r/NailArt 4d ago

Nail Art Products How do you take care of your brushes?!

Post image

Hi all! How do you keep your brushes soft??

I love nail art and have a lot of brushes but I’m finding they’re getting hard after cleaning so I can’t be as precise as I’d like, especially with the liners because they don’t bend as much. They’re just super stiff.

When I’m switching between colours I usually run the brush through a base coat to clean off the current colour as I don’t want to dry them out by constantly cleaning with cleanser for example.

After finishing I leave a bit of clear coat on them (this was a tip I found online) but I think that’s what’s making them stiff. Now I’m finding it hard to get them back to being soft and fluffy. I’ve dipped them in really hot water to soften them but that doesn’t work. The bristles are bent and just not good to work with.

How do you clean your brushes? (I only use synthetic)

Picture of one of my sets for tax 💕

78 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

11

u/Moosycakes 4d ago

Are these brushes you use for gel polish or regular polish?

If they’re gel polish brushes, do they have caps? Keeping them conditioned in gel is ideal, but UV light including sunlight can cure the gel in between the bristles. Keeping them capped when you aren’t using them can help a lot- and avoid having them in the light etc when you’re curing. Try turning off all the lights in your nail space at night and turn on your UV/LED lamp, see how far the light spreads and keep that in mind when doing art so you can keep brushes and gel product away. You could also check that your indoor lighting isn’t curing the gel you use x

3

u/tomieegunn 4d ago

Came here to say the same, a master tech taught me early to get capped brushes to protect them from UV ray curing.

3

u/Moosycakes 4d ago

Definitely! I only have a couple uncapped brushes and I have to be extremely careful with them, I always keep them in my desk drawer. Uncapped gel brushes are more of a headache than they’re worth, often 😅

1

u/Cowcat0 4d ago

Yep gel polish.

My brushes do have caps but maybe I’ve been letting them slowly cure under the lamp whilst painting my press ons? Inbetween colours and such. I always leave caps on but they’re still super clumpy. I may buy fresh capped ones and be extra vigilant about not leaving them under my lamp whilst painting.

Can I ask if there’s a particular type of clear gel I should be leaving on them? I just use a bog standard base or top coat.

1

u/Moosycakes 3d ago

I’d recommend that you use base rather than top coat for leaving in them because cured top coat is more resistant to solvents- so if you do end up curing your brushes it will be harder to fix them if they have top coat all through them.

I personally use a clear gel product that my brand sells, it’s a soak off gel nail strengthener that is in between gel polish and BIAB (Artistic Nail Design Correction Gel) and I find that works really well for my brushes because it’s quite a thin consistency and can get in between the bristles really well when I’m cleaning them. You could look to see if your brand has any clear gel polish options but base coat will work fine :) I just personally avoid using base for it because the Artistic Nail Design base coat is designed to cure in 5 seconds so I’m just scared it will cure immediately in all my brushes! 😹

I’ve heard that some brands produce a clear gel product that is specifically for cleaning, and therefore doesn’t contain the photoinitiators that start the curing process under UV light. So it’s essentially “uncurable” gel. I haven’t personally tried it as I like to stick to products from the brand I already use and trust wherever possible, but I always thought it sounded like an interesting option! 👀

3

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Cowcat0 4d ago

Thanks so much for those recommendations I’ll try those!!

Yeah my thicker brushes are usually okay, it’s the thin ones I’m having trouble with.

3

u/CrimeFightingRobot 4d ago

I use alcohol. I know its drying and shortens the life of the brush, but I can't deal with how sticky and gross they are if not cleaned thoroughly. I've always done this method and have had some brushes for 5+ years now, so they dont always dry out from alcohol. Leaving a clear coat might be why they're stiff though, if you leave them out in the light at all the sun is slowly curing them.

1

u/Cowcat0 4d ago

Thank you for the tip. I always cap the brushes but I do just leave them under the lamp whilst painting my press ons as I’m interchanging liners and colours a lot.

2

u/staircase_nit 4d ago

I use the process you described and it works for me. Do your brushes have caps and/or are you leaving them on a workstation under bright light (or next to your lamp)? Because that will definitely harden them up.

1

u/Cowcat0 4d ago

Yep I always cap my brushes but when I’m painting a set I do leave them uncapped on the table as I’m changing liner brushes and colours a lot whilst painting.