Caring for new oil paint brushes
Opening a pack of fresh new brushes is always an exciting feeling, but before you crack open the paints, there’s a few steps you can take to extend the life of your oil paint brushes.
Always clean your new brushes before using them. Washing the bristles in water will loosen any extra hairs and help extend the life of the brush. Wash the bristles using dishwashing soap and gently scrub the bristles, then wipe the brush with paper towel or a clean rag and leave your brush to dry. A new paint brush will almost always be clean to use, but when it comes to proper oil paint brush care, this step will get rid of any loose hairs and condition the bristles before use. 

Cleaning oil paint brushes
Always clean your oil paint brushes at the end of each painting session. Otherwise, the paint can cause your bristles to harden, and your brushes will be difficult to use. To get into the habit, it’s best to clean oil paint brushes using two jars of solvents like white gum or turps (they can be two jars of the same solvent) and a jar of safflower or vegetable oil. 

It's best to clean oil paint brushes by removing any excess paint with an old rag or paper towel first. Then, clean the brush in a solvent until the paint colour dissolves. Wipe this off and repeat this step for any stubborn remaining paint. 
Clean the brush in a second jar of solvent, then once most of the paint has been removed, pop the brush into the third jar and clean the brush with safflower or vegetable oil. Wipe the oil off the brush and then clean it again with the cleanest solvent (this will likely be the second jar). Wipe the solvent off with paper towel and then leave the brush to dry.

How to clean dried oil paint off brushes
If you’ve left the cleaning process a little too late, there’s still hope. If oil paint has dried up on the brush, you can clean it using apple cider vinegar. Leave the brush to soak in apple cider vinegar for 24 hours, then use an old rag or paper towel to remove as much paint as you can. Keep dipping and wiping until the bristles are clean again. Give the brush a final clean in solvent and then into safflower or veggie oil, before wiping clean on paper towel. Once clean, use a spoolie to realign the bristles, back to shape. 

Reshape and condition a brush
Once your brushes are dry, they might have lost their shape slightly. You can reshape and condition an oil paint brush by using hair conditioner. Squeeze the conditioner over the bristles and then shape them into their original shape. Once the brushes are all dry, store your brushes upright. This is a simple oil paint brush care step, but it’ll keep your brush bristles in good nick in between your creative sessions. 

You can browse our range of oil paint brushes here or check out how to fix separated oil paint in this handy how to.