Windex as a cleaner

Cool!  yeah Windex is the schnizzit!  I get the big gallon jug generic refills at Lowes and it's even cheaper that way! 

If you use mainly or all acrylics, think about getting an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner as well... For about $45 dollars or so (less off of ebay) you can use plain water to do your deep head and nozzle cleaning that used to take soaking in lacquer thinner.  In fact you can dunk the entire brush in for a cycle or two to get it looking like the day you bought it.  PLUS win points with the missus by volunteering to clean her jewelry    (just once or twice, don't overdo it... after that, teach her how to do it herself )

After soaking a paint cup 1/3 full of dried paint in alcohol an hour or so, I put it in the ultrasonic for about 8 min and it came out gleaming like new except for one stubborn spot...  A Qtip dipped in alcohol fixed that... I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $49.00 but I am impetuous and can't wait a week for delivery.    It's cheaper if you order it online somewhere...  Just be sure it is ULTRAsonic and not a SONIC jewelry cleaner... the sonic doesn't really touch the airbrush parts...

there's no more toxic smelling lacquer around my house anymore except for the rare occasion I spray Aclad and need to clean the brush afterwards... And for me that's worth every penny...

Max I couldn't agree more, when I'm spraying acrylics which is most of the time now I always use Windex to clean up everything on my Iwata and it works a treat.

You can also use it to thin down Future if you don't feel like spraying it neat through your A/B.

Cheers

Do you guys use blue or clear windex? Does it matter? I would think blue is going to leave some blue residue on airbrush?

Vivian

Cleans glass REALLY good...

Vivian I have use the blue forever and never had that problem.

Thad

I found that it worked really well to remove some tape residue on a canopy, after I removed the tape.  I used a cotton swab, and mixed the Windex to a 50% solution with water.  I will have to try it in your application, thanks for the tip!

Best regards,

Brad

Thanks! and what is a good way to deal with all the windex/alcohol one uses for airbrush cleaning? Do you just dump it in some large container? What happens when it's full?

vaw1975

Thanks! and what is a good way to deal with all the windex/alcohol one uses for airbrush cleaning? Do you just dump it in some large container? What happens when it's full?

I dump it on the ground and tell the earth to, "man up and wear a cup", cause I'm here to have fun... 

I use the blue glass cleaner for light duty, or between colors.  For heavier duty, or after a pigment rich color (blue and red especially) I use the window spray cleaner that comes in the white can with blue lettering from hobby Lobby (don't forget the 40% off coupon).  I spray it in a bottle with a lid so when I'm ready to clean it is there for me. For the real heavy duty periodic cleaning I leave in pure acetone for about two minutes and brush with a tooth brush and rinse in clean water.

Just understand that the ammonia in any window cleaner will attack the nickel plating on your airbrush. Don't leave it sit in the airbrush, be sure to rise with water to prevent the nickel plating from being attacked. Once it has been etched, cleaning your airbrush increases in difficulty as the paint has something to adhere to.

Thanks. Is there a better cleaner than that which you can recommend? 99% isopropyl alc.? That's cheap enough.

vaw1975

Thanks. Is there a better cleaner than that which you can recommend? 99% isopropyl alc.? That's cheap enough.

If you're using acrylic paints, denatured alcohol works very well, as should 99% Isopropyl.

Windex with ammonia is all I use to clean acrylics!

Try this one I posted on here several times about 6 or 7 years ago. 

2 parts filtered water

1 part Windex

1 part Simple Green cleaner