Do you know how to care for your watercolor brushes? The brush is the main tool in painting in general and watercolor painting in particular. They play an important role in the creation of art.
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Why should you care for your Watercolor Brush?
Brushes used in watercolor are often quite expensive and degrade over time. Proper and regular care will help prolong the life of your watercolor brushes, avoid affecting your painting experience and save money on the cost of new brushes.
On the market, there are many types of watercolor brushes with different materials, designs, and uses. Brushes made from Natural hair are often more expensive and prone to damage than artificial hair. Both types of hair are really suitable and the artists usually have a brush of each kind, and they all need the right care.
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How to Care for Your Watercolor Brushes
1. Clean Your Watercolor Brushes
The first step to care for your watercolor brushes is always to wash the brush after the end of the painting period to keep the hairs from losing their shape or damage. You don’t need to use any chemical products or special solvents to clean the brush because watercolor paints easily dissolve in water.
- Just dip your brush in plenty of clean water, and maybe use a little soap to easily remove paint from the brush. Art supply manufacturers have produced a type of soap specifically designed for cleaning brushes. Do not use hand soap or machine washing powder, because they are quite alkaline and can make hair hard.
- Gently rub the brush on the soap and swirl it gently in circles over the surface of the soap until the soap bubbles and penetrates the hair. Repeat this process until you are sure that your brush is completely clean.
- Wash the brush in clean water, then use warm water to wash the brush again. Note, that hot water can change the chemistry of hairs and damage your brush.
- Hold the brush handle upward and head downward vertically, use your fingers to gently stroke the hairs to remove water. You can also wipe them gently on a dry cloth to dry the brushes
2. How to store brushes?
After cleaning your watercolor brushes, our next thing is to store them. Now that your brushes are still slightly damp, put them down on a flat surface and let them dry completely naturally. Avoid drying them in an upright position, because water will get trapped in the ferrule and bad things can happen. Manufacturers also offer tools specifically designed to safely store brushes.
Put them in a flat or vertical position to keep their shape, the hair should not touch anything. To store them for a long time, you can put them in a plastic tube with a lid or any other container to protect them from dust and unwanted outside influences.
If you must bring brushes to paint outdoors, wrap them in cloth or cardboard and secure with an elastic band for protection.
3. Bad habits to avoid
Also, to take better care of your watercolor brushes, you need to avoid bad habits when using the brushes that we list below.
These are the most common causes of brush deformation that beginners should avoid:
- Do not leave brushes in water for hours and while you are painting.
- Do not let the paint dry on the brush, the paint will make the hair brittle and easy to break.
- Do not dry the brushes without restoring their original shape. Because they will form a new shape and difficult to return to their original shape even if you rewet them.