Reply To: Brush Care

[soapdodger 17313xp 1]

The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver weekly. Water daily. if I mess up brush cleaner right away and if a destroy a brush then Vallejo Brush Restorer for a chance at life.

I went on a quest and bought about 9 different brands and ranges to find my perfect brush. Replaced some S7 WN after 2 (or 3) years with Artis Opus, point doesn’t seem to last as long already burned one but moved to Raphael 8404 which is my favourite brush. 1 8404 brush lasted 100 or 120 models before just losing the point. I do however paint a lot with lots of touches per model, brush be damned (don’t change brush between basecoats and eyes). Moved to just one or two sizes of brush as bought full spreads (00 – 3) for S7 and S7 Miniature with no use for them. just used each one until death or close to 7 left now with at least 70 hours of painting on the least used brush (small ones).

Everyone paints differently and stores their brushes differently, some people bring out best to do certain actions. Others use their new £15 brush to paint on PVA, I’m closer to but not quite the bottom. Don’t think there is a definitive way of saying which product or method works best without putting in years of testing and even then it will be subjective. My advice is to accept they are consumable tools and you can try and take care of them as best you can but they are not going to last forever. When you finish a product or brush is reaching the end of it’s life try another and compare if you think the grass is greener. I went from nothing to a bar of soap to conditioner to what I use currently. Did see fancy new products but just bought another larger masters so I think I am content.

The only thing I can 100% say is metallic do ware brushes down ultra fast no matter how I have cleaned them. I only use cheap synthetics for them now if I need a fine point.