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Hello fellow airbrushers.

I have an interrogation concerning the cleaning of the airbrush during painting, when you want to use different colors. My airbrush is a Paasche Talon.

I personaly use a solution of 1:9 isopropanol / distilled water. It is quite efficient to remove the paint. Then I dry the cup with a soft cloth, and I spray air with the airbrush until there is not a trace of water is the airbrush.

That the way I do it, and I would like to know how do you clean yours : I think this is not 100% efficient, because when I add some paint in the cup (I use Vallejo air model or game paint), the paint tends to clog. I think this is a reaction between the paint and the remaining water in the airbrush, but I am not sure.

Many thanks for your help !

> I have an interrogation concerning the cleaning of the airbrush during painting,

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Jokes aside, I am the laziest airbrush owner in the world.

For colour changes, I will generally run Vallejo cleaner or thinner through it - followed by water. I don't wipe the cup out, but I do mix the cleaner with an old brush and get it all clean. If it is a similar colour in a gradient, I will just run water through it.

I make up for all this by frequent trips to a 90 minute isopropyl ultrasonic bath.

Your clogging sounds like a problem with the isopropanol, not the water - which is why I stopped rinsing the cup with it.

Also 1:9 sounds like a ridiculously weak mix

I have a little flush system. I got some big pipettes, one for water, one for airbrush cleaner.
I swish the water in and out a few times, dump it, do it again and repeat until it runs clear. Then I do the same with some cleaning fluid, blast some through the brush, and change colour.

Sounds complex but I only need about £0.10 of pipettes, a water dish, a 2 litre soda bottle with a hole cut in it and 2" of water in the bottom.
I do a proper cup and collar clean at the end of the day.

I use a bottle of water to force wash out what I can from the cup, then fill up the cup with Windex, spray it out completely, and if it is not clean then I do it again until it is clean.

I keep a three gallon bucket full of lukewarm water near my table. I hold the airbrush under the water and pull the trigger. I do it after every color change or when I run out of the current color I'm using.

 albinoork wrote:
I keep a three gallon bucket full of lukewarm water near my table. I hold the airbrush under the water and pull the trigger. I do it after every color change or when I run out of the current color I'm using.

This is fantastic, I'm trying it

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I have a little flush system. I got some big pipettes, one for water, one for airbrush cleaner.
I swish the water in and out a few times, dump it, do it again and repeat until it runs clear. Then I do the same with some cleaning fluid, blast some through the brush, and change colour.

Sounds complex but I only need about £0.10 of pipettes, a water dish, a 2 litre soda bottle with a hole cut in it and 2" of water in the bottom.
I do a proper cup and collar clean at the end of the day.

Pretty similar to me, except I use a squeeze water bottle like this instead of pipettes:

http://www.amazon.ca/Squeeze-Bottle-Transparent-Liquid-Container/dp/B00V4TFJXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438567016&sr=8-1&keywords=scientific+water+bottle

A long time ago, I also used a water bottle with 2 holes cut in it, til my wife gave me an Iwata cleaning station.

The cleaner I mostly use is the Iwata one, as it is a fraction of the cost of Vallejo. Afterwards, I clean with pipe cleaners and run the front parts with an ultrasonic (the head, nozzle, etc)

I get up and run water through it from a close by faucet for color changes.

For a deep cleaning, I dissasseble and let the parts sit in warm/hot water and splash of Simple Green for 30 minutes followed by 2 or three cycles in an ultrasonic bath.

Thanks guys.

I'm gonna drop the isopropanol and grab some Iwata cleaner, sounds more efficient

kb_lock wrote:

 albinoork wrote:
I keep a three gallon bucket full of lukewarm water near my table. I hold the airbrush under the water and pull the trigger. I do it after every color change or when I run out of the current color I'm using.

This is fantastic, I'm trying it

I haven't clogged since I started using it. Clean up after goes quickly as well.

Just a curious question. How long you keep your ultrasonic cleaner bath going?

99minutes (the maximum)

Speaking of cleaning, anyone had any luck unblocking the air intake valve on a brush? For whatever reason my cherished little Aerograph Super 63 has stopped taking air up through the base. It's through being stored and unused, rather than paint spills. The pin still depressed, and I can see it move from below as well, but nothing passes. I sent her off to be ultrasonic cleaned at the OH's lab today, but I'm like a parent with a kid in surgery.
I don't know how to get that part open if this doesn't work.

When you put your airbrush in the ultrasonic, do you put every parts, including the main body ? I would be a bit worried for the air intake valve : there are some sensitive parts in it (valve and spring), is it same to let them 1-2 hours in the water ?

I put the whole thing in the ultrasonic, anything that paint touches.

Though, the tub is slightly too small for the needle, so I polish that manually (easy).

I doubt that 91%+ isopropanol is bad to let anything besides skin soak in, but what do I know

It's not super great for your O-rings.

Or your airbrush's. Makes them a little brittle over time.

Other than that, nope.

I run 91% through it, and spray til clear.
(wipe out the cup with a qtip).

Unless, I was spraying some really nasty or thick paint, then I run 99% alcohol through it, and maybe take the tip out and clean the inside with a pipe cleaner.