Brush Butler®
The Best Way to Clean your Paint Brushes
The best brush cleaner that makes oil and water based painting cleanup easy and affordable! Enjoy unsurpassed ease of cleaning paint brushes with the Brush Butler at home, in the classroom, or in the outdoors. Paint brush cleaning has never been more efficient.
The Brush Butler® is a six-inch round, container with built-in cleaning compartments. No sink required for this brush cleaner! No more toxic solutions rinsed down the drain. Designed for use in studio or in the field.
The innovative features include an interior insert that creates sections to isolate clean, unused solution from used solution. Use the textured areas for more thorough cleaning!
The Brush Butler securely closes so it’s ideal for transport.
The Brush Butler reduces the amount of expensive cleaning solution required for clean brushes. Your cleaning solution will last longer – reuse it over and over again.
If you paint with oil paint or water based paint, you need the Brush Butler.
The Brush Butler® is a quantum leap forward in brush cleaning. This is a must-have product for everyone who paints – amateurs, professionals, teachers, students.
How to Clean Oil Paint Brushes with the Brush Butler®
The easiest and most cost-effective solution to cleaning brushes!
Step 1. Get started.
Fill the Brush Butler with cleaning solution, such as artist linseed oil, mineral spirits or mineral oil (or similar non-drying oil) until it reaches 2/3 up the texture ring area. Start with the smallest brushes first and progress to the larger ones. Simply wipe your brush before moving from one section to another to limit carrying the cloudy solution into the clear solution.
Step 2. Clean the excess paint off your brush.
The insert fits snugly into the base and provides textured surfaces for brush cleaning. It features eight bays, keeping dissolved paint away from clean solution. It’s ideal for cleaning multiple brushes.
Step 3. Clean the brush completely.
Wipe your brush along the textured area to clean your brush completely. This section should remain mostly clean even when cleaning many brushes. Wipe your brush on a rag or paper towel to check for any pigment color. If you still see pigment continue cleaning in this section until no pigment is seen.
Step 4. Rinse the brush completely.
Move your brush to one of the outer sections around the perimeter. Press your brush down into one of those sections and against the bottom and side of the base to rinse the brush completely. Pressing should open and separate the bristles, and helps to get a thorough rinse.
Step 5. Condition your brush.
Simply rinse your brush in your chosen conditioner – use the Brush Butler lid (upside down the lid is handy bowl) or your own container. Then wipe it on a clean rag or paper towel. Wrap the bristles within the rag and squeeze to remove as much conditioner as you can. This replaces the cleaning solution in the brush and keeps your brush soft until next use. Reshape the brush tip after conditioning and store the brush so bristles are kept in position. Done!
Alternate for those who paint ALLOT. (you lucky artists!).
Use a separate container (or a second Brush Butler) to soak you brushes in either Linseed Oil or a non-drying oil (such as mineral oil or “Bristle Magic”. If you do this the the brush will need to soak in such a way that bristles are not being bent. Leave it there until you are ready to paint (recommended not more than about a week). THEN – just prior to painting go ahead and do the regular cleaning described in steps 1 to 4 above using linseed oil or OMS. You don’t need to condition since you are about to paint right away. TIP: Since you are painting immediately after cleaning and not conditioning the brush, use only linseed oil or OMS as your cleaning solution when using this method 🙂
Brush Butler is perfect for Plein Air painters…no sink required!
The Brush Cleaner Advantages of the Brush Butler®
A clean brush is essential for an artist to paint their best. This brush cleaner allows painters to extend the useful life of their brushes and reuse cleaning solution, saving money. Engineered by a painter for painters, the Brush Butler is simply a better way to clean your brushes!
- You paint better when your brushes are in better condition
- Clean multiple brushes and still have access to clear solution
- No more toxins down the drain
- Easily clean settled paint sediment when needed
- Designed for use in studio or in the field
- The Brush Butler securely closes so it’s ideal for transport
- Latches are easy to use; no threaded cover that may “glue” itself to the base over time
- Made of rugged material to last
- Non-slip, strong rubbery feet
- Interior insert creates sections in base isolating clean unused solution from used solution
- Interior insert is removable from base to make cleaning settled paint very easy
- Textured area is tilted down at an angle to help dissolved paint drain down to below cleaning area
- Finger grip above texture area for handling without putting fingers in cleaning solution
PRO TIP: The cleaning solution is completely reusable. Under normal use, the cleaning solution will reduce slightly over time. Simply add as needed to bring the solution to about ½ to 2/3 up the texture ring area.
The answer to art classroom clean up!
Clean Brushes with the Brush Butler®
The best brush cleaner developed by an artist for artists!
The base is completely rounded to make cleaning settled paint sediment simple.
The insert fits snugly into the base and provides textured surfaces for brush cleaning. It features eight bays, keeping dissolved paint away from clean solution. It’s ideal for cleaning multiple brushes.
The cover is also rounded. When placed upside down, it becomes a bowl! To clean the base just pour the settled solution into the cover while you wipe out the bowl.
Use the textured area to get your brushes ultra clean! The Brush Butler® is perfect for en plein air and outdoor landscape artists — no sink required!
Recommended Cleaning Solutions
Note that all cleaning solutions can be completely re-used over time.
FOR OIL PAINTS
Artist Linseed Oil – Absolutely – feel free to use artist linseed oil to clean your brushes in Brush Butler. Possibly the most gentle and simplest way to clean your brushes. Since this is a “drying oil”, over long periods of time (many weeks or months) linseed oil will thicken. How fast depends on climate and other factors. Simply change the oil or add to it over time.
Mineral Oil (or odor free baby oil) or “Bristle Magic” can also be used as a cleaning solution in Brush Butler. These are “non-drying” oils so extra care should be taken to thoroughly condition brushes after cleaning. This is to remove these non-drying oils so they don’t mix with your paints.
Odorless mineral spirits work well to dissolve paint and is thin enough so dissolved paint settles to the bottom in a matter of hours. It will self-clarify and be ready to use with clean solution the next time you paint very quickly. Condition your brush right after cleaning so your brush stays soft.
FOR ACRYLIC, WATERCOLORS AND OTHER WATER SOLUBLE PAINTS USE TAP WATER.
You may find the water remains cloudy after cleaning brushes – even after many hours. This is because some of these paints use binders, or pigments, that remain suspended because they are lighter than the water. More frequent water changes may be needed when using tap water. TIP: Be sure to contain the water with dissolved paint and dispose of properly.
RECOMMENDED CONDITIONING SOLUTIONS
• Conditioners sold in art supply stores
• Murphy’s Oil Soap with Water, mixed 50/50
The Brush Butler® travels well for painters on the move!
How to Clean Brush Butler
After you’ve been using the Brush Butler for a while, the dissolved paint will begin to accumulate and it will be time to clean the Brush Butler.
Step 1. Remove the insert from the base.
Step 2. Place the cover upside down and carefully pour the settled solution into the cover bowl.
Step 3. Wipe the sediment out of the base and insert with a rag or paper towel.
Step 4. Pour the solution back into the base.
If you have been avoiding using oil paints because you didn’t want to deal with cleaning your brushes or expose your skin to solvents and paint, you’ll want to use the Brush Butler!
