Back when I was painting more casually, I cleaned my brushes religiously at the end of each painting session. I rinsed them in Gamsol, washed them up with soap and water, and then slicked on a little hair gel to preserve the shape. I finally realized that I was spending a good deal of time each day just cleaning brushes.
Things got really bad when I started teaching back-to-back workshops and participating in plein air events, both of which required me to spend more time dirtying brushes than cleaning them. Life is too short! These activities led me to a better way to clean brushes.
So here's my current practice, and now I actually have time to catch up with the evening news. If I'm painting every day, I swish my brushes briefly in Turpenoid Natural. This is a non-drying oil that gets most of the paint out, and it doesn't seem to "burn" the brushes like mineral spirits. It smells nice, too. Once a week, I'll also wash the brushes with shampoo and water. Yes, with shampoo - I use natural bristle brushes, and they are, after all, hair. Or, I might wash them with Master's Brush Cleaner or Jack's Linseed Studio Soap. I reshape the tips while wet. If they have wild hairs, I still use a little hair gel. (I have about a case of it, left over from when I had hair back in the 80s.) If the brushes are really wild, I'll use a trick I picked up from Richard Schmid's Alla Prima, and use cardboard sleeves with clothespins to train them back into shape.
Now, here's a little painting that has nothing much to do with cleaning brushes:
"Barn Shadow with Painter" 9x12, oil
