Good evening and thank you for joining us once again in our dark corner of paradise. This week my offering to our Lord Nurgle is a review on the brush soap that was recommended to me after I reviewed my Winsor & Newton brushes.
I picked up a pot but until now I hadn't felt my brushes has seen enough action to deserve some special attention so this post has been a long time coming.
Recently I have been working on an Aegis Defence line I picked up in anticipation of sixth edition and the changes to the FOC, it also worked out well as a test for my airbrush. The terrain is coming along nicely and should hopefully have it done over the weekend ready to share with all you followers of Nurgle.
As I have been adding the reinforced areas by hand I noticed my brush was starting to lose the shape of its tip so I broke out the cleaner from my trusty paint chest and decided to have a cheeky read of the instructions to prevent me damaging my brush.
The instructions were pretty straight forward and consisted of rinsing your brush, working the block of soap into a lather and then repeating the process until clean. My only concern with this is the brush recommends to only clean with cold water so I used more of a tepid water to be on the safe side. I am not sure if it was due to this or if it was the because this was the first time I had used the soap but the lather just did not seem to form for a good minute or two.
After it being slow to form I wasn't expecting much from it however it quickly started to strip the red hue my brush that had acquired over time from my over use of Burnt Cadre Red. Once I repeated this a few times and gave it a proper rinse I was pleased with how much it had removed, most of which I hadn't even noticed had built up. The tip is also back with a strong tip and ready to be put back into the fray.
Overall I am happy with the results the soap gave and will be using it again, though I don't think it will be needed after every session it should prolong the life of my brushes. If you have treat yourself to a decent set of brushes I would recommend picking up this up to keep your brush in tiptop condition.
As for using it with cheaper brushes, such as my dry brushes I don't think any amount of soap can save them from the horrors they endure but that shouldn't deter you from trying.
Until next time spread his blessings to everyone you meet and all shall you know shall fall under his domain.
O'Shashar
Masters Brush Cleaner will become your best friend very quickly. I highly recommend that you use it at the end of every painting session, especially with your more expensive W&N brushes. It does a wonderful job of cleaning out paint and the other great part about it is that it keeps the shape of your brushes longer so you can keep that nice straight tip for painting. I like to use it to rinse off my brushes and then I leave a little bit of soap on which I then shape with to keep that nice tip on the brush.
ReplyDeleteSounds good where did you end up getting it from?
ReplyDeleteYou can get the Master's Brush cleaner from just about any art store or even from Hobby Lobby if you are in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI got it from eBay as the local art shop here didn't have it so rather than spend an age looking around I let it come to me.
ReplyDeleteLooking over the instructions it said to wash the soap off thoroughly after use does leaving it on build up or cause any problems when you next use the brush?
ReplyDeleteI've had no issue with painting on the next session. I usually rinse/wet the brush before I start painting. It's good to give it a good wash with the soap and then give a quick light swipe of soap with the brush. I use that to help keep the brush keep a good point together when not being used.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it could be a good idea will give it a try, thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteMy way to the old paint brushes, you might be useful: http://coloureddust.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-revitalize-old-brushes.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link looks an interesting process though would need to weigh up the cost of restoration versus new for the cheap brushes.
ReplyDelete