JOE’s 15-minute DIY: Cleaning paint brushes on the cheap

There are many ways to clean your paint brushes on the cheap by using what's already lying around the house and better yet, it only takes fifteen minutes.

Painting the house is something we all have to deal with at some stage whether we like it or not, but one of the more annoying aspects about the job is cleaning up afterwards. It doesn’t have to be challenging or expensive once you know what to do, so here’s how to clean your brushes on the cheap in just fifteen minutes.

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What you need:

Dirty paint brushes
White spirits
Fabric softener
Warm water
Washing-up liquid
Paper towels
Bucket

What to do:

Step 1: Clean off the excess

When cleaning your paint brushes the first thing to do is to scrape off as much of the excess off as possible. At least this way you won’t be washing as many chemicals back into the water system (we’re thinking of the fish here, lads!). If your brushes are still wet then wrap a paper towel around them. This will soak a lot of the excess paint off.

Step 2: Clean the bristles

Once you’ve scrapped off the excess paint you can begin on cleaning the rest of your brushes. A little trick here is to use fabric softener to get rid of the paint. Simply add 70ml of fabric softener to 1 litre of warm water in a bucket and stir until the paint washes off. Apparently, this makes the water ‘wetter’ which makes the paint come off much easier.

Step 3: Alternatively…

If you’re not the fabric softener type of guy then you can always use other household products to clean your brushes. You can simply use washing-up liquid for emulsion paints or white spirits for oil-based or gloss paints. If you don’t have white spirits lying around just use some vinegar. Using vinegar might take longer and it might stink the place up, but it works just as well and can be a fair bit cheaper. Honest.

Step 4: Stir, rinse and repeat

Finally, stir your brushes in whatever solution you decide to make. It’s best to do this in a glass container (such as a clean jam jar) as the white spirits might react and eat through thin plastic (might being the key word). Keep stirring for a minute or two and with a set of rubber gloves on, squeeze as much water from your brushes as possible. If there's still some paint on them just wash, rinse and repeat.

And there you have it, a set of clean paint brushes in just fifteen minutes.