How to Clean a Paint Palette

If you want to keep the painting process and materials of your art creations clean, this article may teach you how to maintain your acrylic paint palette. Washing artist acrylic paint after you're done with paint is a tedious but essential part of professional artists routine.

Water based paints are friendly in use for artists. They are easy to clean up. However, you should avoid porous palettes like wood but opt for plastic, glass, or ceramic palettes as these are very easy to clean. If you're wondering how to properly and efficiently clean the acrylic paint, watercolors, or metallic paints from your palette, there are a few best practices to wash off acrylic paint:

• Wipe off wet paint with paper towel;
• Rinse the wet paint with soapy water;
• Remove dry paint residue with palette knives tools;
• Mix the dried paint with an acrylic medium to soften them, followed by rinsing with water;
• Soften the dried paint with a solvent such as acetone or alcohol;

Clean the Palette While the Paint is Still Damp

Just make sure your acrylics have not been dry. The best way to clean a paint palette is before the paints begin to dry. The paint in wet state is easy to wipe off and rinse off. Otherwise, maybe you can use a damp rag (with a little soapy liquid) to clean up paint on the surface of the palette.

Do remember never pour wet paint down the drain if you don't want to contaminate the water and pipes. It's best to throw dirty wipes in a dedicated trash bin for better recycling. 

Scrape away Dried Paint with a Palette Knife

How to clean a dry palette can be a challenging part. Once the paint has been dried, it becomes more difficult to remove it from the surface of the palette.

How easy it is to clean dry paint from the surface of the palette depends on the material of the paint tray. Because plastic products are smoother, there is no porosity on the surface of the plastic palette, and the paint does not adhere to the palette very strongly. It should be noted that using a hard palette knife tool to clean the surface of the palette can easily leave scratches and damage the palette.

Clever Use of Polyacrylates to Clean Paint Palettes

An acrylic cleaning material can be a material that dissolves acrylic paint and is a better, gentle way to clean out your paint palette. It dissolves the dry paint layer on the palette surface so that the paint can be easily washed off. The difficulty of cleaning the paint palettes depends on the material from which the painting palette is made.

Consider Using a Caustic Solvent to Clean the Palette

If polyacrylate cannot dissolve the paint, you may consider using a more aggressive solvent. Isopropyl or alcohol is suitable for many surfaces, but acetone can damage plastic palettes to some extent. 

The specific procedure is to first drop a small amount of solvent on the cloth, and then carefully wipe the surface of the palette with a rag. When the dry acrylic paint dissolves, just rinse with water with ease.

In addition, Grabie showcases innovative artistic palette products. Both products below are very popular with users:

Handmade Black Walnut Micro Paint Palette

Amazingly, the portable painter micro is actually smaller than a credit card! Yet it transforms in seconds into a complete palette!

• SIZE - 4 colors palette: 40mm × 40mm × 18mm. 8 colors palette: 30mm × 60mm × 12mm. 12 colors palette: 109 mm × 38 mm × 18 mm.
• MATERIALS - Each miniature palette is handcrafted. The material is made of high-quality black walnut, with a magnetic buckle, which can be easily opened and closed. Although it is small, it is well-equipped.
• USEFUL - It attaches easily to a sketch pad or journal with a clip for hands-free use. It fits effortlessly in a pocket or purse so it’s perfect for travel, micro-urban sketching, and plain air painting.
• WIDE USE - The palette is suitable for a variety of paints, such as watercolor, acrylic, and other paints.

2 Pcs Mini Metal Ring Palette

This small palette will bring great convenience to miniature painting. We have two different shapes to meet your different needs.

• HIGH QUALITY - high-quality stainless steel material, smooth and professional texture, smooth surface, to ensure that the paint has as little residue as possible.
• WASHABLE - Made of stainless steel, easy to clean, and can be used many times after the damage is not easy, many times after cleaning still smooth.
• SIZE - Palette dimensions, round-shaped: 3 × 3 × 2.2 cm, claw-shaped : 3.3 × 3 × 2.2 cm.
• MULTI-SCENE APPLICATION - Maximize the use of the ring palette. It can accommodate more colors and pigments that you want to mix. This ring color palette is suitable for miniature painting.