Cleaning Brushes and Rollers from Latex Paint

[George Bokros]

I don't know if anyone else discovered this but when I clean my rollers and brushes from latex paint with soap and water I use some laundry fabric softener to clean out the soap and make the roller covers soft.

Thought I would share.

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Great tip. Thank you for sharing.

[Chris Padilla]

I usually soak my rollers in water overnight...much easier to clean...then hit it with a little liquid Tide and rinse.

[Bob Turkovich]

Not so sure about this one, George. I know that you if you use towels that have been washed with fabric softener, it will leave a residue on whatever surface you use the towel on (e.g., drying a car or cleaning a window) - particularly microfiber towels. Even a thorough rinsing won't get rid of the softener (you need soap to do that.) I would think the same thing goes for a paint roller - the softener residue will get into the paint.

I may be wrong on this one but I'm not sure I'd chance it.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Fabric softener can also inhibit water absorption, you should use it on your towels. To clean paint rollers I just use a little bit of dish soap and it leaves them nice and clean and soft.

[Myk Rian]

Dawn dish soap. Great for cleaning everything.

[George Bokros]

Not so sure about this one, George. I know that you if you use towels that have been washed with fabric softener, it will leave a residue on whatever surface you use the towel on (e.g., drying a car or cleaning a window) - particularly microfiber towels. Even a thorough rinsing won't get rid of the softener (you need soap to do that.) I would think the same thing goes for a paint roller - the softener residue will get into the paint.

I may be wrong on this one but I'm not sure I'd chance it.

I do not use fabric softener in the towels I use to dry the car because it inhibits the absorbency of the towels. I use dryer sheets to soften those towels.

Before I started using fabric softener on my rollers they always came out stiff like they hadn't been thoroughly cleaned. I'd rinse the hell out of them and they are still stiff which I attribute to soap remaining in the nap of the roller. I have never had issues with the rollers not absorbing paint to transfer to the wall or and color contamination the first few times I load the roller.

Keep in mind that when using fabric softener in the wash there is no rinse after the rinse with the softener. When I use the fabric softener on the rollers I work the fabric softener into the roller cover then rinse well to rinse out the softener.

Bob you point out some things for consideration that I was not considering.

Thanks to all for your input and comments.

[Mel Miller]

I decided a long time ago cleaning paint rollers was a waste of time and money. They never come out like new. I have better things to do with my time.

[Justin Ludwig]

I use high pressure water from the hose. I direct it at the roller so it spins full force and slings the paint off. A couple minutes and bam, clean roller and half dry cause it's slinging water off too.

[Brad Adams]

I do the same as Justin. High pressure water from the hose. I stick it in a five gallon bucket and spin all the paint off. The rollers are just as soft as new when doing it this way.

[Jason Roehl]

I use high pressure water from the hose. I direct it at the roller so it spins full force and slings the paint off. A couple minutes and bam, clean roller and half dry cause it's slinging water off too.

I do this in my utility sink. I have a splitter on the faucet, with a 6' section of hose and a spray nozzle on one of the outlets. Then I'll turn the roller bucket on its side in the sink, hold the roller and frame in the bucket (the roller portion is vertical) to contain the spray, and wash it out. Dry enough to use immediately. Many times I'll do this in the morning after letting it soak overnight. When I do it that way, I also have to pull the roller cover off the frame to rinse out the center of the cover and rinse off the frame, but they do clean up even more quickly after soaking. A little dish soap or ammonia can help, but I wouldn't use fabric softener--sounds like a risk of paint contamination later to me.

Painting is my day job. And sometimes my night job, too...

[George Bokros]

Thanks for the response Jason. Input from a professional painter is valuable. I wish I had someplace I could use a spray. I can do that is the summer but most of my painting is done in the winter. I only have a small utility sink in my basement to use to clean up. I do rinse the roller well after the fabric softener but I am sure there is still some in the roller nap.

From all the negative input on using fabric softener I will stop using it. Maybe I am using too much dish detergent that it is hard to rinse out.

Here is my cleaning procedure:

Wash with running warm water
Dish washing soap and warm water
Rinse
Wash again with dish washing soap
Rinse
Spin roller to remove as much water as I can

Doing this procedure when the roller is dry it feels stiff and I was thinking the issue was that I was not getting all the soap out that was why I tried the fabric softener.

Thanks again to everyone for all the input.

[Phil Thien]

I've never used soap, just water. Does the soap really help that much? I just soak/rinse mine until no more paint is coming out.

I use a lot of the smaller rollers and have a bit of the "frame" I've cut off and I chuck it in a drill and spin them dry.

[Robert Payne]

I use the Justin Ludwig method posted above -- a jet nozzle on a hose with no soap -- gets all the paint out of the nap and then spins the roller on the frame by holding the jet against the periphery of the roller held vertically and working from top to bottom. Roller spins fast enough to sling all the water out. Will work in a utility sink (set tub depth) as well. Works like a charm and clean up is quick!

[Tom M King]

I decided a long time ago cleaning paint rollers was a waste of time and money. They never come out like new. I have better things to do with my time.

Same with me. Rollers just get tossed, and we don't buy cheap ones. The only thing we use rollers for is interior walls if the job is too small or too much trouble to spray, and we always go for the smoothest finish possible, which doesn't get done with a used roller. The best thing for brushes is running hot water, and a small angled bristle stainless steel brush sold in the paint aisle. Brushes get cleaned as soon as they are finished with, and sometimes in the middle of a job if it's more than an hour or two.

[David Ragan]

Dawn is great.

also, some latex/oil artist's brush cleaner I got @ the art supply.

Best thing I found for a brush is a brush comb-really speeds up the process

And, for a roller, an edge, say, a screwdriver run down it really get all the stuff off-like a squeegee.

Like has been said, quality utensils only.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a spinner for cleaning mine also a 5 in 1 tool to first clean the roller.

[Brian Elfert]

I have only used lots of water in the laundry tub to clean latex paint from brushes and rollers. My parents do it this way too. I wasn't aware that one should use soap to clean brushes or rollers.

[Jason Roehl]

The key to a soft roller cover is to get it either 100% clean (difficult without the spray/spin method above), or get it totally dry by spinning once it's fairly clean (no obvious paint, but may still turn water a little cloudy if dunked into clean water).

Here's how you get it dry:

http://www.amazon.com/SHUR-LINE-5200-Professional-Roller-Cleaner/dp/B00004Z4HL/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1429376241&sr=8-3&keywords=roller+spinner

Don't use this on brushes--it splays the bristles. Whip out the brush with a sharp, downward motion next to your body, and don't beat it against your foot, which loosens the ferrule.

Alternatively, you can, like I have done, take one of these apart and chuck the brush-holding portion (fits inside a standard roller cover) in an electric (or cordless) drill:

http://www.amazon.com/Shur-Line-05500C-Extender-Brushes-Extension/dp/B000G0IFEW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429376406&sr=8-2&keywords=brush+extender

For cleaning rollers, you can also use one of the above spinners to hold a roller cover, and spin the cover in a 5-gallon bucket of water, but you'll have to change the water several times.

It also helps to use the half-moon section of a 5-in-1 tool to squeegee out as much paint as possible before you wash the roller cover.

[George Bokros]

I do use the 5 in 1 tool to get the paint out of the roller cover. It is surprising how much paint you squeeze out with it. I amy get me one of those roller spinners.

[Justin Ludwig]

I don't use a roller enough to justify the spinner. I just spin it on the paint roller and set it somewhere to dry. I usually have 2-4 extra rollers around just in case I'm switching from kilz, primer, or color.

George, since you're inside, try this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-sA4iOGoQU

http://smile.amazon.com/Roller-EZ-Kleen-REZKLN-Roller-EZ-Kleen/dp/B00BT0JGO6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429402840&sr=8-1&keywords=roller+ez+kleen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-sA4iOGoQU)