Sticky varnish brush even after washing!

Marcus Lim · 04-24-2005, 11:00 PM

Hi everyone,
I've recently started varnishing some old works which have been lying abouts for a few months now. I use Talens Matt and Glossy varnishes, and apply them on my paintings using 30% gloss - 70% matt mixture.

I realise that the varnish dries quickly, almost immediately after varnishing. That's good for the painting, but bad on my brush! I tried using detergents to soak my brush after use, but even so it's still hard and sticky even after wash. I was wondering if anyone has a good tip to share, to clean the brushes after varnishing.

Richard Monro · 04-25-2005, 09:17 AM

Marcus,
Most varnishes can be removed with a good solvent such as mineral spirits. Clean with mineral spirits first, perhaps with a change or two of the solvent, then use your normal soapy brush cleaner for final conditioning. This routine will keep your varnish brushes going for years without the stickyness.

Michele Rushworth · 04-25-2005, 10:00 AM

If it's a damar varnish you might need to use turpentine on the brush.

Tony Pro · 04-25-2005, 07:45 PM

Buy a brush strictly for varnishing and buy a bottle that will hold the brush inside it and put a good amount of mineral spirits in the bottle. So you are basically soaking the brush in the bottle all the time. When you varnish, take it out and use it, then put it back in the mineral spirit bath and seal it up...

thats the best way to keep a varnish brush.

Marcus Lim · 04-25-2005, 09:20 PM

Thanks for the tip guys!

Anthony Emmolo · 06-21-2005, 09:13 PM

Marcus, I use Damar Varnish and I experience the same problem that you described. The solution that I found works well. After thoroughly cleaning with turpentine, I wash quickly with a regular bar of hand soap. Then, I immediately was a few times with brush soap. The hand soap is stronger than brush soap and will get rid of the stickiness. By immediately washing a few times with brush soap after using hand soap, you'll protect your brushes from the strength of the hand soap, which will dry out the brush in time if you don't rewash with the brush soap. I've been doing this, and my brushes are fine.

Anthony

Marcus Lim · 06-22-2005, 06:28 AM

Thanks for the tip Anthony...i just realized that hand soaps are great for brushes in all situations.

Anthony Emmolo · 06-22-2005, 06:20 PM

Marcus,

I would really be careful using hand soaps on brushes. I ONLY use them for varnish removal, and then quickly use brush soap to remove the remaining hand soap from the brush. Hand soap will quickly damage a brush. In addition, when I was younger I thought baby shampoo would be good. My assumption was that it was gentle enough for a baby's hair, it couldn't hurt a brush. However, within days it had destroyed my brushes.

Anthony