What's the difference?

Yes, you are doing it right.

And you have a lot of company in the confusion department.

Paint thinner: mostly mineral spirits, but not as pure as something labeled "mineral spirits."

Turpentine: a solvent blend derived from distillation of pine sap. Contains several alcohols and other organics. Can be used to thin enamels, many lacquers, and oil paints.

Turpenoid: a synthetic substitute for turpentine, supposed to be less toxic. (Yah. Right.)

Odorless mineral spirits: the purest (and least smelly) form of mineral spirits.

Mineral spirits is a mixture of paraffin-derived hydrocarbons. It is sometimes called "Stoddard solvent." The term "white spirits" has been used to refer both to mineral spirits and naptha, which is also a mixture of hydrocarbons, but has considerably different properties.

And it gets more confusing after that………

Thanks Ross!

So would any of those be acceptable for thinner when airbrushing? What about fingernail polish remover?

Josh

Okay, lets see how well I do with this. I am not a chemist (a physicist, instead).

Paint thinner can be any substance that thins paint.

Mineral spirits means distilled from crude oil, rather than from vegetable substances

turpentine is a specific cut off mineral spirits- the most specific.

I am a little unsure of turpenoid- I thought originally it was a brand name but that seems less likely today.

turpentine is the most common paint thinner, but other solvents are also used.  Some thinners use mostly turpentine but add in a few other solvents too.

Much of the paint thinner I buy today is milky or cloudy.  Don't like it, yet plain turpentine is getting harder to find.

FastasEF

 What about fingernail polish remover?

Josh

Not "NO!", but "HELL NO!"..

YOu can keep it around for taking CA (Super Glue) off your fingers, but keep it AWAY from styrene...

FastasEF

So would any of those be acceptable for thinner when airbrushing? What about fingernail polish remover?

Josh

Fingernail polish remover is essentially acetone.  Acetone is a very strong solvent - both in its cleaning capabilities and its smell.  It is also extermely flamable,   I got the info below from Wikipedia:  "The most common hazard associated with acetone is its extreme flammability. It auto-ignites at a temperature of 465 °C (869 °F). At temperatures greater than acetone's flash point of −20 °C (−4 °F), air mixtures of between 2.5% and 12.8% acetone, by volume, may explode or cause a flash fire. Vapors can flow along surfaces to distant ignition sources and flash back. Static discharge may also ignite acetone vapors.^[13]"

Wiki also says that acetone is a solvent for polystyrene, thus I wouldn't think it would be a good use for thinning paint for airbrushing.

Hans, thanks for summing that up so tidily, and to Rich for the elaboration.

Don, you are incorrect about turpentine, but you are correct about Turpenoid starting out (and perhaps still being) a brand name of a turpentine substitute.

However, the most common paint solvent isn't any of the above—it's water.

The most common solvent for enamel paint is not turpentine, either, it's primarily mineral spirits. Some "paint thinner" is a blend of mineral spirits, toluene, and xylene, and sometimes other solvents.

If the paint thinner you are buying is cloudy at room temperature, it's probably pretty crude stuff. I'd recommend switching to odorless mineral spirits. You're less likely to get an unpleasant surprise.

Yes, I was a paint chemist.

No sweat... I'm nothing if not succinct..

Triarius

Hans, thanks for summing that up so tidily, and to Rich for the elaboration.

 

Don, you are incorrect about turpentine, but you are correct about Turpenoid starting out (and perhaps still being) a brand name of a turpentine substitute.

However, the most common paint solvent isn't any of the above—it's water.

The most common solvent for enamel paint is not turpentine, either, it's primarily mineral spirits. Some "paint thinner" is a blend of mineral spirits, toluene, and xylene, and sometimes other solvents.

If the paint thinner you are buying is cloudy at room temperature, it's probably pretty crude stuff. I'd recommend switching to odorless mineral spirits. You're less likely to get an unpleasant surprise.

Yes, I was a paint chemist.

You're welcome fo my tiny piece! 

Triarius - I bought some new "green" paint thinner last month and it's cloudy and requires shaking before use.  So the question I have is how good will it be for thinning - or cleaning for that matter - enamel and/or laquer?  And how "green" are Mineral Spirits?  Oh heck, while I'm at it - Is any "green" solvent still "green" after it has been used?

Sorry if I'm hijacking this post - didn't mean to!

Ah, the first green of spring…

Have to dig up the MSDS to see what it's made from. You can request one from where you bought it. It may clean enamel and lacquer pretty well, but for thinning, I dunno…

Mineral spirits are not "green," and I would question (as you obviously do) whether any used solvent can be considered as such. For that matter, I question whether any of the new, so-called "green" products really are. Not that such things can't be made, but when the motive of those making them is all $$$$$$$, I can't help but question their integrity.

The whole problem with enamels and similar solvent systems is that they will be phased out sometime in the next five to ten years except as specialty coatings. Learn to love acrylics, folks.

(Note that artist's oils and compatible solvents will probably continue to be available, as this is a "specialty" coating and relatively minor application in terms of quantity.)

just to add another 2 cents... I prefer to stick to brand to brand.. in other words, use MM paint wit MM thinner.. Acrylic thinner with acryilic paint, Tamiya w tamiya..

My main reason for this is that sometimes when using a differant brand, you can get contamination, quicker than or slower than normal drying times, paint might settle quicker in the spray bottle.. or if your putting multiple colors on over each other( camo job, or glossy 2 tone paint job) you  may have an adhesion problem or fish-eyes, or lifting..  Now, in saying that.. it doesn't mean it will happen all the time.. try it on a scrap first.. Lots of people use lots of differant brands or types to thin their paint, and have great luck, but there have been failures to resulting in sanding, scrubbing, swearing.. cussing.. etc  to repair the error..

Flats are less to have problems than gloss..

Oh.. another thinner that is a good clean up , is Laquer thinner.. buy it from an automotive part shop as opposed to a hardware as the automotive will be purer or better quality..  thinners that are cloudy or murky to start out with, will have slight color changes in the paint, especialy if its used in a wash..

Good luck.. experiment.. try... go with what works..

Ps.. the laquer thinner is very strong.. will take the enamels off your paint handles.. and clean your nostrils out