How to Clean a Dry Paint Brush

Don’t throw away that dry paint brush! Clean it and save money using acetone

Acetone can be used to resurrect paint brushes that have been left to dry without having been properly cleaned. If you have dry paint brushes don’t throw them away,

We’ve all done it, after a long day of painting you take a short break before cleaning up your brushes and next thing you know it’s a day later and you forgot to clean the brushes, now you’re left wondering how to clean a paintbrush with dry paint. Everyone has their favorite way to save a paintbrush that’s been left out to dry without proper cleaning and there’s no shortage of legends, myths, and home remedies said to repair that dried out paintbrush. Too often though, the wrong chemicals are used and the brush winds up being discarded before it can be brought back to usable condition.

Should you use acetone to clean dried paint brushes? Absolutely, and if you are wondering how to clean a paint brush with dry paint then this is the blog for you. And here’s your proof: here’s a link to a great video from a couple of professional painters who actually tested them and the results are fascinating. As you will see, there’s plenty of methods that folks will claim work to clean a dried paint brush, but it’s Acetone that comes through as an effective dried paint brush cleaner. The video is long, so jump to 10:00 in to see the Acetone results.

Best Paint Brush Cleaner. To Remove Dried Paint

Cleaning the dried paintbrush is simple

Here’s the simple steps to saving that dries paintbrush.

Safety First

• Always work in a well ventilated area.
• Keep all cleaning supplies far way from children and pets.
• Wear gloves and eye protection.
• Keep acetone away from open flames

There’s only 3 steps involved to clean a dried paintbrush.

1. Using a glass or metal container (avoid plastics) soak the brush with hardened paint in acetone for one hour. If the bristles don’t bend, soak for an additional hour. For persistent materials such as varnish you may need to soak overnight.
2. Comb out bristles with your fingers or a brush comb.
3. Rinse out the loosened paint with water and repeat as necessary.

It’s that simple. Acetone works great to soften and remove many types of dried paint including oil based paints, enamels, polyurethane, and acrylic paints.

Bulk acetone is also a great household tool.

For further research check out this great video on the differences between acetone and mineral spirits

Mineral Spirits vs Acetone | How and When to Use | This or That DIY