While browsing around Pinterest last week, I came across a little tip that said you can clean out all of that old paint that gets dried and stuck in your paintbrush with boiling vinegar. Â When my brush gets to that point, I usually just throw it out and get a new one for around $5 because I like a nice, smooth finish. Â After several uses and near the end of a huge paint job (*cough* the cabinets) my brush wasn’t doing so well:
So, we gave it the ol’ boiling vinegar try. Â Here’s what the instructions said:
- Pour some vinegar into an old saucepan. There’s no need to measure, but make sure the vinegar is deep enough to cover the bristles of your brushes.
- Put the vinegar on the stove over medium heat and watch it until it begins to come to a boil.
- Hold a brush by the handle and dip the bristles into the boiling vinegar. Move the brush back and forth, scrubbing the bristles against the bottom of the pan as if you were painting it.
- Pull the brush out every 15 seconds or so to evaluate the cleanliness. Return the brush to the boiling vinegar as needed, continuously brushing the bottom of the pan until the brush appears clean.
- Repeat steps three and four on any remaining brushes, then rinse all of your brushes in clean, cold water.
- Shake any excess water off of the bristles, then gently compress the bristles with your hands to squeeze out even more water. Allow the brushes to air dry completely before storing them away.
And here’s how it went down in real time at Casa Marcum : Â
In case you weren’t able to watch the video, or just couldn’t stand watching the whole 5+ minutes of it–it didn’t work! Â You also missed us burning our fingers multiple times (mostly me) and troubleshooting with ourselves out loud (again, me) and trying to think of any word that isn’t “crud”. Â It may not have worked because I was using water-based alkyd paint and not regular latex. Â Maybe we just didn’t soak it long enough. Â Who knows. Â Really–has anyone out there tried this technique and have it work for them??
Points to note: Â Chris ended up going to get another brush for me right after this video was taken (love him) and while he was out I scrubbed his pan clean without a problem. Â Whew!
Don’t you just love pinterest! Great tip!
Allison,
Thanks for that link! I just pinned it to remember that technique. I usually buy a new paintbrush once a month, but the idea that one could last for “centuries” (!)….well, that gets me excited. :)
I just came across this in Katie Bower’s archives-
http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2009/06/howtocleanpaintbrush/
It’s too bad the vinegar didn’t work! It’s usually a great cleaner.
haha i have never heard of this before. it’s always hot water or the trash for my cruddy paint brushes ;p
xo dana
thewonderforest.com
gucka!!! Hahaha. I think I have found my new “crud”.