Not sure how to clean your watercolor palette?
Dirty palettes can be a nightmare! Imagine this: You’re ready to start your next masterpiece, but as soon as you open the mixing palette, it’s dirty.
There’s no space to mix new colors and some of the paint wells have been contaminated.
In this article, I’ll show you simple steps to clean your watercolor palette, decontaminate paint wells, and tackle stubborn stains.
Let’s dive in!
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How to clean a watercolor palette?
Cleaning a watercolor palette isn’t that hard if you’re doing it right! With a little effort, you can have your paints ready to go.
Materials needed
To clean your watercolor palette you’ll need:
- Sponge or cloth
- Warm water
- Mild soap- Avoid using soaps with harsh chemicals
- Paper towel
If your palette has a removable mixing area then it’ll be much easier to clean.
All you have to do is place it under running water, use the sponge and some soap to wash off any stubborn bits, and then finish off by rinsing it.
However, if your palette and paint wells are connected you’ll want to be more careful.
For these palettes, I don’t use soap. I’ll simply use warm water and a paper towel to clean the mixing areas.
The last thing you want is for soap to get into your paint wells.
Start by dipping the paper towel in warm water then go over the mixing areas. Next, take a dry paper towel and go over it. This should absorb the paint and your palette will be squeaky clean!
Should you clean your watercolor palette after every painting session?
Some artists, myself included, prefer to clean their palette after a painting session so that it’s ready to go the next time I sit down to paint.
Doing this also gives the paint less time to dry and stain.
Sometimes I’ll keep the same colors if I’m still working on the same project. However, I’ll clean it if I’m switching projects and intend on using different colors.
Cleaning your palette after a paint session doesn’t have to be that complicated.
I simply drench one side of a paper towel with clean water, wipe the mixing area then go over it with the dry part.
How to remove watercolor palette stains?
There’s nothing I despise more than stained palettes! Here, I have a few tips on how you can remove those stubborn stains
If the mixing area of your palette is removable you can detach it and soak it in warm water with vinegar.
Removing stains from a plastic palette?
There are different ways you can remove palette stains on plastic. I tested several different methods that don’t use harsh chemicals and can be done with common household items:
- Sanded eraser
- Toothpaste
- Olive oil and baking soda paste
- Vinegar and baking soda paste
- Lemon and salt rub
There are a few other methods I tried including lemon juice and potato rub however they did not work.
The table below compares all the pro’s and cons of different methods
| Method | How to use | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Sanded eraser | Simply erase the stained area | Very effective, immediate results but caused some scratches. |
| Toothpaste | Squeeze out a small amount of toothpaste and rub the palette using a damp cloth, let it sit for a minute or two then rinse off | Immediate results and it didn’t scratch the palette because of the smooth results |
| Vinegar & Baking Soda | Make a thick paste using baking soda and small amounts of vinegar at a time | Stains immediately started lifting. |
| Olive oil and baking soda | Mix a thick paste of baking soda and olive oil almost like a scrub. | Took a few more seconds, but the stains started to lift from the palette. |
| Lemon and salt | Soak a cloth with lemon juice, sprinkle salt on the stained area then rub to remove the stains | It removes stains but you have to work at it longer to remove a small amount of paint |
| Lemon Juice | Rub a lemon piece on the palette | Did not work |
| Potato rub | Peel and cut a small piece of potato then rub the stained area, let it sit for 15 minutes then wipe down | Did not remove stains |
Of all the methods, sanded eraser, toothpaste and baking soda with vinegar paste were the most effective. You can see this in the image below:
Below are the results after wiping down the palette:
Ultimately I decided to use toothpaste to clean the whole palette because it didn’t scratch the plastic like it did with the sanded eraser. Here’s what it looked like after:
How to remove colors from a palette?
Let’s say you have brand-new colors and not enough space on your palette. How do you remove paint from the wells so you can replace them with new ones?
To remove old colors you’ll need to lightly spritz your paints with clean water. You don’t want to drown the paint in water, just a small amount to soften the edges.
Next, take a palette knife or butter knife and place it between the edge of the pan and the paint. Apply a little pressure until it detaches. Add a little more water to soften it further if it’s still stuck.
This should do the trick and now you can squeeze in some fresh paint.
Some ready made watercolor sets come with the bottom of the paint glued to the pan, if this is the case you might need a sharper knife and the paint may not come out whole.
The best way to clean contaminated watercolor pans without wasting paint
When I was in primary school we would clean those contaminated paint wells by holding them under running water. Watching the colors flow into the sink was something magical!
These days, however, wasting paint is a big no-no. Especially if you have spent your hard-earned money on good quality paints, you’ll want them to last as long as possible.
So how do you clean a paint well without wasting the paint? The good news is that watercolor paints can be reactivated. Start by spraying the well with clean water, then use your brush to help loosen the contaminated color.
Next, fold a paper towel so it can access the small crevices of the paint well. You’ll want to absorb the contaminated paint gently.
A little paint will get wasted but it beats running it under tap water!
How to clean pet hair from dirty paint wells
If you have a furry friend at home then pet hair is definitely going to find its way into your palette.
To remove any large pieces of dirt or pet hair from your palette, start by lightly spritzing your paint wells. Once they are soft enough, use a pair of tweezers to remove the hair.
If it’s lodged deep then use a small knife to cut through and spritz some more water then remove the hair with the tweezer.
In case you don’t have a tweezer, you can use the tip of a needle or paper clip to loosen it from the paint.
Plastic, metal, and ceramic watercolor palettes
The easiest to clean are ceramic palettes, this is because it’s very hard for them to get stained.
To clean a ceramic palette, place it under running water or spritz the mixing area and wipe off the paint with a paper towel or cloth.
Plastic and metal palettes are more likely to stain over time. Metal palettes can rust if you use harsh chemicals and don’t dry them properly before storage.
For this reason, I would recommend using toothpaste to remove stubborn stains, avoid the other methods because the baking soda and salt can cause scratches to your metal palette.
7 Crucial Tips to Maintain Your Palette
Here are a few tips to maintain your watercolor palettes:
- Try not to add anything other than water or watercolors. For example, adding acrylics, ink, and masking fluid to your watercolor palette can contaminate and stain the palette.
- If your palette has a lid then make sure it’s closed when not in use. This will prevent dust and dirt from contaminating your paints.
- Wipe down your palette regularly to prevent a build-up of dirt or stubborn pieces of paint from hardening.
- Rinse your brush when switching colors to prevent dirty paint wells.
- Don’t use any harsh chemicals to clean your palette. You can damage your precious paints and some chemicals are prone to cause discoloration over time. All you really need is water, a paper towel, and in some cases a little soap.
- Always make sure you dry your palette completely before storage to prevent mold build-up.
- If you’re cleaning a metal palette, avoid using harsh chemicals and ensure it’s dry to prevent rust.
Is it a must to clean your palette regularly?
It solely depends on you and your preferences. If you don’t mind having other colors seep into each other’s wells on the palette, then that’s okay.
Just be aware of mixing complementary and primary colors together because it can result in muddying colors!
Using a palette with designated mixing areas is much better for this.
If you choose to leave your colors without cleaning then dedicating separate sections for mixing complementaries and primary colors could help.
I would advise cleaning your palette if you have any large specs of dirt or pet hair in them just because they can end up on your painting and cause an inconvenience.
Now your palette should be squeaky clean and ready to use! I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a lot.
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