I painted quite a bit when I was a kid. My dad always had a home renovation project going on, and we kids were his assistants. One of the jobs I really disliked was cleaning paint brushes. No matter how much water I ran through the brushes, there was always paint coming through and it seemed like hours before the water ran clear. And don't even get me started on the oil-based paints! (Turpentine, yuk!)
I used to say that when I became a grownup I would throw away my used brushes and start with a fresh one when I resumed painting. For years as a young adult, I actually did do that. And I'm not talking cheapo paint brushes. These were Purdy's at $10 a pop. That's how much I dislike cleaning brushes.
Now that I'm a homeowner - and a better money manager - I can't bring myself to spend hundreds of dollars on brushes every time I get the urge to change a room's color (which is often). So here's what I do.