Thursday January 15, 2026

Murphy’s Law of Restoring Brushes

Most people have heard of Murphy’s Law: Anything the can go wrong will go wrong.

For painters, it usually goes something like this:

Anytime you think you washed all the paint from your brush, that brush will be stiff and unusable the next time you need it.

We’ve all been there (I say, reassuring myself). You’re tired after an acrylic painting session, and the last thing you want to do is spend time at the sink massaging brushes with soap and water to get everything out. Sometimes I just give the brushes a vigorous *swish swish* in a clean cup of water, wipe them on the towel, and flop into bed only to come back the next day to a crusty brushes.

Oil painters also know the struggle of maintaining pliable, soft bristles on their brushes. Even if cleaning with soap and water isn’t necessary after every painting session (storing in a little bit of walnut oil with plastic wrap will do the trick), we’ve all had the sinking feeling of leaving a brush alone for too long after we didn’t get all the Liquin and paint off. It’s the worst… and sad considering the cost of good brushes.

Several months ago, I had about ten severely neglected oil painting brushes that had one more chance on life before they’d end up in the trashcan. The bristles on these were fused into one hard mass.

I’d tried the recommended route I had learned in art school: let the brushes soak in Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits) and then wash with Dawn dish soap and cold water. This didn’t work for me. Not like it kind of softened the bristles. I pulled them out a few days later, and the bristles were the same as they were before. I think the Gamsol solution would have worked if they weren’t so far gone.

Several painters online were recommending Murphy’s Oil Soap for bringing dead brushes back to life. I was bracing myself for disappointment after the traditional oil painting materials failed.

But it works VERY WELL! I tell you—it works! Hallelujah!!! I want to shout it from the mountaintops!!!

Murphy’s (New) Law of Restoring Brushes: Any brush that you think is dead, isn’t dead; it just needs soaked in Murphy’s Oil Soap!

Tips:

Make sure the entire hairs/bristles are submerged in the soap.

For brushes that are really far-gone, don’t dilute the soap. I’ve found that if you want to add a little cold water (less than 50%), it will still be effective for soaking brushes that aren’t on their last legs.

It’s a good idea to keep brushes propped at an angle so the bristles aren’t crashing into the bottom of the container and potentially bending them out of form.

For brushes that are really bad, leave them in the soap for 24 hours, and check on them. If they need more time, keep checking on them every day until they’re soft. For brushes that aren’t in as bad of shape, you can leave them for 6-8 hours.

After removing them from the soap solution, mix them with gentle soap and water.