush back to a great shape.
Cheers Chris

Turps are definitely the most common way to clean it although i recently found out lacquer thinner can do a better job but it sure eats into a lot of things...especially plastic.

Just yesterday i cleaned out a use Tamiya bottle, which typically has the thick residue of paint at the bottom. When i poured Turpentine in there, it cleaned it up a little bit....when i poured lacquer thinner in there...the bottle became crystal clean. Scary isnt it?

Be warned my brushes are mostly old cheep things that I don’t worry much about but this is what I usually do.

I keep a small bottle with some paint thinner in it. Its almost always dirty I only put new thinner in it once a month or so.

Now I use that to soak the bushes in as I’m using them and then wipe them off on something. Then ever other week or so they start getting stiff. At that point I take all my brushed being used and scrub them in a cleaning product called GooGone (I think I spelled that right.)
After that i rinse them in warm water and let it dry.

as I said this method is not the greatest for the brushes but I haven’t lost one yet.

I also use Lacquer thinner to clean my brushes,but use it to clean out my airbrush as well. It does get the brushes a whole lot cleaner than regular paint thinner.


(++)

I'm also in the lacquer thinner user list. Cleans my brushes, cleans my airbrush, thins my paint.
BUT I do suggest opening a window, and using a window fan in it to get rid of the fumes.

Definitely agree with Dave on this one. You will definitely get high if your room is not ventilated well so open the window and buy a gas mask.

I use laquer thinner too. And when I'm done with the oil paint brush (normaly made with animal hair to hold the thin oil paint, acrylic brushes are made with polly because the acrylic paints a strong enough and thick enough to bind to the less expesive matterials) I dip it into a bottle with some regular old human hair conditioner reshape it into its slip it into its storage. The conditioner really helps the animal hair brush keep its shape.

I swear by 70% isopropyl alcohol. Soak the enamel/acrylic crusted brush for 5-10 hours then gently scrape away the now softened paint.

I use MEK - Testors liquid cement. Cleans all paint types in seconds. I wouldn't recommend it on plastic brushes (but I've never had a problem with the tamiya brushes, with the plastic(?) 'ferrule'). I've got one tamiya brush that's three years old - been cleaning it this way since day 1 - still paints like the day I bought it.

Love the stuff. I hear you can even use it to glue styrene together!

Hi there!I could agree with the previous posts but i don't know the meaning of the lacquer thinner!
I use "white spirit" when i use enamels (for thinning and cleaning) and also i use another thinner that is stronger (here in Greece it's called nitro thinner) and is very good in taking off all the kind of paints from brushes or airbrush!!!I hope this helped you!

I clean brushes that have been used for painting with enamels by first brushing off most of the remaining paint on a paper towel. I then swirl it in mineral turps (the cheap and nasty one). I finish off the cleaning process by washing the brush with liquid soap and cold water and towel drying it.

I tend to stear clean of cleaning brushes with lacquer thinners as I've had a few cases of the thinners removing the coating on the handle of the brush... now while I'm sure this is fine for most... some of my brushes cost in the region of R80 - R100 (+- USD 12 - 18).... and I'd rather spend than cash on more models

Will this Turps material work well with cleaning airbrush gun? or what do you guy suggest for clearing those dry acrylic paint that stick to the cup?

I use enamel thinner/mineral spirits to clean my brushes.Swirl and towel or rag wipe and shape until wipe is transparent clear.Store them in a glass bristles up.I use Loews-Cornell(sp?) brand and the like from Michaels.They last about 4 years before they're done.They get used alot as I don't use an AB.
cheers!