should I give up on brushes ?

Hi I need some help . I was asked to paint some murals for a young adult patient rooms and some younger childrens rooms at my day job . I bought acrlylics for this but I used some of my face painting brushes for this . The problem now is even though I have cleaned the brushes they do not feel the same now . Should I just give up on them and get new ones ? Oh here is a pic of the mural for the young adult male . Thought he would like something cool .

You might try some brush conditioner or the boiling water trick that I've heard someone talk about before totally giving up. Not sure what to tell you since some brands of brushes react to things so differently.

Do not even THINK about using those brushes for face painting or any make-up use again. They are done... use them for art or craft painting now.

And that mural is great.

On a side note, lovely mural!

Thanks Shannon , Thats what I thought . Just can not belive how the brushes were af.fected by that type of paint .

Love it! Makes me think of Aslan and that always gives me strength.

Too bad about your brushes.

Hello,

i hope i understand your post right. You used the same brush for painting wirh acryl colours and then for Facepainting?

I´m also doing Wallpaintings with acryl colours, but i have my one brushes for this. I would never use the same brushes. First, i would never put a brush in a Face where acryl colour was on. And second, the brush will never be as good for Facepainting. But that`s just my meaning.

Also the way to clean the brushes is different. Facepaintingbrushes you can clean with warmer water, but brusher where acryl colours where on, you have to clean with cold water, because the colour gets hard if you clean it with warm water.

I hope i could help you. That was just my experience and what i get told from other painters.

SSimone, How do you clean the oil brushes? I have mine with a bulky- hard look, I have tried turpentine, mineral spirits then wash with the brush sharpener but didn't work, can I boil them?

Oh that mural is awesome!!!! i love it! not sure about the brushes, but IMO i would get new brushes.

Shannon Fennell wrote:Do not even THINK about using those brushes for face painting or any make-up use again. They are done... use them for art or craft painting now.

And that mural is great.

That's a good thing to know Shannon. I only dabbled in watercolors myself prior to getting hooked on facepainting - didn't know acrylics "kill" a brush for facepainting. Is that pretty true across the board for most of the other mediums?

@artyfacesbyluz:
Oil brushes? I dont paint with oil. Could it be that i understood it wrong and you mean with acrylic oil colours? Because in German acryl colours are normal colours you also use for Wallpaintings and so on. But not oilcolours.

Love the mural. I'm agreeing w/ Shannon on this one (I usually do

The toxic chemicals in the paints don't just "wash out" & your brushes are no longer safe for make-up. I had someone at an event take a few of my brushes while I wasn't looking & use them for nail art. I noticed them missing but couldn't think about it 'cause I was painting like crazy. They brought them back, ruined & were surprised when I told them that was $45 worth of brushes, gone. They were teens in the booth next to mine. I never did get them to replace my brushes...

Exactly. The brushes can't be used for make-up once they've been used for anything else. No matter how you clean them, they are contaminated and could cause irritation to people AND could contaminate your product.

And Linda... REALLY? They just helped themselves to YOUR brushes??? I would have charged them with theft!

LOL... I can just see a bunch of church kids getting their mug shots taken over some brushes:-) They were teens in the booth next to me... church kids... They shouldn't have done it, but thought all the supplies were provided by the church... my brushes included. Most people don't know a Rose Art craft brush from a $30 Vargas... I was upset at the time & tried to get the $ recouped, but gave up. Now, I keep my kit hidden behind me at all gigs. No one but the person being painted is allowed in "My Space".

Psalmbook wrote:Love the mural. I'm agreeing w/ Shannon on this one (I usually do

The toxic chemicals in the paints don't just "wash out" & your brushes are no longer safe for make-up. I had someone at an event take a few of my brushes while I wasn't looking & use them for nail art. I noticed them missing but couldn't think about it 'cause I was painting like crazy. They brought them back, ruined & were surprised when I told them that was $45 worth of brushes, gone. They were teens in the booth next to mine. I never did get them to replace my brushes...

Say what!? I'd have demanded them pay for those on the spot! That's just as bad as stealing! I"d have made them call their parents to bring them the cash if they didn't have it. I'd be livid.... I don't like people touching my stuff....

artyfacesbyluz wrote:SSimone, How do you clean the oil brushes? I have mine with a bulky- hard look, I have tried turpentine, mineral spirits then wash with the brush sharpener but didn't work, can I boil them?

I just bought "The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver" to work on some of my face paint brushes and it worked great. I watched a youtube video of a guy using it on an old brush that looked hard and dried up from some other kind of paint (maybe oil??) and it came clean. It's advertised for use to clean oil paints, acrylic, etc. So worth a shot! I bought a big tub from Michael's craft store with a coupon (expensive) but just saw there is a much smaller version on amazon for a lot less and it looks like it would last forever.

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Brush-Cleaner-Preserver-Oz/dp/B001TNR7VM

Hopefully this will help get them clean so you can use them again (except not for face painting) : )

To clean brushes that have been used to oil paint:
Immediately after I finish painting for the day,
I wipe off as much of the paint with a paper towel, swish the brush through the turpentine, wipe again with paper towel, then I use a bar of laundry soap (much cheaper than the Master's brush soap). I wet the laundry bar. I "paint" the laundry bar with the brush to pick up some soap in the bristles. After I have loaded all the brushes I rinse. Then, I pick up some of the bubbly scum from the laundry bar with each brush to reset the brushes to a point.
If I am painting outside and have to wait to clean my brushes, I wipe out excess color, then I dip each brush in oil, leaving it until I get home to "launder" the brush.
Of course, I have never used oil brushes for water colors, or face painting, or make up.
Happy Painting!