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How to Clean Wax Brushes with Ease

We’re sharing how to clean wax brushes with ease today!

If you’re a DIYer and have had the pleasure of working with paints and wax, you already know the kind of impact they can make in projects no matter how big or small.

The power of paint and wax continues to amaze me even after all these years!

While I’m perfectly content using a lint-free cloth or even an old tee shirt to apply wax, there’s just something special about the way a wax brush gets into all the nooks and crannies to really help a piece come to life.

In the beginning, I had no idea how to clean wax brushes. Until one day, I found myself totally out of mineral spirits and a long way from town.

Undeterred, I discovered an alternative that worked out so well it’s a method I continue to use to this day and you can too!

Here’s a look at how to clean wax brushes with ease…

Every time I get finished doing a DIY European Oak weathering technique, my brush almost always looks like this.

How to Easily Clean Brushes Using Oil and Soap-The Crowned Goat

To clean the brush, you can either pour canola oil directly over the brush bristles or you can dip the bristles into a bowl filled with a small amount of oil.

Work the oil into the bristles where the wax has been. It gets kind of messy so you may want to use gloves for this part.

Then add liquid dishwashing soap.

I used Gain because we had it on hand. Dawn would also work though since they’re known for their grease-cutting soaps.

How to Easily Clean Brushes With Soap and Oil-The Crowned Goat

Again, work the dishwashing soap into the bristles. As you massage the soap bristles you should see the brush getting cleaner.

Clean and rinse the brush well under hot water. As always, use caution and care when using hot water.

Another thing to keep in mind is you don’t want to clean your brush using the kitchen sink as the oil and wax deposits could cause plumbing issues.

We clean our wax brushes outside.

Once your brush has been well cleaned, be sure to let the bristles dry completely so you’ll be ready for another project!

As we shared yesterday, this is such a great time of year to start working on those projects you’ve been putting off. It doesn’t have to be perfect or anything big, even small projects can have an impact and we hope these cleaning tips have helped!

Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Other Projects to Try…

Many blessings,

CoCo

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16 Comments

    1. Thanks so much ladies! I was totally shocked the oil worked out as well as it did so I knew I had to pass it along. Big hugs, CoCo

  1. Thank god I found you! Same thing happened to me. Did what u said and worked like a charm. Thankyou so much!

    1. That is so awesome, Cindy! So glad this idea worked for you. It has saved me so many times too! Hope your day is a fun one, CoCo

  2. Did you use canola oil specifically or because it is what you had? In other words – will any cooking oil do?
    Thanks

    1. Great question, Sheila! We’ve only tried this with canola oil so far. Our olive oil usually comes from a specialty shop so we only use it for cooking. That said, it would be interesting to try other oils to see if this technique works as well as the canola oil does.

  3. Great tip, CoCo. I love being able to use things that I already have on hand. xo Laura

    1. It makes such a huge difference, Laura! I’ve been trying to declutter and use up things like crazy lately. It’s wild how long we can hold on to things! Hope your day has been blessed, CoCo

  4. Great tips! Have always used a rag for wax so this was new for me!

    1. I used to use a rag all the time too, Kathy! Then I started working on pieces that had a bit more detail and scrollwork so I had to find a way to get into all the nooks and crannies. While I still use a rag for my bigger pieces, using a brush for the smaller pieces is such a time saver. Hope you’ve been able to create lots of new things this season. Springtime is always such a fun time to freshen everything up! Hugs, CoCo

  5. What a great tip for cleaning wax brushes! I will try this the next time I use mine! Thank you for sharing!

    1. You are so welcome, Kim! It definitely makes cleaning them so much easier. Hope your Spring season has been a fun one so far, CoCo

  6. So awesome. I will be doing this from now on. Why haven’t I ever thought of this?

    I’m so happy you did my friend!

    Pinned!

    1. It definitely makes things a lot easier, Cindy! I swear I was scrubbing like crazy before trying to get all the wax bits out of the brush. This definitely makes it easier. Big hugs and thank you for pinning, CoCo

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