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The teen recently lamented that she had left her “favorite” paint brush to dry without cleaning it, so it’s the perfect time to share how to clean paint brushes with dried paint.
Of course the best method is to clean your brushes while the paint is still fresh, using just water or gentle cleanser (I use baby shampoo) if needed. But if you’ve missed that opportunity, it’s not that difficult to clean dried paint off of paint brushes.
My Secret Weapon for Cleaning Paint Brushes
It’s not difficult to clean paint brushes this way, but it does take some time and one particular ingredient.
I don’t know why this works, but I do know that it does. I learned how to clean paint brushes with Murphy’s years ago and it hasn’t failed me yet.
Could other wood cleaning products would do the same thing or is there something magical in this particular product? I’ve never experimented because we always have it in the house and I know it works. Because it’s mostly vegetable oil, it might also be possible to use plain vegetable oil to do this, but I have only seen people talk about using Murphy’s for this.
How to Clean Paint Brushes with Paint on Them
I like to use a small disposable cup for this but you can use any small cup or bowl you have on hand.
Pour enough Murphy’s Oil Soap into the cup to cover the dirty part of the bristles, being careful not to cover up higher than the bristles.
Stick the brush into the cup and let it sit as long as you can stand. At least overnight to a full day is good.
I like to do 24 hours, but I don’t know that it’s strictly necessary to go that long. I have also heard you can dilute the oil soap a bit (up to a 1:1 ratio) if you’re worried about the amount you are using but I like the full strength version.
After your brush has sat in the liquid for a day or so, you’ll notice the Murphy’s Oil Soap has gotten really thick. I don’t know why that happens either but if you see that happening, know that it is part of the process.
The paint doesn’t dissolve as it sits, but the bristles will have softened through this process.
Next you’ll want to rinse the brush and pick away the paint. I tend to use my thumbnail for this, but you can use your cleaning toothbrush if you have one (and you should — it’s the best thing for cleaning jobs like getting blood out of fabric).
The paint turns into kind of crumbly mess as you can see on this paper towel, which also helps to remove some of it as you wash.
This can take some time, and it may not be totally perfect when you’re done unless you spend more time on it than I typically want to. Allow to dry completely before using again.
But the good news is the brush is totally usable again and hopefully the teen has learned an important lesson about taking care of her tools. Or she’s learned that her mom knows how to clean paint brushes covered in dried paint so she doesn’t have to worry about taking care of her tools? Time will tell.
