Sunday 18 January 2015

Face Painting - Hygiene

Hello!

I have another post about face painting for you, and today its all about hygiene. When painting faces you have to make sure you keep your brushes and sponges clean as they will be touching lots of peoples skin during each event and you don't really want to be spreading germs around. So, today I will show you how I wash all of my supplies.




First I rinse all my brushes under running water just to get any excess paint off. Then I soak all of my brushes in hot water from the kettle with a little shampoo or body wash in, this kills any germs and it loosens any dried on paint. I make sure to put my brushes in the container first with the shampoo, then pour the water over them. You don't need a lot of water, just enough to cover the bristles and barrels of the brushes, especially if you have wooden brushes with paint on the handle section, the hot water can peel the paint off and they end up looking grubby and dirty. You can mix the brushes around a bit in the water but its not essential, I always tend to do it on brushes I have used dark colours on though, just to lighten the bristles again.



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While the brushes are soaking in the hot water, I use this time to clean my sponges. You can put them in the washing machine if you like, just make sure they are washed alone(unless it is with any towels you have used), and they are in a bag (like those ones you can buy for washing your delicate's). Also I tend to put a little shampoo on the sponges too before putting them in, I run them under the tap and get the shampoo foaming first. I don't tend to use washing powder or softener as some people are allergic to certain brands and I find its just not worth it. I don't want to be the cause of some kid turning bright red and itchy just because I used a sponge on their face. Just put it on a temperature of 40° or higher.

Another way to clean your sponges is just under warm running water. Squeeze your sponges under the tap to get any excess paint out first, then add a drop of shampoo or body wash and rub into the sponge. You want to get it foaming to get the paint out. Once you have all the shampoo foamed in the sponge, you need to squeeze it under the tap to get ALL of the shampoo out. Don't worry if your sponge still has some colour on it, you will find the face paints stain the sponge. To make sure they are clean I usually press the wet sponge onto a piece of kitchen roll, if the kitchen roll is left clean with no colour on, then the sponge is clean.

To dry your sponges, I squeeze them inside a piece of kitchen roll to get any excess water out, then just leave them sat on some dry kitchen roll and leave them to air dry is best.



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Now I tend to go back to my brushes, I take my brushes out of the hot water and run them under the tap together. Then I take each brush separately and run them under warm running water. I make sure to rub the bristles with my fingers to get any shampoo out and any paint that might still be in there (especially in thicker or larger brushes). Again I use kitchen roll to check they are clean and to get any excess water out.

I reshape my brushes while they are still damp on the kitchen roll. For round brushes, I roll the bristles to create the point of the brush again. And for flat brushes, I drag the brush down the kitchen roll gently. Then I just leave my brushes to air dry on kitchen roll with my sponges. 



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Now a lot of face painter's out there have different ways of cleaning their actual paints and split cakes, but I find the quickest and easiest way is to just wipe them with a baby wipe. It gets any other colours off that have mixed in during the day and it gets any brush marks off so leaves them looking clean and tidy. Just wipe them gently, you don't want to pick any paint up on the wipe, just the messy bits. And if you are cleaning split cakes, make sure you only wipe in one direction as you don't want to mix the colours. 


Always remember, you will get more customers if your supplies look clean and tidy! :)


Stay Inspired
Amy
xxx

1 comment:

  1. Great information. I always like to read what other face painters do in case I can do it better. You have given me ideas, thank you.
    I'd like to share an idea with you, in turn. My mother was an artist and she taught me that often when cleaning brushes, the scrubbing process can bend and separate the bristles and they can also dry wonky! LOL So keeping with the idea you mentioned about taking out the excess water out of the clean brushes, but before you do, swipe the flat brushes and twirl the round and liner brushes to a point on a clean soap bar or drop of baby shampoo between fingers. Then when the brush dries, it stiffens in the right shape. The soap easily rinses in water when you are ready to use it. This maintains the shape and life of the brush. Nothing is worse than trying to paint with a few hair/bristles sticking out, messing up your stroke, right?!
    A couple additional notes, I like using a soap bar dedicated to cleaning my brushes to avoid cross contamination. The other thing I wanted to share is that baby shampoo is a great shampoo option because it suds well and is very gentle on brushes and on skin and you don't have to worry about reactions, nor do you need to use very much. (Side note: did you know you can rub baby shampoo right in your eyes and lashes without irritation? Doing so helps remove allergens causing those seasonal red itchy eyes. That is advice from my Ophthalmologist.)

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