Your opinion on cleaning an airbrush?

I spray only acrylics. Remember I have that old Crisco container with a whole cut in it about a third of the way up from the bottom. First I wipe down the color cup with a paper towel and swab out the paint from the very bottom. That leaves less paint to clean up. I then fill halfway with Windex, crank up the pressure to 30 or 40 psi, insert the tip into the Crisco jug and spray until empty, I do that twice. Then I make sure all the paint it cleaned up by pulling the needle. If it's clean then I put the needle back and fill the color cup with distilled water and spray that through. Then I make sure the cup is dry with another piece of paper towel and spray air through until it's dry. And that's it. I've only broken my brush down once for a serious cleaning since I got it last summer.

Enamels require a more fastidious cleaning, which is why I avoid them. I'm basically butt lazy! 

stikpusher wrote:

Spray thinner between colors in one session. Disassemble and clean thoroughly at the end of the session. For cleaning after acrylics use acrylic thinner/airbrush cleaners, windshield washer fluid, or denatured alcohol.

I agree with stikpusher,blow thru w/thinner between colors, then disassemble and completly clean at the end of each session.  Started that for a couple of reasons - would occasionaly get small flecks of dried paint coming out of the airbrush (and off course they were the wrong color!).  The  straw that broke the camel's back was when I did a paint session a couple of days before I left for AT (Guard summer camp).  Simply flushed it out w/thinner like I normally did (I thought) and put it away. But I didn't get all the paint out because when I got back and went to use the brush, everything was frozen up.  Finally got everything loose enough to come apart by disassembling what I could and soaking everything in laquer thinner for a couple of days. (came very close to throwing it away).  Now for my own peace of mind, I disassemble and clean at the end of each session.

On a final note, if you use enamels as I do, laquer thinner is the only route to go, either for flushing between colors or for the total disassembly clean up. 

The best advice I ever recieved on A/B cleaning was to NOT strip it down unless you are experiencing problems.  Everytime you break it down you stress all the seals and leave yourself open to leaks and broken seals.

Do as bgrigg says, I spray into a white papertowel until I see no evidence of color, then spray distiled water through it.  Make sure you store your A/B in a climate controled room, heat and humidity wreak havoc on an A/B.

gjek wrote:

I use Acrylics and as others have said I empty the cup and wipe it clean. I then spray windex until clear.

Do they make clear Windex?

Rich.Carpenter wrote:

gjek wrote:   I use Acrylics and as others have said I empty the cup and wipe it clean. I then spray windex until clear. Do they make clear Windex?

I'm pretty sure I've seen clear window cleaner.  Alternatively, you could use either straight ammonia or alcohol, which is what I use for cleaning acrylics.

I think Rich was making a joke "spray Windex until (it's) clear".

But yes, they DO make clear window cleaners! 

Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt, bgrigg, but I was actually serious. I totally misinterpreted "spray Windex until it's clear", wondering how the heck would I know when the paint was all cleared out with blue window cleaner?

Ahh well, no one should be a bit surprised by my modeling naivete at this point.

LOL Ya know, you didn't have to admit to that! But I'm glad you did. Shows an honesty and character I can respect!

Windex looks "more" blue than it really is. It doesn't really alter the colour of the paint, so when you don't see paint, it's done. Well, mostly done. I always rinse with distilled water after for two reasons: ammonia can stain stainless steel black (which is a misnomer, it stains alright!) and using tap water may cause mineral buildup in places you don't want mineral buildup!

Bgrigg wrote:

Windex looks "more" blue than it really is. It doesn't really alter the colour of the paint, so when you don't see paint, it's done.

I'm not sure that I agree with you.  Tamiya Dark Yellow mixed with blue Windex yields green, at least it did last weekend when I painted a pair of Panthers, and if it change the color it could mask it as well.

As far as spraying thinner, only to the point of no longers seeing paint, I think that is underdoing it a bit.  When cleaning my Paasche H, after cleaning my color color cup and filling it with a colorless cleaner, the obvious paint seems to disappears from the stream after several seconds, (no more than half a color-cup worth of thinner used )even though there is at that point some residual paint still in the air brush.  When cleaning my airbrush that way, I won't declare it "clean" until I've sprayed at least one or two color cups of cleaner through it, even though the stream seemed clear after only half a color cup.   

After doing an acrylic airbursh session and doing the flushing, etc, with window cleaner, I use fingernail polish remover for a final flush and cleaning.

It is water based, has acetone for a powerful acrylic residue remover, yet has glycerine for a preserving lubricant as well as a perfumed scent that is not as bad as other solvents.

I get the generic stuff from Wal-Mart.

Tom

ABARNE wrote:

I'm not sure that I agree with you.  Tamiya Dark Yellow mixed with blue Windex yields green, at least it did last weekend when I painted a pair of Panthers, and if it change the color it could mask it as well.

I never mix window cleaner in my acrylic paints.

I simply use the Wal-Mart 93% alcohol as an acrylic thinner, since it is 7% water, and the higher percentage of alcohol speeds the drying time.

Tom

ABARNE wrote:

Bgrigg wrote: Windex looks "more" blue than it really is. It doesn't really alter the colour of the paint, so when you don't see paint, it's done. I'm not sure that I agree with you.  Tamiya Dark Yellow mixed with blue Windex yields green, at least it did last weekend when I painted a pair of Panthers, and if it change the color it could mask it as well. As far as spraying thinner, only to the point of no longers seeing paint, I think that is underdoing it a bit.  When cleaning my Paasche H, after cleaning my color color cup and filling it with a colorless cleaner, the obvious paint seems to disappears from the stream after several seconds, (no more than half a color-cup worth of thinner used )even though there is at that point some residual paint still in the air brush.  When cleaning my airbrush that way, I won't declare it "clean" until I've sprayed at least one or two color cups of cleaner through it, even though the stream seemed clear after only half a color cup.

I'm not suggesting anyone thin paints with Windex. It's blue enough to tint paint! But not so blue that it doesn't spray "clear" when the paint is cleaned out. If you go back and re-read my technique you'll see it says (pertinent part in bold):

Bgrigg wrote:

First I wipe down the color cup with a paper towel and swab out the paint from the very bottom. That leaves less paint to clean up. I then fill halfway with Windex, crank up the pressure to 30 or 40 psi, insert the tip into the Crisco jug and spray until empty, I do that twice. Then I make sure all the paint it cleaned up by pulling the needle. If it's clean then I put the needle back and fill the color cup with distilled water and spray that through.

Cleaning with windex or washer fluid is quite different from using it to thin with. If it isn't crystal clear before you mix it with paint, it ain't gonna get any clearer! 

I use distilled water as I live in a mountainous region and we have very hard water. Shower heads get clogged with calcium buildup in about six months, and I have to take ours off and soak it in Vinegar to get rid of it. If it can clog something with holes as large as a shower head, it will definitely mess up my precious!

Distilled water is pretty inexpensive. I bought a gallon jug at the grocery store for less than $2 bucks last summer and I still have just a bit less than half a jug left. You can make de-mineralized water at home by boiling water rapidly and leaving to cool completely. Then decant by carefully pouring off the water without disturbing any sediments. If you leave the last inch of water behind you will end up with pretty clean water. You would need a still to make "real" distilled water as it is boiled to steam and then allowed to condense back into a liquid in a different container. But I think if you're going to all that trouble you might as well be making 'shine! It's a whole lot easier to just grab a jug of store bought distilled water when you're at the grocery store.

T_Terrific wrote:

ABARNE wrote:   I'm not sure that I agree with you.  Tamiya Dark Yellow mixed with blue Windex yields green, at least it did last weekend when I painted a pair of Panthers, and if it change the color it could mask it as well. I never mix window cleaner in my acrylic paints. I simply use the Wal-Mart 93% alcohol as an acrylic thinner, since it is 7% water, and the higher percentage of alcohol speeds the drying time. Tom

I was perhaps overly brief, and thus misunderstood.  I would never use windex to thin paint.  I use it only as a clear.  The mixing to which I referred was when I cleaned out the color cup AFTER painting.  For thinner, I always use Tamiya's thinner.  I don't know if there is any benefit vs using alcohol, by since I use it ONLY for thinning, I don't really use enough for cost to an issue.   

ABARNE wrote:

I don't know if there is any benefit vs using alcohol, by since I use it ONLY for thinning, I don't really use enough for cost to an issue.

For me it is not so much of a cost issue, but more of a practicality and simplicity issue.

To buy "So-and-So's" special acrylic thinner means a 25 mile drive to the LHS.

To buy Wal-Mart's 93% alcohol is literally a trip around the corner, and a quart runs around $2.00, and it works. (*DUH*)

By the same token, I get half gallons of blue Windex type window cleaner at the local Dollar Tree store, which is nearby Wal-Mart, for $1.00 plus tax.

And in both cases, I have them available for household use as well.

The window cleaner I get makes a great bathroom floor cleaner as well when used straight out of the bottle.

Tom

i was given a big giganto bottle of Badger airbrush cleaner, it is not ammonia/ windex based as I normally use, but it really strips the acrylic out. I tried using it the other day after shooting soem gaming acrylic ( sprays VERY nice with Vallejo thinner) and it cleaned it right out.

David

T_Terrific wrote:

The window cleaner I get makes a great bathroom floor cleaner as well when used straight out of the bottle.

Rather off-topic, but if you ever get an indoor ant invasion, it makes a great indoor bug spray.  It kills ants pretty much on contact, certainly as well a Raid or other dedicated bug spray in that regard, and after wiping, is essentially non-toxic.  Supposedly, the ammonia gets rid of their chemical scent trails as well.

PatlaborUnit1 wrote:

i was given a big giganto bottle of Badger airbrush cleaner, it is not ammonia/ windex based as I normally use, but it really strips the acrylic out. I tried using it the other day after shooting soem gaming acrylic ( sprays VERY nice with Vallejo thinner) and it cleaned it right out.   David

Sounds like its got acetone in it, like fingernail polish remover.

Tom

IYAAYAS wrote:

The best advice I ever recieved on A/B cleaning was to NOT strip it down unless you are experiencing problems.  Everytime you break it down you stress all the seals and leave yourself open to leaks and broken seals.

That is correct.

The airbrush does NOT need to be disassembled each time for cleaning.

I disassemble mine about every 6-7th time I use it and anything more often than that is overkill.  

Here is a cleaning routine I posted a long time ago for a gravity-feed airbrush:

Cleaning a gravity-feed airbrush

I like to spray out the airbrush at higher pressures and use 50 psi myself, but if your compressor only puts out 20-30 psi then just use as much pressure as you can.

Dump the excess paint out and wipe the cup with a paper towel or rag.

Fill the cup about ½-¾ of the way with cleaner and then take an old paintbrush and wipe around inside the cup and down in the bottom of the cup around the needle with it to break loose the paint particles. Just dab it into the needle area in the bottom of the cup and it cleans very well.

I like a flat paintbrush about 3/8” wide, but you can use what you want. Just make sure the paintbrush is not one of those real cheap ones that the hairs fall out of, as you don’t want the hair getting into the airbrush and possibly causing problems down the road. 

After that, spray the cleaner out of the airbrush.

You can now look into the cup to see how well you cleaned it.

If you see paint particles around the needle and bottom of the cup still, then add a few drops of cleaner to the cup and dab the paintbrush into that area to break it loose, and fill the cup up about ½ way again with cleaner, wipe around in the cup with the paintbrush again and spray that out.

Wipe the inside of the cup with a soft rag or paper towel to clean any paint on the sides of the cup that may still be there. An old cotton T-shirt works good for this.

If you still see any residual paint particles, then once again dab the paintbrush around inside the cup with a few drops of cleaner in the bottom of the cup.

Fill the cup halfway with cleaner once more and hold a rag over the end of the airbrush to stop air from coming out of the tip. Push down on the trigger and pull back slowly and you will bubbles in the color cup as you are back flushing the airbrush. If you use high pressures to clean like I do then be careful doing this because if you have lacquer or other toxic cleaners in the cup and you pull the trigger back too far, it can shoot the cleaner up out of the cup and possibly into your eyes. That is why I say to pull the trigger back slowly until you get a pretty good amount of bubbles coming back into the cup. Do this for maybe 5 seconds or so and then look to see if any paint particles have appeared in the cup. Sometimes you will see paint particles, and sometimes you don’t, but I mention this just to let you see that back flushing can clean areas that just spraying out the airbrush can sometimes miss.

If there were very little paint particles in the cup from back flushing, then spray that cleaner out, fill the cup about ¼ way once more with cleaner and spray that out.

Now fill the cup ¾ of the way with filtered or distilled water and spray that all out.

You can fill it about ½ way once more if you like and spray that out also.

Some people like to then just spray air through the airbrush for several seconds to dry out the insides, but that is up to you. Sometimes I do it and sometimes I don’t.

Now wipe the inside of the cup out with a rag, wipe any paint off the outside of the airbrush and you are done.

About every 3 or 4 times of using the airbrush I will take the needle out after cleaning the airbrush and wipe it off with a rag with some thinner on it to get any paint that may have not gotten cleaned quite well enough in previous cleanings. I then apply Badger Needle Juice or Medea Super Lube to the needle to help eliminate tip dry and keep paint from adhering to the needle. I also like a drop on the trigger to make it smoother as well as putting a drop on my finger and rubbing it around inside the color cup to make paint removal easier when cleaning.

These two products do not affect paint at all and are safe with enamels, lacquers, acrylics, and urethanes.

Every airbrush expert I know does not recommend disassembly to clean it each time and I agree.

Disassembling the airbrush each time is not necessary and I don’t personally recommend it because the potential of damaging the needle, tip, needle bearing, and other parts increases each time you take it apart. Some people feel it is better to take it apart each time and give it a thorough cleaning, and you have to make that decision yourself.

I hope this is helpful

Mike