If you are ANY OF THE ABOVE -- or know one -- check this out!! My most wonderful Pilates instructor is Ricki Bunkin whose husband David Bunkin is a way too fabulous artist. One totally blizzardy evening, David invited me to his studio to see how he was using DayBreak's Dirty Hands to renew, revive and refresh his very best brushes. Clean his palettes. Wipe off his paint-spattered work surface. Even clean the rusted barrel of antique muzzle-loader. One bar of soap ... all-purpose biodegradable cleaner, easy as ABC!!
It's pure, old-fashioned lye soap! With a spicey secret!!
So here's what IS NOT IN DayBreak's AABC -
Artist's All-Purpose Biodegradable Soap & Cleaner !
• Earth-friendly and totally pollutant-free!
• No Solvents
• Turpentine! Terpenes-free
• No Mineral spirits
• Acetone-free
• No petroleum distillates
• No paint thinner
• It's biodegradable, non-toxic, and it smells great!
• This environmentally friendly soap safely removes "you name it".
• It's one kind of clean for all kinds of dirty!!
And here is what IS IN AABC - Artists' All-purpose Biodegradable Cleanser
• Canola Oil
• Babbasu Palm Oil
• Essential Oil of Clove Bud
• Essential of Cinnamon
That's it!! Simple. Pure. Green. Strong. And it's the spice oils - we think - that are the magic in the mix.
AND HERE'S WHAT AABC IS GREAT FOR
IN THE ARTISTS' STUDIO ...
• Great for oils, acrylics, vinyls, water colors and calligraphic inks.
• Perfect for natural hair, synthetic filament or synthetic brushes
• Brush Cleaner
• Brush Restorer -watch beloved 20 year-old goners come back to paint another day!!
• Brush Preserver
• Palette Cleaner
• Artist's Hand Soap
• Odor-free
• Fume-free, Vapor-free
• Gets dried paints from work surfaces.
KITCHEN ... grease-cutter extraordinaire. Replaces ...
• Liquid Detergents for dishes
• Spray Cleaners (make your own liquid like David does.)
• Scouring powder
• Granite cleaner
• Stainless steel cleaner
CRAFTROOM & CLASSROOM ...
• Cuts through glues.
• Super-safe for use with kids and in the classroom
LAUNDRY ... Is also great as a laundry
• Pre-spotter to remove grease from clothing.
• Shred and use for heavy-duty laundry soap
DARKROOM ...
• Use good-old fashioned photographers use it to remove the lingering smell of fixer and developer from their hands.
• Clean counters.
• Clean trays.
GARDEN BENCH ... definite dirt-buster!!
My mother was a wonderful artist - oils, pastels and water color, later acrylics too -- and she always said "I never clean my good brushes with anything that I would not be willing to use on my own hair! I wouldn't use liquid dishwashing detergent or paint thinner to wash your hair. So, neither should these be used on my expensive brushes. They'll last decades if properly cared for."
A true soap -- such as Artists' All-Purpose Biodegradable Cleaner - functions like shampoos by emulsifying dirt and good while doing far less damage to Mother Nature than chemical detergents. For a short time, Mom used her own shampoo and conditioner on her brushes. Bad idea!! The synthetic detergents and conditioners caused her brushes to wimp out ... they lost their natural properties and had to be tossed!!
P. S. Did you know that after a brush has been cleaned it should be reshaped and allowed to air dry thoroughly before being stored?
The best way to allow a brush to dry, particularly a large brush, is to hang it with the tip down. This will help prevent moisture from being trapped in the ferrule, which could cause the brush to rot.
How to use AABC? David chunks his soap into squares that will fit inside a jar. He covers the soap with water and lets stand until its really soft. Et voila! He sticks his brushes in, waits overnight or longer if they are hardened cases, et voila! Happy brushes.
I learned that our soap was helping David run an Earth-friendly art studio because his septic tank is happier and he's not putting any turpentine or other yucky chemical stuff below into his water supply or run off.
David's method is to cut up the soap in a chunk that fits in a small jar which he fills with water. After the soap is soft, simply stick the brushes into the liquid and leave them overnight. Et voila! In the morning, soft, pliable, shiny brushes. You'll revive brushes that have been out of service for years, caked with dried I don't know what. And they will be soft, pliant and ready to go!!
... So I went home to kick Dirty Hands up a notch by creating Artist's All-Purpose Biodegradable Cleaner Soap Bar especially for David and all artists everywhere who see running a green studio as part of their art!
