Non-Toxic Brush Cleaners for Oil Painters: Safely Clean & Restore Brushes!

Ridden with allergies, just want to warn that it is not because it is natural that it is safe for you. Think, pollens! I just dip my brushes in walnut oil (food grade) & then use multi-purpose household soap. So far, no crusty brushes that would require the cleaners mentionned (taking notes though because...will happen). Thanks for the vid!

I use Murphy's Oil Soap as has been suggested. It does a great job of cleaning and leaves brushes conditioned. When I finish a painting session I put brushes in a jar with walnut or safflower oil to keep paint from drying into the bristles and ferrule until I am ready to clean them with the Murphy's. This works quite well.

My issues is that “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean safe. My husband, a physician, likes to remind me arsenic is natural, heroin is natural. I think we are looking for non-toxic. I greatly appreciate you taking on this topic Malcolm. Thank you.

Thank you for your informative brush cleaning video Malcolm. I’ve been cleaning my brushes simply by wiping off as much paint as possible, then I pour a small amount of Murphy’s oil soap in a jar just to cover the bottom and that will clean several brushes, then rinse those off in a jar of water. (I don’t have a sink in m studio) It seems to work well and it leaves the brushes with a nice shine without feeling oily. Washing up liquid seems to clean just as well as Murphy’s. If I don’t have time to clean my brushes, I keep them in some safflower oil till the next day. I’ve been using 50/50 Gamsol and walnut oil to thin my block in stage of painting and sometimes clean the brush with plain Gamsol if I want to use it again on the same painting, but I find that even though the gamsol is supposed to be odour free, it’s not so odour free when it has paint mixed in it and the smell is nauseating for me, so I don’t use Gamsol to clean the brush I need anymore, I’ve just had to order more brushes 😂

Thanks Malcolm, for this valuable video 🙏

Thanks as ever, Malcolm! Would you a video explaining "stay-wet" palettes? 💕

Thank you so much! That is great news

I started using Quang Ho’s method of vegetable oil—this loosens up the bulk of the paint, followed up with Dawn, and finish off with Masters Brush Cleaner Preserver. It’s been great for months now. Quang uses a moisturizing bath bar, I’ll give that a try when I run out of Masters.

Incredibly helpful, thank you! Saves me a ton of cash too!

If you live in Holland/ the Netherlands you can use from bottle liquid Driehoek soap. Put a bit in your hand circling your brush in your hand and rinse it under the tap and if needed go for another round until you brush is clean. I usually take 3 rounds to make sure the oil paint is removed. You can also use it to wash easily the oil paint from your hands. And it is a natural soap.

Interest in article Malcolm. I find a time proven South African method is to clean brushes with Oma’s se Seep which works very well to clean oil paints off brushes. It also cleans stains on clothing etc. One can buy it from Farm Stalls or country shops and one can find more info on the internet.

Murphy Oil Soap or Murphy Wood cleaner. It’s non-toxic. I have cleaned my wood floors with it for years. Miss Mustard recommended it and it works great. It’s also cheap. Around 5$ .U.S.

Thank you Malcolm. I use vegetable oil to clean my brushes. Actually I semi-clean them leaving oil on them and set them on a tray inclined forward a little and only fully clean them in oil when I need to. Then every once in awhile I clean them with shampoo and hair conditioner if they need it. Do you see any issues with this method? I put the vegetable oil in my brush cleaner pot. Still have to use solvent for washes. Edit. I have an air purifier right next to me.

Hi Malcolm, Im a South African, where did you find the Green Piece? Was it ordered online or store bought? And what did you pay for it? Thanks. Oh and a follow up question, I use a lot of terps because I use washes of colour as a base for my oil paintings, think a bit like helen frankenthaler, I dont use oil as a dilution medium because of the long dry times. Is that non toxic solvent available in South Africa? What other solvent alternatives would you recommend that don't cost a fortune? Thanks for the vid btw.