Obviously the names are different but can you use them interchangeably?
I’ve been airbrushing with enamel paint. A large jug of thinner I inherited when I bought my house saids mineral spirits on it. I’ve been using this mineral spirit to clean enamel paints. Just yesterday, I looked at the bottle of clear semi gloss I’ve been using and it saids “laquer” on it. Going back and reading the mineral spirit jug, it said to not use to clean acrylic (obviously) but also said not for laquer.
Considering I’ve been thinning the laquer semi gloss with enamel thinner and cleaning with mineral spirits, have I done bad things to the internals of my airbrush?
You’re airbrush is probably OK.
The term “mineral spirits” is usually interchangeable with “paint thinner” and “white spirits.” They’re are good for thinning enamel paint and cleaning up afterwards.
Lacquer thinner is a different mixture of chemicals altogether. While meant to thin and clean up lacquer paints, it is also strong enough to clean up/cut through enamel and acrylic based paints. Mineral spirits, on the other hand, generally aren’t strong enough to cut through lacquer-based paints.
All airbrushes I know of can handle lacquer paints and thinner. If anything, you might have constricted the airflow a bit by allowing lacquer deposits to build up when the mineral spirits wouldn’t remove them, in which case a run through or soaking of lacquer thinner will probably remove them (if you’re going to soak, remove rubber/Teflon gaskets first). But if your brush seems to be working OK, it probably is.
Thanks CK!!
I guess when the gallon of mineral spirit is gone, I’ll get the laquer thinner since it seems to work on enamel and laquer at the same time.
just remember (as always) to wear a respirator, lacquer thinner is some powerful mojo! And watch how much you use to thin, it is a bit hot and can eat into plastic. A lot of people use mineral spirits to thin, lacquer thinner to clean… But if you work it right you can use the lacquer thinner for both…
I’ve got bad lungs as it is and currently spending $30/month on lung medication so a $30 respirator is a drop in the bucket. Being that I live in humid Houston, TX, I don’t have a choice but paint indoors during the summer. I have a homemade paint booth venting outside. For cleaning, I use a huge cardboard box with a small hole cut in the corner to spray thinner into then taking the box outside to vent.
I use MM airbrush thinner to thin and only use cheaper stuffs to clean the airbrush.