Good brushes rarely wear out. They get clogged. Paint creeps up the bristles towards the ferrule, a little stays behind after every rinse, and a few weeks later the point that used to snap back starts to split. Water alone will not shift it; a proper wash at the end of the session will. This 100 g solid soap lifts water-based paint out of the bristles, leaves them conditioned rather than stripped, and helps the tip dry back to its shape. We sell kolinsky sable every day, our own series included, and this is the soap we wanted to put next to them.
Cleans right through. Lifts water-based acrylics, washes, inks, watercolour and gouache from belly to tip, including what a water rinse leaves behind.
Conditions rather than strips. A near-neutral formula with glycerin leaves a light conditioning film, so natural and synthetic hair stays supple, not brittle.
Reshapes the point. Shape the tip with a thin film of lather and let it dry. It holds the point until you rinse it out before painting.
A cleaning pad in the lid. Turn the lid over for a textured silicone pad. Its soft ridges part the bristles so the lather reaches paint held in the middle of the brush, and the colour shows on the white pad.
A wide 100 g tin. Wide enough for drybrushes and flats, not only detail brushes. You use very little per wash, so it lasts.
Ingredients printed on the box. Every ingredient is listed on the box and on this page, along with what the soap will not do.
How to use
Wipe off excess paint, then wet the bristles with warm, not hot, water.
Swirl gently on the soap until it lathers, pulling the brush backwards; never push the tip straight down into the cake.
Set the lid pad-up beside the tin and work the lathered brush over it, lightly for detail brushes, firmer for drybrushes. Repeat until the lather runs clear.
Rinse clean, reshape the tip with your fingers and lay the brush flat to dry.
Good to know
Water-based paints come out with the soap alone. Oils, enamels and lacquers need their own thinner first; the soap then washes out the residue and reconditions the hair. It will not dissolve fully cured paint: acrylic that has dried hard, above all inside the ferrule, is a plastic film no soap removes. Soften it with a dedicated brush restorer first.
Brushes shown in the photos are for illustration and are not included.
