Does anyone know if it’s safe to clean bristle brushes free of enamel with mineral spirits? I currently use Testors brush cleaner for enamels and have ran out. Can anyone tell me if mineral spirits will do the job?
Over
I do it all the time. Keep a can of Mineral Spirits and a can of Lacquer Thinner on hand all the time. Mineral Spirits is okay for the brushes but the Lacquer thinner is great for thinning enamels and cleaning your airbrush, have to be careful of the fumes.
Swanny, I’ve had lacquer thinner melt the plastic on one model (heller i think), how are you cutting the stuff? I just use it for cleaner after that.
G.L.
Straight lacquer thinner will indeed melt the plastic. This is actually the property that I am after - when you mix a little with your enamel paint, about 20%, the paint thins very nicely, the pigments stay suspended (That can be a problem with Mineral Spirits) and the paint now has some “bite” into the plastic. Not enough to melt the plastic per say but enough so that if you mask overtop it, it will not lift off when the masking is removed. It also evaporates faster than MS so your overall dry time is reduced. The only drawback is the fume factor. You MUST wear a respirator and I reccomend a fume can for cleaning your airbrush.
Generally most use Mineral spirits as an alternate for thinning enamels and flushing out the airbrush between colors. Laquer thinner is excellent as an airbrush cleaner, but as others stated -good ventalation is a must. You can as others have mentioned use Laquer thinner for thinning enamels although however some modelers have experienced a grainy, pebbley texture on the model due to the faster drying properties of Laquer. I’ve had mixed results with thinning with Laquer but I have had more consistant and dependable results with Mineral Spirits and T.R.P.S.(Turpentine Replacemenet Solvent) for enamels. T.R.P.S. is great because it thouroughly cleans the airbrush just as well as Laquer thinner can with far less toxic hazards, fumes and risks to bare styrene. Look for T.R.P.S. at your local home store.
I had used both Mineral Spirits and Lacquer Thinner; I do prefer MS because is not as agressive on plastic as lacquer thinner. I rather wait a little big longer, not to rush over a project.