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Airbrush cleaner


smeds

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I assume you mean Badger spray away, what size and price is it & what paints are you going to be using ???

I assume you mean Badger spray away, what size and price is it & what paints are you going to be using ???

Sorry, not sure how that happened !

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It depends a lot on what kind of paint you are using. If you are using acrylics, I would recommend almost any cheap alcohol based fluid. Windshield cleaning fluid usually works perfect.

If you are using enamels, usually cheap mineral spirits work, but be careful. Those things are really not healthy.

Edited by denstore
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I assume you mean Badger spray away, what size and price is it & what paints are you going to be using ???

I assume you mean Badger spray away, what size and price is it & what paints are you going to be using ???

Sorry, not sure how that happened !

I have been using Vallejo AB cleaner if that helps.

Andy

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I use Premi Air foaming airbrush cleaner. Tried a few different makes but this seems to work best (for me) with acrylics. Got it from Little Cars at SMW.

I use this too, and it's good stuff. Possibly picked it up from Paul before he arrived here :) I do usually use thinners to clean my brush (and a tiny bottle-type brush), but every 3 or 4 cleans, out comes the foaming airbrush cleaner. it's like that expanding foam filler... don't spray too much, and expect it to overflow anyway! :analintruder:

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Do you have a product called, "Windex"? It's a blue liquid and is used to clean glass. It makes an excellent airbrush cleaner for acrylics users.

It's called Windolene over here, and IIRC they removed the ammonia content from it some time ago, which was the solvent for the acrylic paint. A dilute mix of household ammonia would probably do the same job though, although be careful with the concentrations as it's evil stuff :sick:

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Methyl Ethyl Ketone - stinks to high heaven and is highly unpleasant. Mask and booth recommended. However, it does dissolve pretty well any paint. Don't use with Azteks though. The AB seems to have a problem with it - hence why I went to my Iwata.

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MEK will melt a lot of plastics (it's used as a styrene glue by many - me included), so be wary when using it with an airbrush with any plastic parts :)

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I'd be wary of spraying MEK through my badger, I'd be concerned about the O rings.

I used to have a tin of the stuff that I used for cleaning the head of the airbrush though. I'd unscrew the head and take off the little nylon bushing then soak the head in MEK to dissolve any residue in the tip.

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I'd be wary of spraying MEK through my badger, I'd be concerned about the O rings.

I used to have a tin of the stuff that I used for cleaning the head of the airbrush though. I'd unscrew the head and take off the little nylon bushing then soak the head in MEK to dissolve any residue in the tip.

I think you'll find the O rings are nylon. They'll stand up to MEK easily enough. My old Badger 200 didn't have a problem with it.

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I think you'll find the O rings are nylon. They'll stand up to MEK easily enough. My old Badger 200 didn't have a problem with it.

THe o rings in the head are definitely nylon, but what about the needle bearing back inside the body? I'm not so sure about that one.

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hi all i always use the revell airbrush cleaner cleans enamel and acrylics with ease i always leave just a small drop in the airbrush and blow that out before using the next paint.

i had a model that had been hand painted in humbrol gloss black enamel for about 5-6 years and i wanted to redo the model so i covered the model in bum roll lol and then soaked with the cleaner left for around 10-15 minutes and it virtually wiped off.

Danny

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THe o rings in the head are definitely nylon, but what about the needle bearing back inside the body? I'm not so sure about that one.

Not sure, but like I say, mine never had a problem. Anything that got back there in substantial amounts would indicate a problem anyway at the seal near the front end.

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  • 8 months later...

Chaps,

As times move on people are expecting more from our new airbrushes.

Please remember that a lot of these are a lot more precise tools than we used a few years ago.

These days I usually sell brushes with 0.15 or 0.2mm needle and nozzle sets, it used to be 0.35 or 0.5mm nozzles, so it is more important that an appropriate cleaner is used.

Some airbrushes have nylon o rings, these days they are more likely teflon, but a lot have rubber O rings as well.

The general advise is to clean brushes with the least agressive cleaner that you can.

My top picks currently are:

For Enamels: Liquid Reamer - good for a quick spray through, Rustins Cellulose thinner is a good all round cleaner especially as it doesn't have any nasty Xylene in the formula.

For acrylics: The foaming airbrush cleaner to soften dried acrylics is good and the Vallejo airbrush cleaner is a really good general acrylic cleaner.

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Chaps,

As times move on people are expecting more from our new airbrushes.

Please remember that a lot of these are a lot more precise tools than we used a few years ago.

These days I usually sell brushes with 0.15 or 0.2mm needle and nozzle sets, it used to be 0.35 or 0.5mm nozzles, so it is more important that an appropriate cleaner is used.

Some airbrushes have nylon o rings, these days they are more likely teflon, but a lot have rubber O rings as well.

The general advise is to clean brushes with the least agressive cleaner that you can.

My top picks currently are:

For Enamels: Liquid Reamer - good for a quick spray through, Rustins Cellulose thinner is a good all round cleaner especially as it doesn't have any nasty Xylene in the formula.

For acrylics: The foaming airbrush cleaner to soften dried acrylics is good and the Vallejo airbrush cleaner is a really good general acrylic cleaner.

whats your verdict on the Badger canister cleaner? i just bought my first one yesterday. ill keep it for when im using acrylics (when i even do use em) and just in case anything goes wrong in general...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evening all

I use an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS and try and stick to acrylics - not always possible.

With acrylics I clean using IPA - you can buy a litre for c.£9 at the electrical store 'Maplins'. IPA can also be used to thin the paint - MUCH cheaper than using Tamiya thinnners.

At the Yeovilton show this Feb 09 I bought a VGT-2000-digital ultrasonic cleaner. These ultrasonic gizmos work a treat by putting the airbrush parts in a small container of IPA placed in the water bath. The IPA can be decanted into a screw top jar and reused when the sediment has settled.

If forced to use emamels, I blast a shot of turps/white spirit through the brush before following up with the ultrasonic/IPA bath.

Regards

Chris

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I use Muc-Off. It's a pink solution that the mountain bike fraternity (including my brother-in-law) use to clean their bikes. Got a huge bottle from his garage but you can buy it from Halfords. I've used it in my Iwata brushes for the last 12-18 months with no problems at all.

I only spray acrylics.

Steve

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