How To Clean Hardened Paint Brushes

Save for later

Inside: Is your favorite paint brush dry and covered in hardened paint? Check out these simple tips on how to clean hardened paint brushes. Remove the paint and make them like new again.

I try to be really good at cleaning my paint brushes when I am done with a project. Unfortunately, occasionally the brushes get put up when they still have some paint on them.

Usually, I am tired when I finish painting a room so I don't always wash them out as well as I should.

Luckily there is a pretty easy trick to soften your brushes and remove the hardened paint from them.

If you want to save your paint brushes and remove the dried paint from them check out this easy tip on how to clean hardened paint brushes.

How To Clean Hardened Paint Brushes

Cleaning those paint brushes with dried-on paint doesn't take a lot of time. Skip buying new brushes with this simple tip to remove the paint and soften the brush bristles.

Supplies Needed

To remove the hardened paint from your brushes you need a few things.

• Vinegar
• Tray to put brushes and vinegar in
• Old toothbrush or scrubber
• Brushes with hardened paint

You will also need a way to heat the vinegar. I just use my teapot, but you could also use a pot on the stove.

Below is my brush before I soaked it in vinegar. You can see how the bristles have dried, hardened paint through them.

Cleaning The Dirty Brushes

To get started you need a tray that is large enough to hold the paint brushes and can withstand heat.

Then, you will need to heat up a couple of cups of vinegar. Basically, you want enough vinegar to completely cover the brushes that you are cleaning.

I usually just put a few cups of vinegar in my tea pot and let it heat up.

While your vinegar is heating up lay the brushes out in the tray you are going to use.

Once you have the vinegar heated up then slowly pour the vinegar over the brushes. You want to make sure you don't spill the vinegar and burn yourself.

Soaking The Hardened Brushes

Set a timer for 10 minutes and let the brushes soak in the hot vinegar.

After the 10 minutes is up you will want to use an old toothbrush or scrubber to remove some of the paint.

Gently take the scrubber over the paint brush bristles. Make sure you keep in the one direction of the bristles so you don't bend or break them.

Once you have gone over the bristles a few times then rinse the brush and place it back in the hot vinegar water.

Set the timer for another 10 minutes to let the paint brush soak.

After 10 minutes you can once again gently scrub in one direction with the bristles to remove any more loose paint.

Rinse the brush well with warm water and let the paint brush dry.

You can see below my brush after it was cleaned. It looks way better!

Repeat if Necessary

If your brush bristles still have a good deal of paint left in them you can repeat the process again.

Soak the brushes for 10 minutes in the hot vinegar, scrub them, and then let them soak for another 10 minutes.

The second time will really help remove the hardened paint from the brush and leave it looking like new again.

I am amazed at the difference this makes in the paint brushes. Not only do they look better without all the paint, but they are so soft and easy to use.

It makes the job of painting so much easier when you have a clean and flexible brush to use.

Next time you are ready to toss those hardened paint brushes try out this simple tip on how to clean hardened paint brushes so they look like new!

Want some other easy cleaning tips? Check out how to remove dried-on paint from clothes.

Save for later