Cleaning Brushes

I use hardware store Lacquer Thinner to clean up whatever paint I use,acrylic,enamel,or lacquer paint.

For a deep clean I start with isopropyl alchohol or laquer thinner then I finish with this:

Iwata-Medea Airbrush Cleaner

In between colors I just do a quick rinse with whatever the appropriate thinner for the pain it. Either isopropyle alchohol for acrylic or laquer thinner for laquer paints. Just enough so I don't see any color coming out of the brush when I spray.

When I'm finished I'll use the Iwata Airbrush Cleaner to finish off the cleaning for the day. It has some solution that bubbles I'm assuming its soap. Then I'll add a little airbrush oil to finish off the cleaning.

BADGER REGDAB Airbrush Lubricant

 edit: I have a can of the hardware store thinner also. I only use that stuff if I accidently left paint in my brush and it dried hard. It will eat the rubber seals on your brush so I would only use it sparingly. I definately recommend using the Iwata Cleaner after you used the hardware laquer thinner. The hobby laquer thinner is more expensive but will keep you and your equipment safer in the long run.

I keep a baby food jar half full of thinner.  I put a quarter inch hole in middle of the cap.  Cuts down on evaporation yet allows me to get any of my brushes down into jar.  Dip and hold for a few seconds, pull it out and wipe with paper towel. Repeat three or four times.

As you can see from the responses, it does help to be as clear as possable when asking a question.

Do you mean an airbrush or the hairy stick type brush. I am guessing the latter.

You mean those hairy sticks people sometimes dip into the paint jar? Eww...

Bish, not to be rude, but if I meant airbrush, I would have stated airbrush.

sometimes a brush is just a brush

Thanks to all that responded positively. At first I thought the paint I ordered was enamel - glad to find out it is acrylic.

Ed Geary

Bish, not to be rude, but if I meant airbrush, I would have stated airbrush.

 

sometimes a brush is just a brush

 

Thanks to all that responded positively. At first I thought the paint I ordered was enamel - glad to find out it is acrylic.

 

Although the title of the section is "Painting and Airbrushing" you probably should have been specific.

so what is the correct catagory for questions on cleaning brushes?  I can always repost my question

Ed Geary

Bish, not to be rude, but if I meant airbrush, I would have stated airbrush.

 

sometimes a brush is just a brush

 

Thanks to all that responded positively. At first I thought the paint I ordered was enamel - glad to find out it is acrylic.

 

Indee, hence why i said i felt you meant the latter. But not to be rude, at least one person thought you meant airbrush, and he gave a rather long reply in response. What might be obvious to you might not always be obvious to others.

And in answer to your question, i use White spirits for enamels and oils and water for acrylics.

Ed Geary

so what is the correct catagory for questions on cleaning brushes?  I can always repost my question

 

If it helps any, I took your post to mean just a regular paintbrush...and you're posting in the correct place. 

As for me, with both paintbrush and airbrush, I have a couple of old pickle relish jars with MEK in them.  It cleans pretty much any kind of paint, but you have to be really careful not to touch the sides with the brush handle, or let the handle get down into the liquid...it also removes most plastic coatings from brush handles.  I just stick with it because its a reliable cleaner with no guesswork as to which type of paint it will clean.

Edit:  Specific to Tamiya paints, if you don't want to deal with the toxicity of MEK, isopropyl alcohol with a concentration of 91% or better works well for cleaning brushes (and won't eat the brush handle).

One thing to keep in mind with brush painting is that you should have a brush dedicated to the pure red, blue, and green colors.  Those paints all have a dye in them that tends to stay in the brush forever, and the first time you realize that is when you use that brush to paint something white and it comes out pink.

Thank you eaglecash!  very informative info

First I wipe the brush in a paper towel to remove excess paint. Then, depending on the paint,  I dip the paint in enamal thinner or acrylic thinner and swish the brush around. Then I wipe the brush in a paper towel. Repeat as necessary.

Just another suggestion, always wipe the paint off of the top of the paint bottle and the threads of the bottle before replacing the cap. That prevents a lot of future swearing.

Thank You Johnny!