Craft Hack: How to Clean Stencils 

Hi Karen, I’m a new subscriber from UK. I confess; I used a brand new stencil a month ago to put a mandala design on a previous pour which was dried & cured. But, in my ignorance, I left the stencil on the canvas for about 4 hours before peeling it off. The result on the canvas was great - & I simply didn’t think of wiping the stencil off at the time. I used thick gel gloss paste & gold paint. The stencil was thick with the product & I thought it would just peel off! (Wrong!) anyway, thank you for your video which has been a life changer! I mixed in a bowl a large slosh of Murphys Oil soap & Fairy liquid (equivalent of Dawn dish soap) & a little squirt of isopropyl alcohol. I put the stencil in the bottom of a swing bin liner (plastic bag) & put this into my huge Belfast sink in my utility area & poured the mixture over it. I closed the bag over it - gave it a swoosh & only went to look again about 4 hours later. The muck was just coming off with a stroke of my finger! No scrubbing or any hard work at all! So I wanted to drop by to express my sincere thanks - blessing honey! xx

thanks for this video. I tried the Murphy's and dish soap starting a couple of months ago, after seeing this video, and it really has helped. It even saved a couple of brushes that I had accidently left covered in gesso. Thought I was just going to throw out those brushes, but with some soaking and working it through the bristles I got my brushes back. TFS

I love using Murphy oil soap too and sunlight soap but never thought to mix them together ❤❤❤ thanks for this

I used this cleaner on my kitchen counters where I had crafted and it made them look amazing so I tried on my cabinets and the same thing! Love this and it smells good!

If I think of it ahead of time, I bring a tub of water with some Murphy’s oil soap into my art room and throw the stencils in there to soak as soon as I’ve used them. The paint just floats off and I’ll have to do is take it to the tub and rinse them off. If I don’t do that, then I clean them in the bathtub with Murphy’s oil soap, but I will try adding the detergent also. It helps to have the flat surface of the bathtub to stick your stencil to as you’re cleaning it. I also find a very soft Nail brush works well on the delicate stencils. The best kind is what doctors use before they scrub into surgery, but those are hard to find.

Murphys is a nice product. One thing...I have read professional artists say to never place brushes in a jar because it will damage the tips. They suggest placing in a container you can let them lay flat.

Great idea - will give it a try. Generally I try to clean my stencils right away because I'm actually trying to do art out of my rented room. I expect this will make it easier. Thanks again.

Hi Karen I am new to your channel. Wow, this is so cool I can’t wait to try it. Thank you so much for sharing.

Fantastic tip! I use the Murphy's Oil Soap but didn't know to put in the dish liquid. Thanks for the tip.

I just made my own contact caution with a mixture of some stain remover and prewash from whole foods, all purpose cleaner from Whole Foods, the brand was 365, and a bit of citrasolv and hot water and it worked beautifully!!!I think it’s the idea of some soap And a cleanser and some hot water! Thanks for the inspiration

Great tip! Camera angle very weird, felt like I was falling downhill.

WOW!!! That's AMAZING!!!

Do you think that you could skip the scrubbing if you just soaked the stencils in a tray?

That is great but with acrylic paints, as long as my stencil openings aren't obstructed at all I just leave the paint on there because it just seems to make it a little thicker, stiffer, so it's fine with me. Just have to make sure it's on there well enough that it wont come off with other paints when you are gelli printing or whatever you may be doing. Absolutely love the idea for cleaning your paint brushes.

WOW. That works like magic!!!!

Great job.. very helpful

I am using a stencil to paint my daughter’s bedroom wall. It’s a rose print with lots of thin sections. I’ve had to use spray adhesive to keep it on the wall. Is there anything you’d suggest using to remove the adhesive?

With stencils that are more detailed, would you soak them a little bit longer to loosen the paint?

I recently started using the gel plate, but cleaning the intricate stencils has been a nightmare. I can’t wait to try this. Is it about 1-part dish soap to 2-parts Murphys soap? Thanks.

With intricate dies, would using a toothbrush be helpful to get paint out of holes? Camera angle is fine to me, but I have a little Kindle screen. Great ideas, Karen. Thanks for sharing these cleaning tips.

So going to do this. Thanks for sharing.

I use the Murphy oil soap and a magic eraser and it takes every thing off including archival ink.

Seen this posted on the FB jjj group. Thanks for this tip/hack ~~MarieMac~~

Hi Karen, On your recommendation I bought the Murphy's oil and it works great, but my brushes are a nightmare, what do you suggest? Loved your video 😀

Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I use Dawn. Do you think it will work? I was also thinking if you have several to clean soak in kitchen sink all at once then finish up cleaning and dry off. Done!! 👼

I clicked on link to Murphy's Oil Soap and see the main oil ingredient is vegetable oil. If I already had Vegetable oil and dishwashing soap, could this not work?

Looks like it works. I do not like the smell of Murphys. I put cheap shampoo in a bucket of water and let sit a couple of mins....comes right off! Shampoo takes soap scum off of the shower too! It is a degreaser, so it is a good cleaner (if no conditioner.) I have stencils where the frosted look comes off the stencil.... Thanks for sharing.

I wonder how that works on a gelli plate?

Thank you!!! Going to try now

Thank you I'm going to try this!

omggeee tfs!!!! what a great idea! ! 😃💞

Couldn't you just put each stencil in a tub of water after you use it; then when you're done for the day, clean them according to your video. Paint wouldn't be dry. Do you then rinse them off before using them?

Do you think the brand of dish soap matters?

Do you make your own stencils? I have made a few with acetate and a soldering iron over a glass plate. (Under the glass I have my original art which I am copying to the stencil.) If you have a different approach, would you share?

Hey Karen :-))) Finally I found your channel here on You Tube :-))) I knew about the link, but I don´t think I can order it on Amazon.com because I´m here in Germany.

Thanks for sharing 💗

I don't clean paint from stencils, just gesso. I find as the paint builds up, the stencil is stronger anyway. In the case of gesso, I soak the stencil right away.

A nail brush from the dollar store would work good on that swirly stencil

Handy tips ! tfs !

Tfs!!! Really helpful !!!! :) xxx

Hello Karen :) This is a good tip :) Thank you so much for sharing :) I really do not like the smell of Murphy's oil soap, but it smells a lot better than rubbing alcohol :) I hope you have an Outstanding Day :) amy

Woa!!

This seems to be working great. I use a chemical called AWESOME. It works wonders for stencils, though the smell is strong but it's by the far best cleaning method i've found to work perfectly, even on paint that has been cured.