Lacquer thinners

As you say, you're using a variety of paints. That sort puts you in a corner, for using thinners to clean the AB.

If you were using strictly acrylics it would be easy, alcohol will clean most of them well, EXCEPT FOR VALLEJO, alcohol will turn that paint into a real gummy mess. For Vallejo I only used their branded AB cleaner.

I can't think of many things to clean lacquer paint with, other than lacquer thinner or acetone.

For enamel, either enamel thinner or lacquer thinner. I know they all pose a hazard for everyone, unless you have a way to remove the fumes, like a proper spray booth with fan to vent the fumes outside. Even then, having the stuff around where kids are present still leaves a potential hazard, what with busy little fingers in the home.

Perhaps the materials could be kept in a safely locked storage container??

Good luck, I hope you find a satisfactory solution.

Patrick

I use enamel the most, and use good enamel thinner.  There is some terrible stuff sold as paint thinner.  To make sure I am getting the good stuff and not that terrible stuff, I hold out for cans that specifically say mineral spirits or turpentine.  The bad stuff has undissolved white powder in it!

For lacquers, I use either lacquer thinner, acetone, or MEK. 

For cleaning acrylic I use isopropyl alcohol.

I go through large amounts of stuff for cleaning, so buy them in gallon containers.  I have found, for Testors enamel, their own thinner gives me slightly better finishes, but it is so costly I have learned to live with hardware store stuff for both thinning and cleanup.

I surely agree with Don, some of the thinners sold are not worth taking home. I buy mine at an auto body supply store, the major branded items seem routinely of good quality. For the most part I use DuPont, seems always consistent, quart cans run about $7.00, much more cost effective for cleanup duties.

For mixing and spraying I tend to favor the same thinner as the paint brand, some guys have said the thinner of the same brand is likely to be completely compatible.

As Don points out, there are some cheap charley stores that sell off brand thinners, once I got some enamel thinner that was milky white, absolutely worthless.

Patrick

patrick206

As Don points out, there are some cheap charley stores that sell off brand thinners, once I got some enamel thinner that was milky white, absolutely worthless.

Patrick

 

Yep, that is the stuff I meant.  Unfortunately, since it is sold in opaque containers, I didn't know what the stuff looked like the first few (and last cans) I bought.  That is when I started buying strictly turpentine or mineral spirits for enamel.  I have not found any problems with generic lacquer thinner so far.

I used the thinner from Home Depot for washes but lately it is not disolving the oil or enamel paints completely so I switched to Testor's enamel thinner in the red can which works like a charm. I use the 40% discount coupon at  Hobby Lobby so that cuts down on the price tag.

I use lacquer thinner from Home Depot for cleaning my AB and hand brushes. LT removes even dried crusty acrylic paint. It has been my experience that LT will do a better job at removing junk than any other cleaning liquid.

I have cleaned my hand brushes in thinner and looking clean but when dipped in LT and rolled on the inside of the glass jar, tons of paint comes off.

The milky white thinner is the "odorless" kind and basicaly worthless in our hobby.