I admit I'm a bit of a slob. It's hard to be neat and tidy working with oil paints outside. I was feeling pretty bad about the dry paint on my pricey Soltek easel and tried to find a way to clean it. After all, owning a Soltek is an investment which I hope will last my entire lifetime. I tried paint stripper, the orange stuff that smells like oranges, and it works, but I tested it on an edge of the black area of my easel and it takes off that finish also. Paint stripper will also clean paintbrushes with dry oil paint, but will leave the bristles dry.
I did some searching on the internet and it was suggested to try acetone, nail polish remover. Viola! It works like a charm. It cleaned up the paint without removing the black finish. It also removed a thin layer of paint on my gray palette without eating the plastic. I accidently left a couple of my Rosemary ivory brushes inside my box and the acetone cleaned them up also.
I thought I would pass this along to anyone wondering how to best clean your gear. I realize I need to take better care of my equipment and materials after each session, but a bottle of nail polish remover is a good save. Just be sure to use this outdoors. By the way, using an absorbent cotton cloth, cotton ball, one of those orange shammies...helps make the acetone go farther than using paper towels.
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