I have heard of a lot of people doing this, I have even done it before, and I see it recommended in even some airbrush literature, but it is not a good idea.
I emailed Dave at Coast Airbrush about it the other day because someone on this forum or another mentioned that Dave had told them the same thing.
I mention Dave in this post because he is one of the most knowledgable people in the country on airbrushes and compressors so I value his advice.
He is basically the guy who got me started in airbrushing and helped me out a lot in the early years.
Here is what he told me concerning cleaning airbrushes in general and whether using pipe cleaners is a bad idea:
QUOTE:
The back flushing is mostly for t shirt type paints.
Its usually for a quick fix.
I dont like it because it puts paint into areas that dont normally see paint.
Then the only way they get clean is to take the brush apart and clean it.
Pipe cleaners come apart and when mixed with paint create a big mess inside.
I do like all the nylon type cleaning brushes . They work great for tuff dry paint probs. Its pretty simple, the paint chambers are the only thing that should have paint in them so clean those areas and your fine.
Some people have gravity feed brushes and when they pull the needle back or out with cleaner or paint in the cup it leaks into the mecanical parts of the gun.
There shouldn't be any paint back there. Back flushing sometimes forces paint past the needle bearings.
Soaking parts is cool, but when you soak the whole gun, paint gets into the small air chambers and makes everything gummy.
I hope this helps |
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This is good advice.
Mike
“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not
to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools
for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know
how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. " Charles Spurgeon