Cleaning Those Dirty Pastels – Safely
For me, the worst thing about being an artist, is the cleanup after every painting. That clean up can take at least an hour, and likely far more. When it comes to cleaning pastels, I had tried what I thought was everything – paper towels to wipe each one off on all sides. That was so time consuming I almost gave up cleaning them at all, except that I couldn’t tell them apart they were so dirty.
So one night about 8 years ago, I go searching online for a solution thinking “Someone has to have created an effective way to clean pastels!” Sure enough, I found the “Cherry Pastel Cleaner” that uses oats and vibration to clean about 10-15 pastels at a time. I ordered it right away and used it for years. The only thing I hated was the pastel dust cloud that emerged from the cleaner when I removed the lid. I had to wear a mask and goggles when opening the Cherry cleaner and getting all the clean pastels out of it one-by-one. No one should breathe in pastel dust. Even when I am painting in pastels, I wear a mask and gloves to protect myself from the toxic dust.
I got used to all the work because I love painting in pastel, so even the extra work with using the Cherry cleaner was worth it to me. Then we moved in May 2022 to a small apartment in Asheville, North Carolina, after selling our home of 17 years. All my art supplies were in the back of a huge storage facility,
After the move, I didn’t want to paint. I think all I wanted to do was sleep. It took a while for me to decide to paint again. I was missing my personal space for painting. Every artist needs a quiet space where they can focus when they paint. So, for me, our small apartment space was sapping my creative energy.
Big Bear tried several times to dig out my pastel art supplies out of storage, but there was no way. Boxes were piled 10 feet high and 20 feet deep. Yeah. Not happenin’. That’s when I decided to just order some necessary supplies and “start” painting again. I needed to “start.” With a dear friend’s encouragement, (Thank you Cecilia) who is an incredible professional pastel artist, I took the first steps to getting back in the saddle of painting again.
After getting my tiny space to paint set up and I was once again painting again, I was left with a dusty pastel mess. Pastel dust was everywhere. Note to self: Order a Sans Air Purifier. Check. Now, how am I going to clean these filthy pastels? I was back to paper towels and manually cleaning every single one. That’s when, at about 3am one morning about 2 months ago, I had what turned out to be a great idea … white rice and a small plastic clear container that has an air-tight lid. I put a layer of white rice about 1″-2″ thick in a 4″x6″ clear plastic container. I threw in 4 pastel sticks, shook them around in the rice for about 30 seconds, and I was surprised at how quickly they cleaned up, and no dust cloud when I opened the lid! I had discovered a workable and inexpensive solution that was also convenient.
I had a wonderful personal studio space in our Weddington home. Our sunroom had lots of windows and beautiful sunlight filtered into the room. I miss my studio, but there will be another, and hopefully soon when we get our home built in the mountains. Then I will happily unpack all my supplies and dig in to immersing myself in discovery and creative work.
Starting to paint in pastels again is wonderful, but I still need to clean up the messy pastels after every painting. Let me show you my solution for cleaning those dirty pastels. I wish I had thought of this years ago!
You will need:
White Rice
A narrow clear plastic container with an airtight lid
Disposable gloves
Baby Wipes
Paper towels
Convenient trash can
First, always wear disposable gloves. Put a clean box top with one of those gray foam bottoms, or clean paper towels, to the side to collect all your clean pastels. You don’t want to put them back in the dirty box they just came out of.
Place clean white rice in a plastic container with an airtight lid. I prefer the ones with the snaps on 4 sides. I use a narrow, small 4×6 plastic container, and I place about 1″ – 2″ of white rice in the container together with 4 to 5 dirty pastel sticks.
Attach the lid and shake it up for about 20-30 seconds. That’s it! Remove the pastels and lay them out in your clean box lid with clean paper towels in the bottom, or one of those gray foam pads. I keep the foam pads and covers that come with my pastels when I purchase them new.
And in a few short shakes, you have very clean pastels!
On the left are some dirty pastels. The middle photo (and the photo on the right) I have a container for my baby wipes. You can find this at Target in the baby department. It is perfect for cleaning up, and its easy to keep the container clean too. Inside the container is a weighted insert with an oval hole in the middle for pulling out the wipes so that you don’t end up pulling out too many at one time. I go through a lot of these wipes, and this container keeps them moist too. I have thrown out a lot of baby wipes that I was using out of their bag, because they dried up. I love this little container.
This is my current set up for painting. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I can do at the moment. I purchased a 6 foot. folding table and set it up in front of our sofa in our family room area. I also purchased a tabletop easel that is portable, sizeable for my needs, and has a small shelf at the bottom to collect pastel dust.
Art and Studio Supplies used in this post …
I’ve mentioned a number of items in this post that you may want to get for your own studio. For a list of all my Art Supplies and where I purchased them, click any of the images below. I do not receive a commission for the sale of any of these items. I’m just sharing with you what I have found works best for me.
I love this adjustable Board easel. When working on my pastel paintings, I just tape the pastel paper to the board and the dust from the pastels collects on the lip at the bottom. I love it, and it is portable as well. Also easy to clean.
US Art Supply Extra Large Adjustable Wood Artist Drawing & Sketching Board 26″ Wide x 21″ Tall
These are my favorite disposable gloves to wear in while painting and cleaning in my studio. They are soft and comfortable, they don’t tear easy, and they don’t irritate my sensitive skin on my hands. I’ve tried other Nitrile gloves and such, but these are my favorite.
Exam Glove Ultra Vinyl One Size 150.0 ea
Love this Baby Wipes Dispenser! Perfect for the Artist’s needs in the studio and also when painting in plein air. This dispenser keeps them moist and ready for your clean up.
Ubbi Wipes Dispenser in Gray
White Rice. Any inexpensive bag of white rice will do the trick for cleaning your pastels. This is a 2lb bag for about $2.86 on Amazon.
Amazon Fresh Jasmine Long Grain Rice 2Lb bag
Disposable face masks are as important for your health and safety when painting in Pastels as is the need to wear disposable gloves. Pastels are toxic and create a lot of dust, putting toxic particulates in the air that will get in your lungs and your eyes if not careful. When I paint in pastels, I wear my glasses, a lightweight disposable facemask, and disposable gloves. If I am painting outside, I won’t be wearing a mask, but indoors it is a necessity.
100PCS Face Masks, Masks Disposable, Colorful
I use the narrow rectangular container, place a 1″ – 2″ layer of white rice inside, throw in 4-5 dirty pastels, attach the lid, shake the pastels around in the rice for about 20 seconds and just like that I have clean pastels. They are great for other studio needs as well, and what you don’t use in your studio, you can use in your kitchen or bathroom!
32 Piece Food Storage Containers Set with Easy Snap Lids (16 Lids + 16 Containers) – Airtight Plastic Containers for Pantry & Kitchen Organization
These are my favorite hard pastels. I use hard pastels for details together with my pastel pencils and soft pastels. There are times when the hard pastel gives me a finer detail than a soft pastel. Also, for cleaning, although I can put them in the rice to clean, I clean them faster with a baby wipe.
Jack Richeson Assorted Hard Square Signature Pastels (Set of 120)
Great set of pastels! They go on smoothly and the color selection is excellent for portraits and other paintings.
Jack Richeson 422946 Hand Rolled Soft Pastels Portrait (120 Piece Set)
For years, I have used this pastel cleaning vibrating bowl to clean my pastels using Oats. It’s easier than cleaning each pastel by hand, but isn’t exactly the safest alternative to cleaning your pastels because of the dust cloud that emerges from the machine when you remove the lid. Still, it is easier and faster than cleaning each pastel by hand.
The Cherry Pastel Cleaner
SHOP MORE ART SUPPLIES! (Click the image to the left!)
I hope my simple discovery helps make your artistic life a little easier in your studio.
Thank you for stopping by! Do you have any additional tips you would like to share? Please share in the comments below!
