I'm a very novice painter, so bear with me

I've been using army painter brushes and they've been doing their job really well, and I'm super happy with how my armies are turning out. However, I have noticed that the brushes are slowly fraying, which is definitely not good.

I think I went a little heavy on the paint in my first couple days of painting, which could be one problem. I think the fine tip is too frayed to use at this point, but the medium brush is still working okay. I have noticed one hair on it is separating though. I try and clean the brushes off with water very often while painting, and I have been carefully cleaning them with dish soap after every painting session, so I'm not totally sure what to do to maintain them. I might have to get a new brush or two soon, which is obviously way too quick.

I'd really appreciate any advice for keeping my painting stuff intact.

This is going to sound insane: use Windex instead of water to clean your brushes while painting (if using acrylics).

My setup for my Legion painting (and Armada and X-Wing) employs the use of one primary rinse container of Windex to wet and dab (on paper towel, backwards dragging motion with the brush handle elevation <10 degrees of parallel to the paper towel - never snub the end into the paper towel), a secondary rinse container of (cleaner) Windex to wet and dab in the same fashion, and a final rinse container of 20% ethanol/volume (yes, that's essentially Vodka... isopropanol or methanol will also work well). In this way I have been able to preserve and use the same 18/0 sized brush for 1.5 years. It is finally starting to curl at the end and has served me well across all three games (and my Fallout: The Board Game minis).

If you're encountering build-up issues a stronger chemical solvent may be used (Methyl Ethyl Ketone [MEK], Acetone, or Chloroform* [you may not be able to get your hands on this one...]) but be absolutely certain what your brush hairs are made out of before using any of these. If you have synthetic bristles you may come back and find that you no longer have a paint brush, just a stick... Honestly solvent recommendation is 100% based on what your bristles are made out of, if you're not certain don't try it - stick to alcohols.

*Chloroform, despite it's other nefarious uses, is a fantastic organic solvent for some paint types/pigments. Fear not! For I am a chemist, not a lunatic...

Have you seen this product before?

The Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver

Find some videos online to see how it's used. I've been able to bring a brush or two back from the brink.

Also, be mindful of how you store your brushes. In my experience, my preferred method is keeping them brush down in a dry jar is best ONLY if you have those little tubes that cover the brushes on them. Otherwise, you'll misshape the hairs. Storing them brushes up can make is so the water and any paint remnants are drawn down into the ferrule (the metal sleeve) which you don't want. Never load your brush with paint all the way to the ferrule!

Otherwise, storing them flat should be the simplest solution for most folks.

4 minutes ago, Force Majeure said:

Have you seen this product before?

The Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver

I need not this wizardry! I have Windex and Vodka!!!

@Force Majeure makes two very good additional points: never load the brush all the way to the ferrule and store your brushes flat, neither tip up nor tip down (unless you have the protective cover). I dab my brushes into alcohol and store them on a sheet of aluminium foil. If you do accidently load the brush to the ferrule I recommend immediately cleaning the brush off - before damage can be done.

56 minutes ago, ZealuxMyr said:

I need not this wizardry! I have Windex and Vodka!!!

While windex is going to get the paint out it's not kind to the bristles, which are hair.

And hair needs conditioner.

As for vodka that's to be used WHILE painting. Not as a cleaner.

Windex:

• 4.0% isopropyl alcohol
• 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether
• 0.1% sodium lauryl sulfate
• 0.01% free & ionic calcium
• U% tetrasodium pyrophosphate
• 1.4% ammonia
• 0.05% colorant (blue dye)
• 0.0005% fragrance

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is a surfactant (a "soap" - forms micelles that bind non-polar compounds [like organic pigments] in semi-ionic groupings to allow for polar solubility of an otherwise non-polar chemical composition...make oil go in water) and is found in everything from your shampoo to Windex. Tetrasodium pyrophosphate is a chemical buffer (controls the pH of the solution) and emulsifier (also forms micelles) that is also found in everything from chicken nuggets to Draino (I jest not). The isopropyl alcohol (aka isopropanol) is doing most of the heavy lifting with a solid helping hand from the sodium lauryl sulfate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate.

In short Windex is entirely usable (though I am not expressly recommending this) as a shampoo/soap. There are no constituents within the chemical composition of Windex that would adversely effect the polypeptide composition of the keratin that hair is made of (~80% composition). Deamination, the removal of amino groups (NH2) from the polypeptide is what breaks down and damages natural hair, there are no functional groups present within Windex that would cause deamination - thus exceedingly safe for your hair brushes. Furthermore, long-contact time (soaking) will provide the conditions necessary to replace any deaminated chains with new amino groups from the ammonia in the Windex. There is a very low reactivity to this equilibrium and I would not rely on it to "fix" a broken brush, but it will - in the long term - marginally extend the life of your brush.

Most importantly: commonly available brushes are made from taklon which is a polyester derivative and entirely synthetic. So, unless you're specifically purchasing real hair brushes then you're not even getting "hair" anyway. In which case surfactants and semipolar/polar solvents are really the best way to go for both cleaning and long-term care of your brush. It's the taklon brushes you have to be careful of when using organic solvents like MEK, Acetone, and/or Chloroform - they will not degrade rapidly but will be damaged over time and especially if provided with a long-contact time (soaking).