Cleaning brush hairs off of painting before starting next layer

by John
(MN)

Hey,

I was wondering how you remove the brush hairs between layers without removing paint too?

I tried use a razor blade (to clean brush hairs and dust as mentioned) but I ended up scraping up some paint too.

Is there something I'm doing wrong?

The brush hairs in the painting are very annoying. I didn't have a blade with rounded edges so I used to edge of an X-acto knife, carefully. Please help :)

Thank you!

________________________________________________
Editors note:

Hi John!

If your painting is dry, and you don't have a rounded blade, you can use a beat up scotch bright pad (the green type).

ScotchBrite (TM) has a pad that will not scratch other plastics, (I think it is blue) and if used very carefully, can remove dust and brush hairs (depending on how deeply imbedded the hair may be. My beat up green pad works great.

Sometimes, if I've waited too late for the next coat, the paint film has become very hard and glossy in some area's. When oiled out, the oil still beads up badly even after using an onion to help soften the layer.

I've used the beat up green pad(scuffed up so that it is softer than brand new) to buff off the shiny gloss, dust, and brush hairs with success, and not removing paint.

If a particular hair is difficult, even using the palette knife in a scrapping motion can rid you of this one hair.

The best however, is to catch the hair while the painting is still wet. You can do this without damaging you painted area if you're careful. Taking your smallest brush, and in a pushing motion, allow the hairs of the smallest brush to get under the offending hair, then lift straight up.

I hope this helps!

Did you enjoy, or learn something from this page?  Why not create some good Karma, and pass it on? Facebook like us, Pin the images you love, or Google + and let others feel the warmth!

Care to see more of my work?  Click here to head over to my fine art site at delmusphelps.com

Looking for something?

---

Landscape instruction using the Flemish Method, and other studio practices.
My 2nd E-book on the Flemish Method.

Nolan Clark's website "Paint Basket" has been producing some of the best online art courses anywhere.  A large number of them are for free!  Once you get your appetite for these, you'll be glad to join for more in depth lessons.  Click here for more details.

Gayle's course is another one of those gold nuggets you find when sifting through all the online noise when trying to find a good solid oil painting class.  Read my review of this course, and yes, the course did teach this old dog some new tricks.  Or go directly to their sales page to learn for yourself.   

Below, some of my featured work at Etsy