Easy clean up of water based paint from airbrush

Lowrider

Mac-Valve Maestro!
Sometimes you have that build up of dry water based paint in your cup and inside your airbrush but running airbrush cleaner through it is useless. I found that denatured alcohol breaks up the paint very fast and leaves your airbrush nice and shiny. I also pour some in a plastic paint cup and place the tip parts in there for a minute and I can remove all the dried paint. I put the airbrush back together and run water through it and then some airbrush cleaner to amke sure everything works great before getting back to painting.
 
That is a good tip . I will have to give it a go. Most times I just reach for the Restorer But Being I have denature alcohol around I will have to try it.
 
Leaving your airbrush in really hot water with brown soap also does the trick
 
This does work pretty good!


Josh

Yesterday is now history and tomorrow is a mystery. Treat today as a gift, because that's why they call it "THE PRESENT"
 
This does work, and I did it for awhile, not to long back, had a phone conversation with Dave CEO Coast Airbrush and recommended not doing that but using restorer instead. the reasoning behind this is as follows. Alchohol displaces moisture and or dries it up.not only can it possibly remove the vibrancy of your seals, but also, it will remove the majority of paint in your gun but if you use water base paint like I do, it will zap the water right out of it. So when I bought my micron. I quit using alchohol and I use water for rinse and restorer for cleaning and so far it works great.
 
Sometimes you have that build up of dry water based paint in your cup and inside your airbrush but running airbrush cleaner through it is useless. I found that denatured alcohol breaks up the paint very fast and leaves your airbrush nice and shiny. I also pour some in a plastic paint cup and place the tip parts in there for a minute and I can remove all the dried paint. I put the airbrush back together and run water through it and then some airbrush cleaner to amke sure everything works great before getting back to painting.

I must admit I was a little confused by the term 'denature alcohol'. I have since found out that this equates to 'methylated spirit' here in the UK
Oh and yes it works great. Thanks for the tip. :adoration:
 
I wonder if car windshield cleaners will do the trick....in Finland we have Lasol & other which all contain quite a bit of alcohol...
 
This does work pretty good!


Josh

Yesterday is now history and tomorrow is a mystery. Treat today as a gift, because that's why they call it "THE PRESENT"
you only have the denatured lying around cause you fear times with no shine.....I can't blame you brother!.....your the thinking mans alcoholic......much respect!
 
I wonder if car windshield cleaners will do the trick....in Finland we have Lasol & other which all contain quite a bit of alcohol...
It works well and most have no ammonia to eat the finish on your brush. I use auto window cleaner,denatured alcohol and purified water in app. equal amounts for cleaner.
these are the main ingredients of homemade reducer
 
Cleaning it the iwata way with fingernailspolish remover: How To Clean An Airbrush - Airbrush.TV - YouTube

Hi DiToni,
There are so many things wrong with the cleaning method this guy is showing us in the video that I strongly recommend that everyone ignore it.

Before you start dismantling the airbrush shoot warm water through it until clean, then a couple of times with cleaning solution.

1. Don't use Q tips as fibres can get stuck in the airbrush and cause problems. Use a soft artists paint brush with bristles long enough to go from back to front of the nozzle.

2. Don't pull the needle back through the body of the airbrush, take off the front end of the airbrush and push it through the front. This way you get no paint pulled back into the body of the airbrush.

3. Use Denatured Alcohol or proper Airbrush cleaner and not Nail Polish Remover, it is very harsh and will damage your O-rings in your airbrush. You can get Denatured Alcohol from the Drugstore and mix it 1/3rd Denatured Alcohol to 2/3rds Distilled Water. This is a good homemade cleaner if you can't afford the proper airbrush cleaning solution.

4. The front end of the airbrush is off to pull out needle so now you can clean needle and nozzle caps and nozzle with the artists paint brush dipped in Denatured Alcohol/Cleaning solution. Also clean the needle with a cloth (micro fibre) dipped in the cleaning solution and run it down the needle twisting as you go.

5. Ken Badger says never use dental/airbrush cleaning brushes as the metal middle section can damage the inside of your airbrush. This guy pushes one inside the nozzle and that is simply crazy!

If you follow this simple clean at the end of every painting session your airbrush will never be as bad as his was and cleaning will be very easy every time. You will not get clogging from loose fibres left in the airbrush, you will not get damage to the inside of your airbrush from the dental/cleaning brushes, you will not pull paint back into the body of your airbrush and you will not damage your O-rings.

This is just my opinion and it is what I do to clean my airbrushes but I think the video above shows such bad practise I just had to say something.
Cheers Mel
 
Thanks Melbee i agree with you on that, but why does a technician of iwata put such a video online, aren't they selling enough of their products?
 
Thanks Melbee i agree with you on that, but why does a technician of iwata put such a video online, aren't they selling enough of their products?

I have no idea DiToni, I can only assume this is the "How NOT to clean your Airbrush" and forgot to mention that LOL
 
I wonder if car windshield cleaners will do the trick....in Finland we have Lasol & other which all contain quite a bit of alcohol...

I use windex but I found out that if you let any of it set for too long it will eat the chrome off. Found that out by leaving a little in the cup area and maybe an hour later came back and the chrome was gone. :-( I'm not sure if the cleaners for car windows have the ammonia but watch out for it.
 
I use windex but I found out that if you let any of it set for too long it will eat the chrome off. Found that out by leaving a little in the cup area and maybe an hour later came back and the chrome was gone. :-( I'm not sure if the cleaners for car windows have the ammonia but watch out for it.

It may be you are using windex with amonia , try amonia free windex, amonia is nasty stuff even in small amounts , we use it were I work as a refrigerant.
 
I have been using "Elbow Grease" cleaner and as mentioned above it has eaten the chrome off the inside of the bowl and actually it has made the cleaning problem worse because the paint sticks like you know what in the needle grove.
I bought one of these high frequency ultrasonic jewelry cleaner baths which is not bad but I have to say to my shame I am lazy - If I was more attentive I would clean my brushes properly after each use and reduce the problem a hundred fold!
The other thing to consider, if you use non- preparatory cleaners and warranty will be void :crushed:
 
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