You will find that due to the soft touch it needs to use it properly you will never get it full of paint, you should just have a light amount of paint on the tips of the bristles which is a real bonus. You are right to clean it gently, it's all it needs. I squeeze mine with a paper towel to remove as much of the odourless thinner that I can, then allow to air dry. When mine was new it shed a few hairs which was of concern to me as I was new to painting and thought there was something wrong with the brush, but it just suddenly stopped losing hairs and has been trouble-free ever since.