How to Clean Up After Oil Painting | Cleaning Oil Paint Brushes

Cleaning up after an oil painting job is a challenge to many and even well seasoned professionals have clean up challenges as well. This fun activity also creates messes that are difficult to clean up.

When you plan to embark on an oil painting project, you also need to have a cleanup strategy hardy.

Plan to clean up before you begin painting

When you have all the cleaning material handy, this will make the cleanup activity easier to handle. Ensure that you have all the necessary cleaning materials required for cleaning up.

These can include mineral spirit, turpentine and paint thinner, cleaning cloth, brush, paper towels, liquid dish soap or mild detergent as well as hot water. Most of these cleaning tools and products are available in art or hardware shops while some like paper towels are readily available at home.

You should also ensure that you have a bowl from where to clean the brushes, pallets and other tools. The chemicals recommended are effective in cleaning oil painting messes.

Cleaning brushes lengthens their lifetime

The idea of cleaning up the brushes after use, which is critical, can be traumatizing. A seasoned painter understands the need to clean the brushes after use, and even the smallest oil traces in the bristle can damage the brush, this is an expensive mistake to avoid. Before you begin using any chemicals, protect your hands with gloves that can withstand the chemicals.

• Wipe any excess paint using soft tissue paper towels or a piece of cloth. By gently squeezing the bristles, remove the paint from the brush but avoid pulling out the bristles

• Wash the brush in oil or turpentine

• Wash the brush again with a cloth to remove the paint remainders

• Wash the brush gently in dish washing liquid or the mild detergent

• Rinse repeatedly in warm water until there are no traces of paint or color left, and also ensure that you remove all the soap traces

• Using the fingers shape the brush back into shape

• Wrap the bristles in kitchen towels while the brush is still wet, if this is necessary, then leave it to dry in room temperature

• Clean the other painting tools like palettes after the brushes.

You should maintain a clean palette at all times for ease of use and should clean them as often as required. Some people clean it is after every use, while others clean it after several paintings. The choice is up to your habits.

Cleaning splatters on carpet

If you experience splatters in the carpet, apply warm water to the oil paints and wipe the area with a damp cloth soaking as much splatter as possible, until all the paint is removed. After this, dab a small amount of turpentine or paint thinner on any stains remaining.

Be careful. Check carpet-cleaning instructions, and if necessary perform this task using a carpet cleaning liquid. Then use the steam cleaner to remove any remaining paint spots and if necessary, trim permanently stained fibers with a pair of scissors.

Splatters on hard wood floors

Wipe off the splattered paint using a damp cloth or wet paper towels. You can use a toothpick or a brush to remove paint from grooves and cracks in the floor. If there is paint that has began drying, remove this with a dull knife, taking caution as this may damage wood or the smooth edge of a spatula.

Then rub the area with a cleaning agent, which protects hard wood floors and removes any paint splatter residue that may have be drying. However, do not use paint thinner or turpentine on wooden floors as this will damage them.