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OK so this subject has probably been covered a lot, but I've seen a lot of conflicting responses, and some that disagree with my own observations.

So there are a variety of things you can 'thin' (I think this word needs some more definition) acrylic paint with:
- Water
- Acrylic Medium (e.g. Liquitex, W&N Galeria et al)
- GW's 'Lahmium' Medium (which seems to just be a mixture of Acrylic Medium and water if YT videos are to be believed)
- Flow Improver
- Isopropyl Alcohol (or even Vodka I've seen people use)
- Window Cleaner
- Airbrush Thinner
- Combinations of the above

I believe that when we are talking about thinning a paint, there is some confusion between thinning the consistency of the paint vs thinning the opacity of the paint.

My observations are thus:

- Water: Fine for general purpose thinning of both opacity and consistency up to a certain point. Beyond that point you get drying rings.
- Acrylic Medium: For thinning the opacity of the paint, but NOT the consistency. presumably useless for thinning for airbrushes, but great for making glazes
- Lahmium medium: Predictably, somewhere in between the effects of water and acrylic medium
- Flow Improver: Good for the purpose of thinning the consistency (sort of) of the paint by reducing surface tension, allowing it to flow in/through small gaps more easily. Care must be taken as it often arrives in concentrated form and needs watering down in order for the paint to retain decent adhesion...which obviously introduces the effects of thinning with water as well (which is usually fine)
- Alcohol: Haven't tried thinning paint with this yet, but initially my thoughts are that it'll be a similar effect to Flow Improver, but will dry MUCH more quickly, potentially resulting in drying rings?
- Airbrush thinner/medium: Haven't tried this yet, would rather find out if anything I have already would do the job instead so I'm not spending money on stuff I don't need.
- Window Cleaner: Haven't tried this either, but I would guess it would be similar to alcohol?
- Combinations of the above: Most of you have probably seen the wash recipe that Les Bursley popularised that consists of making a wash base from water, acrylic medium, and flow improver. I've made plenty of washes with it but haven't tried using it to thin paint for general brushwork or airbrushing yet; wondering how well that would work - has anyone tried it?

I recently took the plunge and bought an airbrush (a Paasche Talon), but haven't actually used it yet. I want to make sure I'm thinning using the right stuff before putting anything potentially damaging/life shortening through it.

So, I suppose my questions are:
- Has anyone done any comparisons of the various ways of thinning?
- Which of the above have you had the most success with for thinning for an airbrush, and do I really need to buy airbrush thinner?
- What are the disadvantages of thinning for airbrush with water?
- Which of the above have you had the most success with for thinning for brushwork?
- I see people recommending using acrylic medium for thinning for an airbrush, which seems to make no sense - I thought the main reason for thinning for an airbrush was so that the paint doesn't get 'stuck' in the tiny gap it has to go through, resulting in needing to clean the needle way more often than you need to? I understand that airbrush medium is something different.
- What's the difference between airbrush medium and airbrush thinner (if any)?

Thanks

I've been using the Les recipe as a general paint thinner. I think it works just fine; better than water alone.

But everyone does things a little differently, so it's the sort of thing you really have to try for yourself and see what works best for you.