Hi all:

So I just bought some brand-spanking-new Windsor and Newton sable/synthetic blends, and I want to take better care of these than I have of some of the past ones.

Two questions:

What's the best way to prevent the "bendiness" from happening? You know, the hooks at the tip of the bristles?

What is "brush soap," and do I absolutely have to use that stuff, or will any old bar soap do?

Sorry if these have been covered. I tried the search and didn't quite get the answers I was looking for.

At the risk of killing this thread ;? I will add my thoughts on this:

Fish hooking/bending should only occur with synthetics... It happens because the bristles are too strong to break off so they bend. Unfortunately I don't think there is a good method to get them straight once they bend...

Sable brushes will simply break.

As far as brush soap bars go... I don't know for sure but I believe the bar soaps have conditioners in them to help keep up the brushes... What I find useful about bar soaps - is that I will at the end of my paint session, wet the brush after cleaning it and drag it across the bar soap to get a nice point and I will let the soap dry and keep the point on the brush. This seems to work very well for me.

Cheers,

-Mike

At the risk of killing this thread ;? I will add my thoughts on this:

As far as brush soap bars go... I don't know for sure but I believe the bar soaps have conditioners in them to help keep up the brushes... What I find useful about bar soaps - is that I will at the end of my paint session, wet the brush after cleaning it and drag it across the bar soap to get a nice point and I will let the soap dry and keep the point on the brush. This seems to work very well for me.



Do you think "regular" bar soap would be that much different? Just curious.

I have had good success with "pink soap" I got at the local craft store.
They also have "brush shaper" there too which I've used and like.

The bar soap I have I got from an art supply store. To be honest I didn't compare the ingredients and have long since tossed the packaging... It looks like a rough version of a fancy soap - IE it is a greenish color with flecks of stuff in it....

I would suppose a regular bar of soap would work to help keep a point - as for conditioning it - don't know.

I use a liquid soap as well. I mix it with water and use that as my paint cleaning pot. I clean this when it starts to discolor too much...

Cheers,

-Mike