Soak Your Paint Brushes for an Easier Clean
Using a cleaning solution before painting can make cleanup easier when you're done.
I once had a conversation with a product manager at Purdy who gave me some great advice about cleaning brushes. He said that if you soak your paint brush in the proper cleaning medium before you use it (water for latex, mineral spirits for oil, etc.), it will be easier to clean when you’re done painting. On my very next project I did a side-by-side test, and it really works. I find it especially effective for smaller projects where the paint brush is not being used all day.
—Rich Scalise, Louisville, Ky.
Edited by Charles Miller
Published in Fine Homebuilding #310
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And the same goes for the painter: A little hand cream applied beforehand makes cleaning the hands a lot easier when finishing up.
I watched a video with Justin Fink and Peter Gedrys from 2015. He called soaking a clean brush in solvents,"charging a brush." I really enjoyed that video series. I used some of his suggestions staining plywood veneer for a murphy bed I made from a kit.