Cleaning your kit

Newbie alert!! Apologies if this has been asked billions of times before, but I cant see the answer (im on my mobile phone and it aint great!)

But wanted to know what the best way to clean paints/ brushes/ sponges. I am currently practising painting on myself, daughters & hubby - when he lets me!! Ha

i currently wash the brushes and sponges with a mild baby soap and allow them to air dry. With the paints i've wiped them over with a baby wipe.

is this enough? Is there something major i'm not doing before i start working on the public?

Thanks in advance

Dear Deb_ThePaintedFace:
Face painting is not the most hygienic of pursuits, and there are all kinds of different answers to your query.

I was taught by Infectious Disease Control at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, and I use those methods in my every day face painting. Face Painting safety and hygiene is not legislated in very many places. I still follow the IDC protocols because I do not want to have anything happen that will create a NEED to have our jobs legislated.

We use one sponge per child.
At the hospital, I throw away the sponge.
For the general, healthy population, I place the used sponge in a lingerie bag and wash it on the sanitizing function in my washing machine and I dry it on high heat in the dryer. If I am using natural sea sponges, I boil them for a minimum of three minutes at full boil. Enzymatic laundry detergeant will 'melt' a natural sea sponge.

My brushes go through a four tank system:
First tank: water with tiny bit of soap, and a surgical scrub brush wedged into the bottom. It does not matter which kind, anti-bacterial or whatever. Soap is soap. Children can have a reaction to the soap.

Second tank: water with a surgical scrub brush wedged into the bottom

Third tank: water

Then, I quickly wipe out as much water as possible, shaping my brush as I go and I plunge the brush into the last tank;
Fourth tank: 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and I pop my brushes upright into a container to dry. They dry in 5-10 minutes. If you use a higher percentage IPA, the brushes dry quicker, which may not sanitize your brushes as well as the lower percentage IPA. I do this for every brush, every time. The process adds about 6-15 seconds per child overall.

This system is not the be-all and end-all of the way it should be done. There are other methods, and many children have survived face painting for years without many deaths. (I am trying to be funny here, I think I am going over like a lead balloon). I think there are more germs on doorknobs than in my face paints... I just do not want to be the one doing the spreading of Staph infections and MRSA.

Happy Painting!

this would be clean up after a gig -

washing brushes you have down well. i actually just rinse thoroughly under running water, but either way is fine.

some people advise not using baby wipes, as some kids may be allergic to the ingredients in the wipes, and they might think it was your paints.

again, i just rinse the surface of my cakes under running water quickly. if i mixed another color on the cake, swipe a flat brush over the surface while the water is running, to clear it off. you lose some paint, but get a fresh surface.

instead of water, you could also spray the cakes with 70% alcohol, or wipe with paper towel dipped in 70% alcohol.

I'm not saying this is the only way, but it's how I've been cleaning brushes & sponges for years.

Cleaning Brushes


Cleaning Sponges

I also have a blog write up on this!
How to clean water based face paint cakes

Also remember it's not just your paints, sponges and your brushes, it's your whole kit. I wipe down everything when I can. Keep everything as clean as possible; cases, lids, containers, table cloth, brush case, signs, you name it.

Also have a blog post about this that is fairly detailed with photos.
Face Painting Setup: Messy VS Dirty

Enjoy!

Thanks guys. I'm very new to this so wanted to make sure i was getting it right.

Fesspainter - i got it lol