Best paint brush cleaner
Updated: 21 October 2026
You have just finished a wall and the brush is still wet, and a search for the best paint brush cleaner has mixed a cake of soap with white spirit and a decorating bottle. Those are different jobs. Match the liquid to the paint in the tin first, then to the room, and only then to the price. Prices and badges for the six amazon.co.uk listings stored on 19 October 2026 are on the [brush cleaner comparison](/hub/painting-supplies/brush-cleaner). We did not wash brushes in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have just finished a wall and the brush is still wet, and a search for the best paint brush cleaner has mixed a cake of soap with white spirit and a decorating bottle. Those are different jobs.
You have just finished a wall and the brush is still wet, and a search for the best paint brush cleaner has mixed a cake of soap with white spirit and a decorating bottle. Those are different jobs. Match the liquid to the paint in the tin first, then to the room, and only then to the price. Prices and badges for the six amazon.co.uk listings stored on 19 October 2026 are on the brush cleaner comparison. We did not wash brushes in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Paint named | Form | Wet or dried | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  GENERAL'S Masters 2.5 oz brush soap | Oil, acrylic, alkyd, gouache, latex, enamel | Paste | Bullets say wet and dry | 9.1 | about £13.46 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Bartoline Bartoline white spirit | Alkyd paints | Liquid | Hardened brushes not claimed | 8.1 | about £5.89 | View offer |
| Best value |  POLYCELL Polycell 500 ml brush cleaner | Not in the bullets | Liquid | Not in the bullets | 8.6 | about £8.71 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the paint in the tin
Emulsion, acrylic, gouache and watercolour usually leave a brush with water and soap. Alkyd gloss, oil paint, varnish and polyurethane do not. The British Coatings Federation and Which? Trusted Traders split the wash that way: warm soapy water for water-based paint, and white spirit or a specialist for oil-based gloss.
Rustins names oil-based paint, varnish and polyurethane, and says water-based paint does not need this cleaner. X ARTY HUB names acrylic, gouache, watercolour and airbrush, and excludes oil. Masters names wet and dry oil, acrylic, alkyd, gouache, latex and enamel, used with water. Bartoline names alkyd paints as a thinner and a brush cleaner. Polycell’s bullets do not name a paint. The maker’s page does: detergents for most wet paints, including gloss, then a soapy rinse.
Wet paint and a hard brush are different buys
Polycell’s page and the Rustins 2024 label both describe wet paint. The Rustins label sends hard brushes to Rustins Brush Restorer, a different bottle and not one of these six ASINs. X ARTY HUB allows a soak of four to six hours only for slightly dried water-based paint, not paint that has been hard for days. Masters’ bullets say wet and dry, and reviews disagree about neglected brushes. A brush left stiff in a jam jar is a different buy. Use dried paint on a brush.
Soap, liquid or white spirit
Masters and Golden Maple are water-lather soaps, not thinners. Polycell and Rustins are the decorating liquids. Rustins names brushes and foam or sleeve rollers, then a rinse in plain water. Polycell’s page says you work the cleaner in and rinse with soapy water. Only white spirit thins alkyd paint.
Fumes decide the room before the price does. GOV.UK describes white spirit as a flammable petroleum-hydrocarbon mixture, and the UK Health Security Agency notes that explosive vapour and air mixtures may form above 21 °C. The Rustins 2024 label warns of a flammable liquid and serious eye damage. The Health and Safety Executive says prefer water-based products where they will do the job, ventilate, and do not clean your skin with solvent. If the tin says thin with white spirit, that split is white spirit or brush cleaner.
What the prices in this set can and cannot tell you
Shelf prices run from £5.89 for Bartoline to £19.99 for X ARTY HUB. Low-odour artist solvents and Bartoline Clean Spirit are not in this six. A low price does not repair a wrong chemistry, and Bartoline prints both 500 ml and 750 ml. Who each badge is for sits on best brush cleaner. When the paint, the wet-or-hard limit and the room agree, buy one bottle.
Common questions
Can I clean emulsion brushes with white spirit?
You can, in the sense that the solvent will not refuse to touch the brush, but you do not need to. Which? Trusted Traders and the British Coatings Federation both put emulsion in soapy water. Bartoline’s bullets name alkyd paints, not emulsion. Rustins says water-based paint does not need its cleaner. Save the spirit for gloss, varnish or a tin that tells you to thin with it, and keep used spirit out of the sink.
Which of these six is for gloss, and which is for acrylic?
Gloss points at Polycell’s maker page, Rustins for oil-based paint, and Bartoline for alkyd. Acrylic points at Masters, Golden Maple and X ARTY HUB. Masters also names oil and alkyd, used with water, if you do not need a thinner. X ARTY HUB states it is not for oil-based paint. Polycell’s amazon bullets still do not name the paint, so the gloss line is the maker’s page.
Do I need a brush cleaner at all for water-based wall paint?
For ordinary emulsion, soap and water are the method the coatings trade already describes. A specialist bottle is optional, not the first buy. Buy one when you also have acrylic artist brushes, gloss, varnish or polyurethane in the same week, and then buy the product that names that second paint. A 500 ml solvent for a single matt wall is the wrong spend.
Is a 30 g soap enough, or do I need a 500 ml bottle?
A 30 g or 2.5 oz soap is sized for brushes you lather, session after session. A 300 ml or 500 ml liquid is sized for a decorating brush or roller in one room. Miniatures point at Golden Maple or Masters, with four ratings against 2,460. A gloss radiator brush is closer to the 500 ml Polycell bottle.
Can one bottle thin the paint and wash the brush?
Only Bartoline’s listing in this set says it is a thinner and a brush cleaner, and only for alkyd paints. The soaps are not thinners. Rustins emulsifies wet oil-based paint so you can rinse with water, and does not claim to thin the next coat. Polycell’s page is a wash, then soapy water. If the tin says thin with white spirit, that is the bottle, and the file still prints both 500 ml and 750 ml.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures saved for this set on 19 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, White spirit: general information (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- UKHSA, White spirit incident management (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE, Solvents in construction (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Polycell, Brush cleaner (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Rustins, Brush cleaner (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Recycle Now, Paint (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- British Coatings Federation, How to clean paintbrushes (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Which? Trusted Traders, Cleaning paint brushes and rollers (retrieved 19 October 2026)