What is the best alternative to white spirit for cleaning brushes?

Author: Mandy Cartwright  |  Last update: Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Other great alternatives to White Spirit include Clear Spirit, a popular water-based alternative that can help clean paint spills and clean brushes.

What can I use instead of white spirit to clean brushes?

What can I use instead of white spirit to clean brushes? Use a brush cleaner for oil-based brushes, or Pretty Boy Cleaner for water-based brushes. You'll find these agents better than white spirit.

What is a safe alternative to white spirit?

Auro 191 Natural Thinner is an eco friendly, breathable, and non toxic citrus oil thinner, and is the perfect 100% natural and organic alternative to white spirit.

What is the best solvent to clean paint brushes?

The best solvent for cleaning oil paints from brushes and palettes is mineral spirits or odorless mineral spirits. These solvents effectively dissolve oil paints and are commonly used by artists for cleaning purposes. Here are a few options you can consider:

How do you clean paint brushes without spirits?

You do not need solvents or mineral spirits to clean your brushes. You can rinse a brush in a container with linseed oil until all the pigment is removed and then just using soap and water at the sink to clean your brush. this is much less harmful to the brush.

How to Clean Oil Paint Brushes - with ALL White Spirit Recycled!

Can I use vinegar instead of white spirit?

Can I Use Vinegar Instead of White Spirit? Vinegar can be used as an alternative for less intensive cleaning tasks like removing water-based stains, descaling, and general household cleaning, but it's not effective as a paint thinner or for heavy-duty degreasing like White Spirit.

Can I use Dawn to clean my paint brushes?

Yes, you can use regular soap to clean your brushes. Mild soaps like dish soap or gentle hand soap work well for removing dirt and residue from brushes.

What is a solvent often used to clean paint brushes?

White Spirit:

White Spirit is used for brush cleaning and thinning a wide range of oil/solvent based paints, varnishes and wood finishing products.

Does vinegar clean paint brushes?

Cleaning Paint-Hardened Brushes

Soak the brush with hardened paint in vinegar for an hour. If the bristles don't bend, soak for an additional hour. If it needs more loosening after two hours, submerge the head of the brush in vinegar in a pot, place the pot on a stove and bring to a boil.

What is the environmentally friendly paint brush cleaner?

Lascaux brush cleaner is an environmentally friendly solvent-free water-based cleaner suitable for acrylic and gouache paints. Lascaux Brush Cleaner is suitable for cleaning paint brushes and other tools, painting and spraying utensils as well as grease removal.

What is the same as white spirit?

Overview. White spirit is a flammable, clear, colourless liquid. It is a mixture of chemicals known as petroleum hydrocarbons. Other common names for white spirit are Stoddard solvent, turpentine substitute, mineral spirit and paint thinner.

What is a natural alternative to turpentine?

The Chelsea Classical Studio Lavender Spike Oil Essence is a low-toxic medium that has been used since the Renaissance. It performs similarly to turpentine but is slightly oily to use. This product also has a strong lavender scent, which is up to preference. I find it very pleasant and not headache-inducing.

What is a good substitute for white spirits?

White spirit alternative

As you may guess now that you're an expert in paint thinners, you can use white spirit, turpentine and methylated spirit pretty much interchangeably. All of them are alternatives to each other.

Can you use hydrogen peroxide to clean brushes?

To sanitize your metal beauty tools on a regular basis, it's recommended that you first wash them with hand soap and warm water. After that, you can dip them in either rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide for a deeper clean.

What spirit for cleaning paint brushes?

Pour a small amount of white spirit into a jar and work the brush against the sides to get it into the base of the bristles. Repeat this process until the bristles run clean in water. Rinse the brush under the tap and dry with a clean cloth. Do not pour the leftover white spirit down the sink.

How do you clean paint brushes without white spirit?

how to clean water-based paints off brushes without white spirit
  1. step 1: remove excess paint. Whatever type of paint you are using, cleaning your paint brushes will begin with removing as much of the paint in the bristles as possible. ...
  2. step 2: rinse with water. ...
  3. step 3: shake & spin. ...
  4. step 4: store safe & sound.

What is the best cleaner for paint brushes?

Dish soap + warm water – This method was pretty comparable to the Murphy's oil soap, and the suds and water cleaned up the brush beautifully. You could see very little green on the bristles by the time I was done cleaning. Easy, simple, effective.

What liquid is used to clean brushes?

Use mineral spirits or paint thinner to remove oil based paints. Use denatured alcohol for shellacs. Use mineral spirits for varnishes. Use water if your are removing a water based glue.

Is it okay to rinse paint brushes in the sink?

Can you wash paint brushes in the sink? We wouldn't advise it. Between potentially clogging your plumbing system, exposing yourself to heavy fumes, and pouring flammable liquid down the drain, cleaning your brushes in the sink can be problematic. Instead, fill a clean, small container with the solvent.

What do artists use to clean paint brushes?

There are several things you can use to rinse your oil brushes:
  • A brush cleaner like Bristle Magic or Turpenoid.
  • An oil painting solvent such as turpentine or mineral spirits. ...
  • A drying oil like linseed oil or safflower oil. ...
  • A non-drying oil such as vegetable oil.

Is rubbing alcohol good for cleaning paint brushes?

RUBBING ALCOHOL: You can use rubbing alcohol to remove dried on acrylic paint. However, this can dry out the brush hairs and you'll need to finish the cleaning job with the bar of moisturizing soap as mentioned above.

Does baking soda clean paint brushes?

Paint Brushes: To restore brushes stiffened and hardened by paint, simply boil them in a solution of ½ gallon of water mixed with ¼ cup vinegar and 1 cup of baking soda.

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