hiya :)

i have a few questions -

how do you clean your totally paint-soaked rags?

what do you use to clean your brushes, besides turp? i was taught to use hand soap and elbow grease. THERE MUST BE AN EASIER WAY!

speaking of the pain in the ass that brushes be, i'm the laziest painter Ever - is there something i can let my brushes soak in over night, guilt free, if i know i'm going to be painting the next day and i don't want to spend fifteen minutes cleaning them out?

does anyone actually clean their brushes every night? because i am so irresponsible, and i Hate cleaning my brushes, so i know i can't be the only one. hehe.

Hey
I dont know about rags, I pretty much just got rid of them.If you find out, let me know!
As for paintbrush irresponsibility, there is this awesome stuff called "'The Masters' Brush Cleaner and Preserver' put out by General Pencil co. You can find in most art stores. It comes in a big tub or a little cake form, in a round beige container with a little old fashioned looking painter guy on the lid. You use it almost like shaving soap, and it softens and cleans even hardened brushes. You dont even need very much elbow grease. Tada, be as irresponsible as you want.

For cleaning the brushes, I use a kind of liquid soap made from pine oils (or something) - but I live in Sweden so I don't know if anything similar is available where you live. It's a soap that you can use as a house cleaning detergent (actually, it is the traditional detergent) and I believe it's 100% natural and quite safe to use. It does require a bit of scrubbing when you clean paintbrushes, but not so much. And it's definitely better for you than turpentine.

***ETA: it's something like this, I think: http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop2.cfm?dp=208 - but much cheaper :-)

***edited again: when I took an intaglio class the teacher said they used to use citrus oils to clean the plates (from paint), but a lot of people got allergies from it. :-( Still, it might work for brushes as well, but don't quote me on that... :-)

1. to clean my paint soaked rags, i aired them out for a long ass time, and then threw them in the wash. throwing them in the dryer can be dangerous as they have paint fumes and stuff, but nothing ever exploded (I seriously hung my paint soaked clothes out the window for a couple days to let them air out-- until management complained! bastards!). Nothing ever exploded, but just use AIR dry.

2. i use this: http://www.in2art.com/product/261 to clean my brushes. much nicer than drying them out in turp. swash around in the container, rub rub, clean. don't let your brushes soak overnight-- you'll ruin them. Everyone hates cleaning brushes, but if you have nice ones, its worth it. (i've got a bunch of ruined brushes myself)

3. just a suggestion: use odorless mineral spirits for everything you used to use turpentine for. it doesn't give off as many toxic fumes (which might not be such a big deal for one person but if everyone in your whole class is using it-- it makes a diff. turp made me nauseous and one of my teachers had to have us use mineral spirits b/c her insides were already deteriorating. i never went back).

good luck!

i'm cheap. i just throw my rags out. i use old clothing, towels, whatever, and to clean my brushes i use baby oil. it super cheap and works really well. i also use baby oil to paint with. it works for me somehow.

I, too, use Master's Brush Cleaner or Master's Hand Soap on my brushes. A good thing about Master's Hand Soap is that if you get paint on good clothes or carpet, it will take it right out (as long as it is still wet).

Instead of turpentine, I use Turpenoid Natural. It has very little fumes, and you can poor it down the drain without guilt. You can also soak dirty brushes in it (even dry ones) and get them soft again. This is what my college's painting department swears by.

As for rags, I use paper towels. Dispose of them in an empty coffe can half full of water. No chance of explosions or fire, even if you use Linseed Oil.

oh you guys - thanks so much.

my brushes are not top of the line, but they're not terrible - i will definately remember the names of the products you guys recommended - in the meantime my broke butt is gonna try some BABY OIL! heh. and yeah, natural spirits, it's really true, i gotta start using that.

an old art teacher just told me she puts her rags in the washing machine with a bunch of bleach, and air dries. she never throws anything out.

in art class in highschool we used this screenprinting cleaner stuff to clean the brushes. we used it in a cup like water for watercolors. it worked like a charm. gosh I cant remember exactly what we called it....grrrr...

Stop using Turp if you don't have an allergy to it yet it will devolop. I have NEVER had a class that allowed the use of turpintine- too toxic. I have always used oderless mineral spirits. * buy at hardware store to get for way cheep. I just threw out old rags when they got too painty the whole spontinous combustion thing was something it just did not want to deal with. I cleened my brushes every day- if your only ever going to use your brushes for oil there is a product sign painters use called brush oil that is preaty cool, also dish soap or dr.bronners is good too I have removed oil paint from clothing with dr bronners. I have seen those brush holders that hold brushes away from the bottom of the container but I have never used one my husband loves his sylicoil brush cleener.
For years I painted with only a pallet knife just to avoid cleening my brushes.
Astoria

Hello fellow oil painter!

*Lamp Oil*

Thanks to my wonderful painting I teacher, I no longer clean my brushes with soap (TIME consuming and messy!).
Go to walmart and get a HUGE lucite container of LAMP OIL - it is clear and is only $3.00. It is in the lamp aisle. I pour some into a glass jar (a bit bigger and taller than a babyfood jar) and you can keep your brushes in it, if you are painting the next day or so (I'll keep mine in there for a week, because I am lazy).
Then clean your brush with it (or have two jars - one for lamp oil and one for the "mud" that develops in the bottom) and screw the lid on - it will last forever! Just squish brush around in the lamp oil, wipe on rag, repeat. They also say if you combine 1/2 lamp oil and 1/2 varnish it is supposed to be good too. But the lamp oil works great, and is cheap and easy, so why bother?
I hope this helps. Happy painting!

oh you guys rule! thanks!

new questions:

how do you carry your wet canvasses? i've been painting on wood and masonite, and it's SUCH A PAIN carrying them in to school, on the bus, walking three blocks, etc... pizza boxes are awesome for paper, but what for heavier things? i may post about this on the crafty board - what to recycle as a portfolio, in order to avoid buying a $70 portfolio?

what kind of driers have you used? i want my paint to dry faster. liquin?

Can't help with those questions (at my school we just leave our paintings in the studio until they're dry), but bumping...