Is there a way to make a paint brush soft again?

[Phoenix15]

Doing some painting around the house today. I have several brushes, but they seem to have gotten pretty stiff. These are good quality brushes, so I hate to throw them away. Is there a chemical or a trick to making these soft and loose again?

 

[NiKeFiDO]

water? you wash them after every use right? or leave them in paint wrapped in plastic if you didnt wash them?

if they are hard with paint, use a metal brush (yep, a metal brush) under HOT water to get paint out, then continue to hand wash when it softens up some.

i should mention that you should scrape the metal brush in the direction of the hairs, not ACROSS them

 

[Malfeas]

Pee on it.

 

[sniperruff]

maybe soak them in water for a bit?

 

[JRock]

mineral spirits? gas? alcohol?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Soaking in water won't do much for ya really. Soak it in either mineral spirits or JP5, and it will come out damn near brand new. (Actually, if you want it brand new, soak it, then wash out the container, get fresh JP5 / spirits, and then soak it again.)
Tas.

 

[Murphy Durphy]

Water works, just use HOT water.

Every few days I put my toothbush under the sink in hot water for a good 30 seconds and it comes out brand new. Paintbrushes work the same way.

 

[DaTT]

Put it in your bum-bum.

 

[Mrvile]

Soak it in hot water to get it softer, but after you screw up once and leave paint on it, you can never get it back to the baby bottom soft you felt when you walked out of the store with it.

 

[WiseOne]

soak in paint thinner?

 

[PawNtheSandman]

If it was a latex based paint soak it in a orange based solvant that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes for like $4.

If it was an oil based paint, soak it in mineral spirits or paint thinner.

 

[Howard]

An ounce of prevention...

Good paint brushes are a powerful asset. :|

 

[Snapster]

You'll never get them truly soft again, but you can get it usable again with spirits.