Cleaning a paint brush the proper way?

When I'm painting and take a break the paint brush gets hard as a rock when I return. Usually I soak it in hot water and that helps a little but not much. I was looking for the proper way to clean a paint brush because lately I've been spending a fortune on paint brushes.Cleaning a paint brush the proper way?
Mmm...Can't avoid the hardness, that happens to me all the time, and I think it's a good thing to help maintain the shape.





Rinse them with warm water and soap, and squeeze out the excess water, let them dry upside down or flat, I usually don't take care of mine =/ so i just leave them however, but I think you should dry them upside down....Cleaning a paint brush the proper way?
I would need to know what type of paint you are using. For oils, if you are going back to painting, then turpentine or turpenoid. For acrylic brushes, rinse them out good and wash them with soap and water. Acrylics will dry very fast in the brushes. Oil will not.


For oil brushes that are dry, try soaking them in straight Murphy's oil soap. Rinse well, then, using a bar if Ivory soap, wash the Murphy's oil soap and rinse very well again. Make sure the brushes have no soap in them. I have had the Murphy's unstiffen oil brushes I forgot to clean until a week later.
clean the brush thouroughly with the appropriate solvent (water, thinner, acetone etc.) then spin the brush between your palms to force the excess solvent out of the brush, then shape the brush with your fingers and let it dry.


when you are using brushes that cost $20 + such as signwriting quills you learn to care for your brushes.
What I do is get luke warm water, put some liquid soap in my hand, and then put my hand in the water. Then I take the brush and brush it in circles in my palm. Then rinse it until there is no more soap in the brush. After that, take a paper towel and brush the paint brush on it, if there is still paint, repeat the process. Hope this helps!
You don't say what kind of painting you're doing.





regardless - if you are just taking a break you should have a paint brush holder that suspends the brush in water ( or solvent) to keep it wet.





it looks like a spiral of wire over a jar.





try www.dickblick.com and look up the Richeson Deluxe Brush Washer or the aluminum brush washer





good luck
when you stop painting put the head of the brush in a zip lock bag and close the bag around the handle or put the brush in a plastic bag. Trying to clean the brush just doesn't work.
Before I take a break I wash my brush. When I am done I wash them in soap and water. This only works for watercolor and acrylic. You did not say what kind of paint you are using.