I've been using "The Master's" Brush Cleaner for many, many years and I love it! After my brush is clean I hold it at an angle and twirl it in the cleaner to shape the tip to a point. Your brushes will perform better and last longer if you use brush cleaner starting with the first time you use a new brush. That's been my experience. "The Master's" also makes a bar soap that will remove all kinds of paint from your hands in no time. It's a must for people like me who have ink mishaps when filling their fountain pens. Enjoyed your video, as always!Thanks, Teoh!
Just a tip use the palm of your hand to lather and clean the brush and make sure it gets into the base of the brush to clean out the paint (think of it as washing your hair)
I like keeping a small jar with very diluted gum arabic. I dip my unused brushes in the solution and let it dry and it keeps the point. When you are ready to use the brush again, just wash off the gum arabic.
What I do… after using the soap and the bristle is clean I sharpen the tip of my brushes on a cosmetic wipe, it works perfectly.. I also use the wipe during painting so I always have a sharp point on my brush on every stroke. 😏
I’ve been using this product for at least 30 years. I like it but It’s nice to hear your perspective. They also make a hand soap for artists though I’ve not tried it.
Great video! I currently use The Masters soap to clean my brushes, and it gets all the paint off. It made me realize that even if the water isn't getting dirty, there still may be paint that's hard to rinse out. The use of The Masters soap actually uses another method for conditioning/preserving though. You would wash the brushes like in the video, but once it's clean you wouldn't do that final rinse. Instead, you should leave the soap in the bristles, and then wash it once when you go to use the brush again.
Teoh, this brush cleaner is sold here a lot. I've found it to be very good for cleaning, but as to bringing a point back from the dead very difficult .
I have this cleaning stuff, I was told I had to have it for my watercolour classes and never used it so its handy to see how you used it and see it actually work on a brush that was considered a "throw away"
Master's and Pink Soap are my favourites. I don't wash my watercolour brushes out that often, but sometimes staining colours and more sticky ones call for a wash. I can't see what makes many other (hard) soaps any different from a mild handsoap based on plant oils. A mild Greek olive oil soap is probably just as good as most of them. Yellow Ochre is said to be sticky, but I don't know why. Maybe the pigments are so coarse that they get stuck at the ferrule. I have Master's the size of a small bucket that I use for my oil brushes. A truly worn out brush can't be rescued as the hairs are ground down and frayed. Cutting them turns the brush into something else, as the candle-plume shape can't be recovered. A worn out brush should be delegated to an effect brush. like for foliage. A really, really worn out brush can de "harassed" with masking fluid to create an exciting spatter-effect-brush.
This brush cleaner is so good. I had a synthetic flat brush that was caked with acrylic paint for 12 years. After washing and leaving it in for a week, all the hard paint was gone and my brush is like new again!
I have this soap, and while it's really great for getting stubborn colour out of brushes, there's no fixing damaged bristles. It's like the hair on your head, you can condition it to improve it temporarily, but at the end of the day, damage to hair is permanent. It's best to be careful with your brushes from day 1 to prevent damage and lengthen their lifespan. I agree with commenter Pia Meenakshi, putting a little gum arabic on brushes that will stand for a long time helps keep the shape. But I do recommend the soap for cleaning brushes of stubborn, staining paints! And it lasts practically forever!
I think I have seen that brush cleaner locally. I use a different product that works similarly and costs less. It's called Pink Soap and it cleans, preserves, and conditions my brushes. It's also a liquid which works better for me. It even works to get ink off of my dip pen nibs. If I want to use a brush for applying masking fluid, I work some of this soap into the bristles before dipping the brush into the masking fluid. The brush cleans up nicely. The first time I bought this soap, there was an illustration of the Mona Lisa on the bottle. Since Speedball took over the company, the Mona Lisa has been removed; but, the product is just as good.
Hi Teoh, I'm so glad I told you about this. I hope you're a convert now. The great thing about "The Masters" is that not only does it clean and reshape it conditions the hairs. I've seen this stuff work miracles. One suggestion. Make sure after cleaning that you once again create a good lather to leave in the brush, then blot it off with a paper towel and shape. I've found working into a good lather makes it work better. I've also seen an improvement in my old brushes over time. Much better after using for the 4th or 5th time. I guess because the conditioners have had the time to work. Just be sure to get into the habit of rinsing your brushes well before using them to paint. I'm so glad you tried this my friend. Blessings to you and yours. Kiss Tiffany for me. Your faithful follower. Kathy B. (Fairylady0227) 💜
I've usedMaster's for several years. I only get to pinnt at weekends so my routine is to thouroughly rinse the brushes after evry day' s use and then use the cleaner at the end of the weekend..
Thanks for the video. This was great information for me to know. I had looked at the Masters soap before but I too had passed. Now it's is a definate yes.
Steve from The Mind of Watercolor also recommends using a clear hair gel to form the bristles. I am definatley going to get some of this soap though. Thank you for all your work...Hope your sweet baby is doing well...
It is the only brush cleaner I have ever used so I have nothing to compare it with, but it has always done a good job of cleaning. Now I know to pay more attention to the brush points!
I’ve seen this product at the various art supply stores before and always passed on purchasing it because I just felt like my brushes really didn’t need it but I feel like I need to add it to my collection now! Thank you for sharing a great video Teoh :)
I have never tried special brush soap but have found the clear Pears hand soap works really well for me and have used this for many years. Johnsons baby shampoo works too. You need to avoid tallow or similar based hand soaps as they can leave a waxy residue making the hairs slightly water repellent (not good) . I know the good brush soaps have conditioners too so I suppose a mild hair conditioner could be good occasionally. I dare say the brush soap is a better all rounder though if you work in oil or acrylic medium or shellac based inks as they are formulated for this.
Wow, this is perfect timing--I just bought this brush cleaner today! Thank you for a great instructional video and just to say how much I enjoy your channel and blog. 😊🎨👍
First of all, thank you for your video and reviews and amazing info you gave us ( I really love your book reviews specially).I have been using this brand for a long time, I bought this size and the biggest one, after 5 years of using it I didn't reach half of the small container. I didn't find that soap useful for watercolor brushes But for Acrylic brushes, it has done amaaaazing job, I used to ruin a lot of brushes when acryclic paint dry on it specially with acrylic painting each session will take 3 to 5 hours at least at the end all my brushes started to have crusted paint in the bottom. but with this soap even if the paint on the brush started to dry they can dissolve the paint with warm running water easily after few washes. it saved me a lot of money I used to buy new brushes for every acrylic painting!
Hi Teoh! Thanks for this. I have used this product to restore brushes that got misshapen through user error (I didn't leave them in water, but capped a travel brush wrong once or twice and also some got crushed during travel transport). I also use it to saturate an old craft brush that I use for masking fluid and it washes right out.
When I have a brush that has lost its point or doesn’t come with a good one in addition to the soap I have also cut them a little with scissors made for cutting hair. That has to done carefully but that can make layers from the outside to the tip cutting at an angle.
These brush soaps are really convenient. Proven most effective for me is still to handle the brushes carefully, wash them carefully afer I used them and then once in a while use the soap. Unfortunately they are no miracle cure for really really worn out brushes.
Great video teoh!i would try this product out on my worn out brushes.i used ordinary soap on mine,it helped reshape my brush but after a few uses it went back to how it used to.i'll if it would have a better result.thanks again!
Depends on how worn out your brush hair is. If it's toot short, there's no way to restore it. If it is still long enough, it will take some time for the brush to get back its shape. I now shape my brush after each painting session.
I have brushes from 1980 that have only seen Masters Brush cleaner. (Winsor Newton Sable brushes) The brushes themselves paint like new. The handles show their age. The trick is to keep a very thin film of cleaner on the brushes and leave them. Stored brush hair down! It is like your hair when you get up in the morning. You have to retrain these brushes back to sharp. It may take weeks. The brush hairs have been 'confused' with use. it has taken many hours for them to relax their shape. It will take the same amount to get them back. If you get a new brush and use the cleaner, you will never get the spread like the Rosemary brushes.
I use masters from the beginning but not often on watercolor brushes. It is so much better to use your brushes carefully to begin with. For instance I NEVER use a newer real hair ,either sable or fix, in a backward motion. I keep an older brush that i save for " effects" at the ready beside my paint palette or in my hair as a maifa stick...holding my hair up., for that purpose. I have several of my wash brushes that are over 50 years old and one sable that still has a point that is about 30 years old. When i used yo teach oil painting to adults, my first lesson was entitled " make love to your brush". I started with proper cleaning then how to use or abuse the brushes.
With the cleaner you need to work the soap in to the feral and let it break down the paint trapped in there. it’s the paint in the feral that ruins the sharp point. when I clean my brushes just doing 3 of them can take me an hour. Here is how I do it (lather up a brush give it 5 mins then work the bristles in your palm for 15 mins keeping the soap in it very thin and runny, then let the soap sit in the brush for a couple of mins, and then wash it all out of the brush. Once that’s done add a small amount of the soap to the brush so it’s not full of the soap but just enough to shape it till you need it, your brushes will be like new if you try this.) iv had the same brushes for almost 5 years because I keep them well looked after.
I wonder if you could take your brushes for a "hair cut" to make them pointed? Like how if you grow your head hair out it gets split ends and gets frizzy but when you get it cut its smoother.
I’ve heard that masters cleaner has an abrasive in it...is that true? I definitely don’t want to damage my expensive watercolor brushes by using it too often!
some recommendations of products for your future videos to review. molotow marker white ink 1mm ultra fine point marker molotow masking fluid marker molotow liquid chrome marker mirror effect kuretake white ink brush pen
its better because its made specifically to remove old hard dry paint from your brushes. its not made to keep a sharp point to the brush as much as to remove old dry paint stuck to the brush which it does better than any other soap. masters makes this jar soap thats white and a bar soap which is even tougher acting that is green. ive been a user of the soap for 25 years now.
I've been using "The Master's" Brush Cleaner for many, many years and I love it!
After my brush is clean I hold it at an angle and twirl it in the cleaner to shape the tip to a point. Your brushes will perform better and last longer if you use brush cleaner starting with the first time you use a new brush. That's been my experience.
"The Master's" also makes a bar soap that will remove all kinds of paint from your hands in no time. It's a must for people like me who have ink mishaps when filling their fountain pens.
Enjoyed your video, as always!Thanks, Teoh!
Please excuse my overuse of the word 'brush' in the above comment. 🤣
Thanks. I don't know about the bar soap
I like this product. It saved my first kolinsky brush when I didn’t know how to care for it. It def helps to keep a point.
Just a tip use the palm of your hand to lather and clean the brush and make sure it gets into the base of the brush to clean out the paint (think of it as washing your hair)
I like keeping a small jar with very diluted gum arabic. I dip my unused brushes in the solution and let it dry and it keeps the point. When you are ready to use the brush again, just wash off the gum arabic.
Pia Meenakshi That's a great tip!
Thanks!i will also give it a try :3
Which gum arabic product do you recommend ? Also , how much do you dilute the gum? 2 parts gum : 1 part water ? Thanks so much !!
What I do… after using the soap and the bristle is clean I sharpen the tip of my brushes on a cosmetic wipe, it works perfectly.. I also use the wipe during painting so I always have a sharp point on my brush on every stroke. 😏
I guess it's pretty randomly asking but does anyone know of a good place to watch new movies online ?
I’ve been using this product for at least 30 years. I like it but It’s nice to hear your perspective. They also make a hand soap for artists though I’ve not tried it.
Great video! I currently use The Masters soap to clean my brushes, and it gets all the paint off. It made me realize that even if the water isn't getting dirty, there still may be paint that's hard to rinse out. The use of The Masters soap actually uses another method for conditioning/preserving though. You would wash the brushes like in the video, but once it's clean you wouldn't do that final rinse. Instead, you should leave the soap in the bristles, and then wash it once when you go to use the brush again.
Teoh, this brush cleaner is sold here a lot. I've found it to be very good for cleaning, but as to bringing a point back from the dead very difficult .
Exactly .. and I also use a cosmetic wipe during painting it maintains the bristle always sharp. Give it a try you won’t want another thing. Lol
I have this cleaning stuff, I was told I had to have it for my watercolour classes and never used it so its handy to see how you used it and see it actually work on a brush that was considered a "throw away"
It works for brushes where the hair is still long enough to shape
Master's and Pink Soap are my favourites. I don't wash my watercolour brushes out that often, but sometimes staining colours and more sticky ones call for a wash. I can't see what makes many other (hard) soaps any different from a mild handsoap based on plant oils. A mild Greek olive oil soap is probably just as good as most of them. Yellow Ochre is said to be sticky, but I don't know why. Maybe the pigments are so coarse that they get stuck at the ferrule. I have Master's the size of a small bucket that I use for my oil brushes. A truly worn out brush can't be rescued as the hairs are ground down and frayed. Cutting them turns the brush into something else, as the candle-plume shape can't be recovered. A worn out brush should be delegated to an effect brush. like for foliage. A really, really worn out brush can de "harassed" with masking fluid to create an exciting spatter-effect-brush.
This brush cleaner is so good. I had a synthetic flat brush that was caked with acrylic paint for 12 years. After washing and leaving it in for a week, all the hard paint was gone and my brush is like new again!
I have this soap, and while it's really great for getting stubborn colour out of brushes, there's no fixing damaged bristles. It's like the hair on your head, you can condition it to improve it temporarily, but at the end of the day, damage to hair is permanent. It's best to be careful with your brushes from day 1 to prevent damage and lengthen their lifespan. I agree with commenter Pia Meenakshi, putting a little gum arabic on brushes that will stand for a long time helps keep the shape. But I do recommend the soap for cleaning brushes of stubborn, staining paints! And it lasts practically forever!
I think I have seen that brush cleaner locally. I use a different product that works similarly and costs less. It's called Pink Soap and it cleans, preserves, and conditions my brushes. It's also a liquid which works better for me. It even works to get ink off of my dip pen nibs. If I want to use a brush for applying masking fluid, I work some of this soap into the bristles before dipping the brush into the masking fluid. The brush cleans up nicely.
The first time I bought this soap, there was an illustration of the Mona Lisa on the bottle. Since Speedball took over the company, the Mona Lisa has been removed; but, the product is just as good.
I've been using this soup for years and its my favourite. Also, its works with oil paint brushes!
Hi Teoh,
I'm so glad I told you about this. I hope you're a convert now. The great thing about "The Masters" is that not only does it clean and reshape it conditions the hairs. I've seen this stuff work miracles. One suggestion. Make sure after cleaning that you once again create a good lather to leave in the brush, then blot it off with a paper towel and shape. I've found working into a good lather makes it work better. I've also seen an improvement in my old brushes over time. Much better after using for the 4th or 5th time. I guess because the conditioners have had the time to work. Just be sure to get into the habit of rinsing your brushes well before using them to paint. I'm so glad you tried this my friend. Blessings to you and yours. Kiss Tiffany for me. Your faithful follower.
Kathy B. (Fairylady0227) 💜
Thanks. I'm going to make it a habit to use the soap to shape the brush after each painting session.
I've usedMaster's for several years. I only get to pinnt at weekends so my routine is to thouroughly rinse the brushes after evry day' s use and then use the cleaner at the end of the weekend..
Thanks for the video. This was great information for me to know. I had looked at the Masters soap before but I too had passed. Now it's is a definate yes.
Steve from The Mind of Watercolor also recommends using a clear hair gel to form the bristles. I am definatley going to get some of this soap though. Thank you for all your work...Hope your sweet baby is doing well...
It is the only brush cleaner I have ever used so I have nothing to compare it with, but it has always done a good job of cleaning. Now I know to pay more attention to the brush points!
I’ve seen this product at the various art supply stores before and always passed on purchasing it because I just felt like my brushes really didn’t need it but I feel like I need to add it to my collection now! Thank you for sharing a great video Teoh :)
Michaels might have it, I think that's where I bought mine at.
It smells amazing. It's worth it for the sniffs alone.
I never even tried that!
I wondered if The Masters worked. It seems it does so I will pick some up! Thank you!
I have never tried special brush soap but have found the clear Pears hand soap works really well for me and have used this for many years. Johnsons baby shampoo works too. You need to avoid tallow or similar based hand soaps as they can leave a waxy residue making the hairs slightly water repellent (not good) . I know the good brush soaps have conditioners too so I suppose a mild hair conditioner could be good occasionally. I dare say the brush soap is a better all rounder though if you work in oil or acrylic medium or shellac based inks as they are formulated for this.
Wow, this is perfect timing--I just bought this brush cleaner today! Thank you for a great instructional video and just to say how much I enjoy your channel and blog. 😊🎨👍
Thanks for your support 😁
Wonder if it would have worked better if you coated it thick and dry over night. Thats how i save my brushes
First of all, thank you for your video and reviews and amazing info you gave us ( I really love your book reviews specially).I have been using this brand for a long time, I bought this size and the biggest one, after 5 years of using it I didn't reach half of the small container. I didn't find that soap useful for watercolor brushes But for Acrylic brushes, it has done amaaaazing job, I used to ruin a lot of brushes when acryclic paint dry on it specially with acrylic painting each session will take 3 to 5 hours at least at the end all my brushes started to have crusted paint in the bottom. but with this soap even if the paint on the brush started to dry they can dissolve the paint with warm running water easily after few washes. it saved me a lot of money I used to buy new brushes for every acrylic painting!
Hi Teoh! Thanks for this. I have used this product to restore brushes that got misshapen through user error (I didn't leave them in water, but capped a travel brush wrong once or twice and also some got crushed during travel transport). I also use it to saturate an old craft brush that I use for masking fluid and it washes right out.
Seems like a pretty good cleaner for brushes. its nice to be able to get back the point on good brushes. even if slight to better improvement.
This is a very helpful video. A great way to save your expensive brushes and keep them usable for a long time. Cheers.
When I have a brush that has lost its point or doesn’t come with a good one in addition to the soap I have also cut them a little with scissors made for cutting hair. That has to done carefully but that can make layers from the outside to the tip cutting at an angle.
These brush soaps are really convenient. Proven most effective for me is still to handle the brushes carefully, wash them carefully afer I used them and then once in a while use the soap. Unfortunately they are no miracle cure for really really worn out brushes.
I got this stuff already, works pretty well.
Great video teoh!i would try this product out on my worn out brushes.i used ordinary soap on mine,it helped reshape my brush but after a few uses it went back to how it used to.i'll if it would have a better result.thanks again!
Depends on how worn out your brush hair is. If it's toot short, there's no way to restore it. If it is still long enough, it will take some time for the brush to get back its shape. I now shape my brush after each painting session.
I have brushes from 1980 that have only seen Masters Brush cleaner. (Winsor Newton Sable brushes) The brushes themselves paint like new. The handles show their age. The trick is to keep a very thin film of cleaner on the brushes and leave them. Stored brush hair down! It is like your hair when you get up in the morning. You have to retrain these brushes back to sharp. It may take weeks. The brush hairs have been 'confused' with use. it has taken many hours for them to relax their shape. It will take the same amount to get them back. If you get a new brush and use the cleaner, you will never get the spread like the Rosemary brushes.
Thanks For the video. I think I need to get some of this.
You have to let the soap dry on the brush to restore the point
I do that when I finish my session. Leave it for the night. 👍🏻
Oh really nice Thank you very much. I'm a beginner and i have a lot to learn. Thank you 😊
Thanks for the review Teoh! Do you think this would work with synthetic brushes, and would it be worth it?
It will work with synthetic brushes.
It's a Maters brush cleaner your testing , not a brush sharpener ....
I use masters from the beginning but not often on watercolor brushes. It is so much better to use your brushes carefully to begin with. For instance I NEVER use a newer real hair ,either sable or fix, in a backward motion. I keep an older brush that i save for " effects" at the ready beside my paint palette or in my hair as a maifa stick...holding my hair up., for that purpose. I have several of my wash brushes that are over 50 years old and one sable that still has a point that is about 30 years old. When i used yo teach oil painting to adults, my first lesson was entitled " make love to your brush". I started with proper cleaning then how to use or abuse the brushes.
With the cleaner you need to work the soap in to the feral and let it break down the paint trapped in there. it’s the paint in the feral that ruins the sharp point. when I clean my brushes just doing 3 of them can take me an hour.
Here is how I do it (lather up a brush give it 5 mins then work the bristles in your palm for 15 mins keeping the soap in it very thin and runny, then let the soap sit in the brush for a couple of mins, and then wash it all out of the brush. Once that’s done add a small amount of the soap to the brush so it’s not full of the soap but just enough to shape it till you need it, your brushes will be like new if you try this.) iv had the same brushes for almost 5 years because I keep them well looked after.
I wonder if you could take your brushes for a "hair cut" to make them pointed? Like how if you grow your head hair out it gets split ends and gets frizzy but when you get it cut its smoother.
Not sure about that. I guess it would make the hair shorter but not sharper.
I’ve heard that masters cleaner has an abrasive in it...is that true? I definitely don’t want to damage my expensive watercolor brushes by using it too often!
Not that I know of.
awesome content as always!!
Thanks 😁
No problem, dear Sir!
Thank you so much! This video was so helpful!!! :)
some recommendations of products for your future videos to review.
molotow marker white ink 1mm ultra fine point marker
molotow masking fluid marker
molotow liquid chrome marker mirror effect
kuretake white ink brush pen
cant believe you are only now discovering masters soap.
.......and they make a travel size!
Would this work with a waterbrush?
of course, watercolors are the most fragile paint, so this soap wipe them out easily
Yes
Nice
Teoh soap needs to be added thru all brush bristles then try to make a point and let it dry i works well but You will need to wait about 30 days.
I ❤ it
Make video with Samsung galaxy Tab S4.
I will when I get the S4
Thanks
Question: why is it that this soap is better than ... your baby's soap? I need some more info on this soap. 🙃
Actually I think you can use baby soap too.
Teoh Yi Chie
This soap is specially formulated for brushes that's why. It's not for armpits or baby's butts. Lol.
its better because its made specifically to remove old hard dry paint from your brushes. its not made to keep a sharp point to the brush as much as to remove old dry paint stuck to the brush which it does better than any other soap. masters makes this jar soap thats white and a bar soap which is even tougher acting that is green. ive been a user of the soap for 25 years now.
Indigo Sunset ... thank you and with that many years of using it, I consider your answer as the best recommendation! 😃
First comment!
Take a look at speedball brush shaper!
🙋♀️🎈🎈🎈🌈🎁
I don’t like Masters soap. I have a hand soap that costs a fraction of the price that works better.
I think this soap contains some abrasives, so it's probably best only to use this when you really need it. I think, so don't quote me on that.