Caring for your Watercolor Brushes:

This week, we’re focusing on one of the most important (and often overlooked) parts of watercolor painting: brush care. Taking proper care of your brushes keeps them soft, responsive, and beautifully shaped, helping you get the best results every time you paint!

At The Art Store, we love helping artists extend the life of their tools, and this week we’re sharing simple, effective ways to keep your watercolor brushes in excellent condition, along with a couple of our favorite cleaning products.

Watercolor brushes are delicate tools. Over time, pigment, binder, and even minerals in your water can build up in the bristles. This can cause brushes to stiffen, lose their shape, or stop performing the way you expect. Regular cleaning and proper drying go a long way toward protecting your investment and improving your painting experience.

We recommend two reliable brush cleaning soaps that are gentle and effective: Mona Lisa Pink Soap and Jack Richeson Linseed Studio Soap. Both produce a light lather rather than a heavy foam, which is exactly what you want. They help lift pigment and residue from your brushes without damaging the bristles.

When caring for your watercolor brushes, there are a few key habits to keep in mind:

• Do use tepid water when cleaning. Water that is too hot can damage the glue inside the ferrule and weaken the brush.

• Do clean your brushes after every painting session, even if they appear clean, since pigment can remain deep in the bristles.

• Do work up a gentle lather with a proper brush soap, massaging it carefully through the bristles while maintaining their shape.

• Do reshape your brushes with your fingers before letting them dry.

• Do allow brushes to dry flat or with the bristles facing downward so water does not seep into the ferrule.

There are also some common mistakes to avoid:

• Don’t use hot water, as it can cause bristles to loosen and shed.

• Don’t leave brushes sitting in water tip-down, which can bend and permanently damage the bristles.

• Don’t dry brushes upright with wet bristles pointing upward, since water can run down into the ferrule and cause long-term damage.

• Don’t use harsh  household detergents, or soaps such as Ivory, as they can dry out and damage the bristles, especially natural hair brushes. And...

•  Don’t scrub aggressively! Gentle care will keep your brushes performing their best for years and years of creativity! 

If you have questions about how to clean or maintain your watercolor brushes, we invite you to stop in and talk with us. We’re always happy to share advice, demonstrate techniques, and help you find the right products for your studio practice. And if you’re part of our Studio Rewards Program, don’t forget you earn points on every purchase and enjoy weekly deals and helpful content just like this!

XOXOX,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Art Store