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MarcDavidBaits

Windex as Thinner

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Well here goes trouble. Windex has three main parts to it. Water ,alcohol and silicone to put a shine on a window. I have no problem with the first two but the third one I do. If you spray light enough coats you can do it but you are still applying silicone to the part which is not good for the final coat. This is where fish eyes come from. Many may use this but you may as well use just water and alcohol. The thinner I got with my order smelled like it may have had a hint of alcohol but not much. Distilled water with the iron removed is what I would use. Think about it if you get it on the bait without problems it is still under the finish and will not let the finish bite in as good as it could. There was a post earlier this week about a pearl coat that let the clear peel off,these problems are the ones you might encounter. Im not saying that was the problem in his case but those are the weird things that could happen. If you refinish any thing try to follow instructions from the manufacture they paid some one a lot of money to develope the product.:yay:

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I always thought that it worked as a water tension remover,causing the paint to flow smoother.Years ago the acrilic paint line for art work sold a tension breaker for art painting.I checked a few weeks ago at a art store and didn't see it on the shelves.I always thought it was windex type solvent.Don't really know,but it worked great.

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Sorry wrong word it is ammonia that is in windex .I had a bottle of alcohol on the desk when I posted. There is alot of house hold products have silicone in it. Remember one thing if you need to get rid of silicone you need silicone to remove silicone. Wipe on then wipe off.

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Hey guys..............Put a drop of dish detergent into a 1/2 gallon of cool water. Shake it up and leave it uncovered until the bubbles disapear. Use this to thin out cheap water based paints like apple barrel and for cleaning your airbrush. The soap content does break surface tension as was mentioned earlier which allows for better flow. Dont use an ammonia based product in your paint as you are attomizing it and do not want to breath that up. It will destroy your respiratory system and can actually cause brain damage.

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To echo what the last few posters have stated, yes Windex does work but IT IS NOT SAFE TO INHALE WHEN ATOMIZED! Also, talked to an Iwata service rep last year & asked him the same question. He just smiled & said "If you want to keep sending your brush to my service department for maintanence & repair then yes please keep using Windex!" That response along with the wicked headaches & dizziness I got when spraying Windex was reason enough for me to never touch that stuff with a ten foot pole ever again, even for window cleaning!.

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Ah, so deska! Now I understand why I'm so dumb....windex brain damage! ;)

Seriously, I think I have the newer Windex, but, if not, I'll put the Windex in the truck window washer, and some dish washing detergent and water in my clean up bottle.

Thanks for the heads up.

Does the ammonia attack the teflon seals? Or the O rings?

Edited by mark poulson
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I have been using some stuff called Flotrol. It is from home depot and it is a medium for acrylic paints. If it does not get it thin enough for me, I can add water and it doesnt damage the adhesive properties because flotrol is pretty much acrylic paint with no pigment. Dunno, have not used it with every craft paint yet, but works for some of the thicke folk art stuff.

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I met a guy who airbrushes cars and bikes for a living, and has been doing so for many many years, he says the best thing he has found is this:

1 cup rubbing alcohol

4 cups water

1 cup glass cleaner

5 drops glycerine

I'd take this guys opinion in high reguard, he knows his poo, but I don't know if this is bad or good as far as our little niche goes. Opinions?

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Tap water in a spray bottle. Works, it's cheap and easy to mix up a batch:lol: Createx says right on the bottle it can be thinned with water. I believe it. If you use esoteric airbrush paint with special formulation, something more may be needed or helpful. Using Createx, Smith Wildlife, Polytranspar, and Van Dykes acrylics, I haven't felt the need. Army Doc, the mix you posted contains stuff that is already in most airbrush paints as flow enhancer and surfactant. No harm, no foul. It should work good.

Sometimes it seems to me that TUers are prone to gild every lily! (I'm not talking about thinning agents here, but it's related). It's fine if based on solid experience or scientific fact. But we see lots of posts about finish failures for seemingly mysterious reasons. The finish on a crankbait is a SYSTEM that works together to make it durable and pretty. There is chemical bonding and interaction between the finish layers going on, and they need to be compatible or problems will bite you on the .... For me, the best way to avoid problems has been to keep it simple. Use a set of compatible coatings and don't throw 'mystery ingredients' into the mix. If you do, recognize you're conducting an experiment that may fail.

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Well said Bob . Just to many bench chemist out there for me. I let the paint manufactures do all the studying for me. That is what I pay them for(buy there product). A system is the best policy.

Wise words from both Frank and Bob.....don't play home chemistry with paints and cleaning supplies, then put them in your airbrush to atomize into the air your breathing.:?Not a good idea in my book.

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