Cleaning Fiebings from an Airbrush

[Memphis514]

OK, if i use an airbrush to apply Fiebings Pro Dye to a project, what is the best/most reliable/cost effective cleaner to run through the airbrush when i am done?

TIA   --  chris 

[Grumpymann]

I use Denatured alcohol  then water now a days. before I used windex (without amouna ) cut 25/ 75 with water for a fast clean. with a brake down and swab clean about once a week when I do heavy use week. 

[Alaisiagae]

Depends on the components of the airbrush. My dad has some all-metal air gun brushes and after we used wood stain and varnish with it, he cleaned it out by running acetone through it. Acetone is rather harsh and would not be good if your air brush has any plastic pieces. Grumpyman's suggestion would work, though I wouldn't soak any platic parts in alcohol for very long, as there are chemical compatibility issues - especially with acrylic, that stuff is not good at resisting alcohols (isopropanol or ethanol, for instance) and will be damaged easily. You could look up the SDS files of commercially sold cleaners (such as from Angelus?) to get some info about the chemicals in those. But, I'm afraid I'm all out of advice, because I personally don't use an air brush with dye for leatherworking.

[Rahere]

It would be easier, under these instances, to use a venturi brush, which creates an airflow across the mouth of the bottle to create a vacuum sucking its contents into the flow. All you'd have to clean then is the cap of the bottle.

[billybopp]

After spraying dye, I run some isopropyl alcohol through my airbrushes.  If I won't be using it again, it gets disassembled and cleaned in a cheap ultrasonic cleaner that I had lying around.

 

- Bill

[Memphis514]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:02 PM, Grumpymann said:

I use Denatured alcohol  then water now a days. before I used windex (without amouna ) cut 25/ 75 with water for a fast clean. with a brake down and swab clean about once a week when I do heavy use week. 

 

On 9/23/2020 at 4:25 AM, Alaisiagae said:

Depends on the components of the airbrush. My dad has some all-metal air gun brushes and after we used wood stain and varnish with it, he cleaned it out by running acetone through it. Acetone is rather harsh and would not be good if your air brush has any plastic pieces. Grumpyman's suggestion would work, though I wouldn't soak any platic parts in alcohol for very long, as there are chemical compatibility issues - especially with acrylic, that stuff is not good at resisting alcohols (isopropanol or ethanol, for instance) and will be damaged easily. You could look up the SDS files of commercially sold cleaners (such as from Angelus?) to get some info about the chemicals in those. But, I'm afraid I'm all out of advice, because I personally don't use an air brush with dye for leatherworking.

 

On 9/23/2020 at 6:51 AM, Rahere said:

It would be easier, under these instances, to use a venturi brush, which creates an airflow across the mouth of the bottle to create a vacuum sucking its contents into the flow. All you'd have to clean then is the cap of the bottle.

 

On 9/23/2020 at 7:53 AM, billybopp said:

After spraying dye, I run some isopropyl alcohol through my airbrushes.  If I won't be using it again, it gets disassembled and cleaned in a cheap ultrasonic cleaner that I had lying around.

 

- Bill

thank you for all the helpful ideas...it is appreciated