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Cleaning Folk Art Paint

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It would help to know a little about your airbrush Doc. What size nozzle are you spraying it through? Is it clogged or acting like it's trying to? I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Folk Art is actually meant to be used as an airbrush paint. Especially if your using a nozzle size that's .3mm or smaller. The pigments in airbrush paints are ground to a smaller size than other paints so they can be sprayed through the smaller nozzles commonly associated with airbrushes. That being said I'm pretty sure that Folk Art paint is an acrylic so cleanup with soap and water should work. Createx makes something called Airbrush Restorer that dissolves any old, dried out paint that is left behind after cleaning. Not sure if it works on anything other than acrylic (water based) paint, but it's well worth the money when your having to deal with an airbrush that's not spraying properly. All you have to do is soak the front end of the brush in it for a few hours. Or overnight if the airbrush is really dirty. Then just clean it as you normally would. And the Airbrush Restorer can be used multiple times. I keep mine in a small jar with a screw lid on it. You can find it at any of the places that sell the Createx line of paints.

Ben

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What Ben said. It would be helpful to know what type airbrush you are using. I've sprayed Folk Art through a single action Badger using their pure orange mixed with nutmeg for Longhorn burnt orange on an RC airplane. It seems like the whole line is heavy base. That is just my feeling, I could be wrong.

It is a pain the clean up. Soaking, (back flushing like Mark posted), and gently cleaning with a toothbrush is good.Try running a bristle through the nozzle both ways.

Much easier if you have a floating nozzle. It is hard enough to keep your fingers on the tiny screw type.

G

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During color changes I first use plain tap water to backflush the brush repeating until there are no signs of paint blowing back into the bowl. Some colors are harder to clean up because of the type, and amount, of pigments used. White seems the hardest for me. Depending on how many color changes I make, the color of paint, and the amount of paint used, I will run a small amount of acetone through the airbrush and use the same backflushing procedure as with water. Backflushing with acetone is used after the brush has been flushed with water first. With certain colors you will be amazed at how much paint the acetone will knock out of the brush even after backflushing with water. Hope this helps.

Ben

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Something I forgot to mention is that you need to be careful when using Windex. I don't have first hand knowledge of this, but have read in numerous places that the ammonia in Windex will take the chrome off of your airbrush. Just make sure your using the ammonia free version.

Ben

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I use a bottle type sprayer and when Im done with a color I plug an extra bottle on that is filled only with cold water. Blow it through into an open bowl with some paper towels in it until it runs clear. I then remove the bottle and blow just with air. This takes 20 seconds.........I use FolkArt paints all the time.

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Future works great but "There is no free lunch". If you're using Future floor polish to thin paint, one thing you don't want is dried paint inside the airbrush. Future is formulated to wear well on floors, and so it's tough stuff. I rinse out my a/b and backwash the tip after every paint shot but like most, I'm not always good about cleaning the whole brush after a painting session. I've sometimes left paint back in the barrel of the a/b around the needle packing. When that happens, the next time I use the brush, the trigger is stuck solid and will not move backwards because the Future set so hard in the barrel that it glued the needle in the packing. Takes needle nose pliers to rip the needle out of there! So do a very good cleaning before you store your a/b, if you use Future.

The more volatile the solvent you use to clean an airbrush, the faster it works. Acetone works better/faster than most.

Edited by BobP
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Big hand for you BobP. Thought I'd try Future since it has been a few years since the last time.

Couldn't find it, so picked up some Acrylic Floor Finish at the Family Dollar. Says on the label "Compare to the Performance of Future."

Don't get me lying, I'm not a chemist so I don't know what Styrene-Acrylic Copolymer, Diethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether, Dipropylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether, or Tributoxyethyl Phosphate are, much less what they do.

I mix the floor finish with water 50/50.

Then I mix 3 parts paint to 1 part of the solution.

(I strain my paint before adding the floor finish.water solution)

Last couple of days I've shot both Anita's Metallics and Folk Art colors no dry tip.

The paint shoots smoother too.

I was spending quite a bit a time trying to get Anita's, Apple Barrel, and Folk art ratios right and often still got dry tip.

After a couple of days of this, I'm actually enjoying my airbrush.

(on the other hand, it could be just the fumes making me happy) :tipsy:

I've been backflushing between colors and then shooting the GREEN Windex (w/winegar) between color changes.

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