Cleaning varnish out of an airbrush

[Guest]

Been using the Vallejo gloss varnish (after the recommendation off here) in my airbrush, works pretty well but now feels like it's gunking the thing up. What's the best thing for cleaning an airbrush that's had varnish in it and now potentially has it dried up in the innards? IPA doesn't seem to shift it that well and using airbrush cleaner (I have the "Spraycraft" stuff) seems wasteful - I tend to only use that as a final clear up for normal (acrylic) paint after giving it a rinse through with IPA.

I almost feel like "hot water" wouldn't be a bad thing to try - feel like it would dissolve any dried on crud - but am probably just totally misunderstanding how the varnish is formulated!

Any suggestions welcome, cheers!

[Guest]

Not sure about vallejo specifically but if it's dried and cured in there you'll need something specific to shift it.Alternatively a clean through with cellulose thinners well do the trick.Hot water would be fine if done immediately after use but not once three paint has dried and cured.

[Guest]

Cheers, I take it that the Spraycraft Airbrush cleaner is a different chemical to cellulose thinners? Can cellulose thinners be had from B&Q/Homebase etc generally?

[stona]

Can cellulose thinners be had from B&Q/Homebase etc generally?

It can indeed,I get mine from Halfords. Cellulose thinners (lacquer thinner across the pond) is a generic term for a mixture of solvents,they are not all the same,but one from the shops you mention will be fine for cleaning your brush.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks, of course thinking about this, this is in my "cheap" AB so presume that cellulose thinners won't do it much good internally (having read you need teflon seals etc?). Out of interest does the airbrush cleaner I keep banging on about have a similarly destructive effect or will the AB be resistant to that?

(Really sorry for all these Qs!!!)

[Guest]

Most airbrush cleaners are alcohol based I think

Cellulose thinners will melt rubber seals eventually but you have very little choice now

[Ian M]

I use Alclad air brush cleaner. As of yet I have to find something it can't clean out. Even if It's been dry for day or two!

Ian M

[Guest]

Rob easy to be clever after the event. But saves all of your present problems.

I varied my cleaning to start with not very thorough. Now I clean after every session.

Run under fast running water to get rid of all the stuff in the bowl & as much form the nozzle end.

Then clip back onto the compressor hose & using Vallegro air brush cleaner blow a bowl of the cleaner through.

I then remove the nozzle clean the end of the needle showing. Run water through the nozzle & using s reamer clean the nozzle hole & view against the light to see it is free of paint.

Since starting this regime not had one problem. Takes a little more time but if you are getting good results every time & do not have to resort to heavy cleaning that is time well invested.

Every now & then I dismantle the whole lot. Pull brushes through all the parts then place in a sonic cleaner just to go over the top.

Laurie

[Guest]

I do dismantle after most sessions to be honest and was following my usual "intermediate" cleaning regime (ie. blast through with various cleaning liquids) but the IPA just wasn't really shifting it that easily. I thought I'd got it reasonably clean (or rather as clean as I ever get it with an "intermediate" clean with normal paint but am now finding it just that bit gunked up.

Maybe I'll give the Alclad AB cleaner a try!

[stona]

We all find a regime that works for us. I don't strip down my airbrushes at the end of every session,I just give them a good flush through. Every few weeks,typically at the end of a project,I strip them all down give them a really thorough clean,soak and spin in the ulrasonic cleaner before re-assembling and lubeing them ready for the next job.

I've got a couple of fairly elderly Iwatas that work as well today as the day I bought them.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

This is the technique I use after every session, once into the routine you can do this quite quickly.The only amendment is that I clean the emulsion tube with an interdental brush, 0.6mm.

[stona]

m1ks's that is an admirable regime and very effective I'm sure. I'm just too lazy to jump through all those hoops every time I use an airbrush. If I know that I'll be using an airbrush frequently over the next few days,as I'm doing now at the major painting stage of my latest project,I just give it a good flush and rinse after a session.

There's no right or wrong here,it's whatever each individual is comfortable with.

Cheers

Steve