cleaning paint brushes

what is the best way to clean paint brushes and keep them working like new after multiple uses?

Re: cleaning paint brushes

I always just wash them really well with warm water and then let them dry. A good tip to keep them fresh between coats is to just wrap them in plastic wrap. We wrap the brush, rollers, and tray in plastic after each coat so that they don't start to dry out.

Re: cleaning paint brushes

My dad was a professional painter. He had really expensive brushes that he took really great care of. When he would come home from work at night he would unwrap the plastic off of them then rinse them in the kitchen sink with warm water until most of the paint came off, then would press down on one side so the bristles were flat and let the water run on it and then leave the brush in the sink with a very slow stream of warm water running on it for like a half hour then go back and check on it and wouldn't take it out until it ran absolutely clear. He was a perfectionist. He would do this with his rollers too.

On a side note, my mother hated having them in her kitchen sink lol but the paint never stained the sink. He said it never would as long as it was wet because it's latex paint. He just made sure to clean the sink out good when he was done.

Re: cleaning paint brushes

This is gonna sound terrible but I throw them out and buy new ones. They are so hard to clean

Re: cleaning paint brushes

if you are using plain ole latex paint all you have to do is use water.....it takes a while to get them to run clean.