Cleaning Brushes

[tearinghair]

It's a very long time since I did any home decorating, and I've forgotten everything I used to know. Should a brush that's been used for emulsion paint be cleaned with white spirit, or is water sufficient?

[albaqwerty]

I think gloss paint needs white spirit but emulsion is water.
( I make a hash of painting so leave that to others!)

[mikey4444]

Water is fine, although some fairy liquid will help.

[Tilly2]

When we last had decorators in, they simply wrapped all their brushes in cling film at the end of the day and unwrapped them the following day. Not once did they make a mess of my sink by washing out their brushes.

[TWR]

Just warm water.

[donny48]

A lot of modern gloss paint can be cleaned with water.
If just for overnight then, in a similar vein to Tillys decorators, I pop them in small freezer bag. Just enough to cover the bristles.

[Old_Geezer]

If in doubt, read the tin.
I'd use water for emulsion.

[tearinghair]

Many thanks, everyone. I'm not sure that I can read the tin, Old_Geezer, as it's very old and the paint has run over the writing; which makes me think it may not be much use anyway, but it's what's left of the original used so I'd like to keep to it if possible. Not sure if the same colour is available still.