Badger Airbrush cleaner

beginner-James

Mac-Valve Maestro!
If there was a thread covering crap cleaners this would be at the top of the list I'm sure.

Anyway I'm using Liquitex Black ink/acrylic paint in my Micron and I understand there is a inner chamber in this air brush and after I've used it I clean with water then run badger through it with back flushing and just lately I've started to remove the needle clean it and then reinsert it and then leave the air brush over night just to make sure it's running clean next time I come to use my brush. I'm surprised every time I flush my brush out ready to start again how much colour is being sprayed the next morning well this morning was no exception and I removed a so called clean needle to find it coated in paint again.

So I've come to the conclusion that the badger cleaner is not cutting the mustard.

So what is my alternative airbrush cleaner I have Acetone 99.5% pure, Isopropanol 70% and Isopropanol Industrial 100% and createx 4012 airbrush cleaner.

James
 
5618 is the Createx cleaner, very good but there are likely cheaper options.
4012 is Createx high performance reducer.

If you have easy access to Acetone or isopropyl then both will do the job but DONT leave them in the brush!
My routine is:
empty cup, wipe out with tissue,
Flush through with water, backflush during process
Put ‘cleaner’ in cup (not a full cup) Alternate a backflush the a quick spray into spray out pot (do not spray into the air, the cleaners are not good for your lungs) continue until cup is empty.
Pull needle, wipe clean,
Fill cup a few times with clean water and spray out into pot.
Back flush a couple of times just to check there’s no more colour coming back into the cup.

It’s a quick and easy routine, quicker to do than it is to type out lol
 
Thank you Jackie
So I'm no chemist but I think I will mix 50/50 Acetone and 70% Isopropyl and as you say not leave it in the cup/Airbrush to long with out washing/ flushing out with water/bottled drinking water.

I can't believe how much paint sticks to the micron needle would needle juice wiped on the needle help to keep the needle cleaner longer?

James
 
5618 is the Createx cleaner, very good but there are likely cheaper options.
4012 is Createx high performance reducer.

If you have easy access to Acetone or isopropyl then Beth will do the job but DONT leave them in the brush!
My routine is:
empty cup, wipe out with tissue,
Flush through with water, backflush during process
Put ‘cleaner’ in cup (not a full cup) Alternate a backflush the a quick spray into spray out pot (do not spray into the air, the cleaners are not good for your lungs) continue until cup is empty.
Pull needle, wipe clean,
Fill cup a few times with clean water and spray out into pot.
Back flush a couple of times just to check there’s no more colour coming back into the cup.

It’s a quick and easy routine, quicker to do than it is to type out lol
My cleaning routine is virtually the same as Jackie’s. Depending what colour or if there’s any stubborn paint I may use some Acetone, usually end with some water too. If I don’t remove the needle and wipe it down, I will always be left with some colour on it, even if it’s only a small amount.


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Thank you Jackie
So I'm no chemist but I think I will mix 50/50 Acetone and 70% Isopropyl and as you say not leave it in the cup/Airbrush to long with out washing

Acetone OR Isopropyl -I certainly wouldn’t be mixing them together. If you do the routine above then the acetone will only be in contact with seals less than 20 seconds

Always give the needle a good wipe down.
 
I wouldn't mix them either. I have a similar routine to Jackie and Si, I normally use water or a mix of 3/4 water and 1/4 ipa for my flush out. If its really stubborn I use some 2k thinners on some paper towel but not all the time and spray into my pot if there's any in the ab. There's always some paint on the needle so I make sure I clean it and check again just before I put the ab away. I found that when I have polished my needle I get less paint left on it so that may be something to do in the future.

I have some Badger cleaner and I've used it for years, no problems with it so far. However, as each manufacturer makes their own they may be formulated to work best on their own make of paint. I can't be 100% certain on that but its a thought.

Lee
 
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My Cleaning routine is as follows

I always use a cleaning cup with a filter _ reminds me to change filter and wash cup out (dishwasher is great for this but don't tell the wife)

I empty the paint in my airbrush cup fill with water spray until empty and then refill with water back flush and wipe cup with paint brush until cup walls are clean. Empty into a dump pot, wash out again with water until spraying clean then I will add airbrush cleaner spray out a full cup and then refill with cleaner and back flush I will repeat this until I'm happy no more colour is coming out. I will remove needle and wipe, replace add water and wash airbrush of airbrush cleaner recheck there is no more colour coming out of airbrush. BUT just lately I've been adding airbrush cleaner over night and to my surprise when emptying brush cleaner out the first split second there is colour and on removing needle find it's coated with colour.

So my routine is just about the same as yours Jackie and Sir with the exception of leaving brush over night with BADGER airbrush cleaner.
I have read some where that I'm not the only one that leaves cleaner in over night in fact I think Siroxx does the same

James changing to Isopropanol to try I think some airbrush users (Lee) use panel wipe and even 2k thinners
 
running off today to get some brasso I normally use Sparkly solution I bought in Orlando for cleaning/polishing watch straps (brings them up like new) yep I put needle in dremel and polish on a kitchen paper and O'My god you should see the crap that's left behind ( blacker than the ACE of spades) lol

James
 
I still use @Airbrush Dreams tips from his cleaning video and his cleaner recipe he suggested. For stubborn paint in my cup i’ll use 4012 reducer as i always leave my brush with water in it after every session now so sometimes i’ll have a bit of paint residue in my cup. Reucer easily pulls it off.
Only thing i do different now is pull my needle before every session and polish it with the pad you get when you purchase a sharpenair.
Works a treat for me.
 
Do you not think the pad is a bit too heavy grit for polishing.?.
James

Works fine for me, i literally do it by hand.
I rest the tip of the needle on the pad and just twist it by hand.
It cleans the needle up lovely, i get a good hour where i can run 4-1 with my red-paint mix with minimal tip dry.
I find if i don’t do this the cmsb tends to play up from the start.
It’s a fine grit pad anyway so i doubt it’s taking material off from the needle it’s probably just giving it a bit of a clean.
Also i relube the needle every few days but only along the back of the needle maybe from just infront of where it runs through the packing bearing......,if thats what it’s called,
Sorry i’ve had about 2 hours sleep, any questions just fire them at me.
 
Happy New Year, but be careful using a dremel to polish the needle unless your using a polish pad in the end..
I put my needle directly in mine, lost grip of the tip and I was lucky it stuck in the floor when it came out.. I know someone who did the same and had it stick in his leg. A cordless drill is a bit safer. I normally use Solvol Autosol to polish but a really fine abrasive is toothpaste if you want to try it. Makes your needle smell nice too lol.

Lee
 
Morning all well I've been adding Eye lashes to my eye today using liquitex and Mylar film but when it came to cleaning the film the badger Airbrush cleaner wouldn't touch it just I suspected so I used Isopropyl and it cut through like a hot knife through butter.

James
 
Morning all well I've been adding Eye lashes to my eye today using liquitex and Mylar film but when it came to cleaning the film the badger Airbrush cleaner wouldn't touch it just I suspected so I used Isopropyl and it cut through like a hot knife through butter.

James
I have been using liquitex for almost a year and a half and only clean the brush with water and never had the issue you said, now I use a home made cleaner that I make with 5% acetone, 15% IPA, 20% window cleaner and 50% water, and it works like a charm!!


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk
 
Just few words regarding mixing of IPA and acetone... both can be mixed to achieve unique solvency of the resulting mixture depending on the ratio of the two. Acetone is a ketone, an oxygenated solvent with exceptional solvency. IPA on the other hand is an alcohol with poor (compared to acetone) solvency. Compared to acetone, alcohols evaporate slowly so stay longer in a body (for instance airbrush) and alcohols absorb moisture from the environment and become hydrated in the process which may not be a great thing for metals. Acetone evaporates so rapidly, it leaves the surface bone dry and therefore very good for metals in longer run. So by mixing the two we can obtain a mixture that has higher solvency and reduced evaporation rate.

My protocol of cleaning the airbrush is like this. I first rinse the airbrush thoroughly with tap water, followed by distilled water. Then I run a mL or two of IPA and finally 1 mL of acetone, which leaves the airbrush bone dry.

BTW, CA (cyanoacrylate) glue aka superglue debonder is composed of 80% IPA and 20% acetone. It would be very difficult to debond CA glue using either solvent but when mixed in a certain ratio, the solvency increases together with the contact time thus creating optimal conditions for debonding/removing superglue.
 
Be careful using acetone last. Rubber seals o-rings may suffer.
A water rinse and a good blast of air is my last step
 
Be careful using acetone last. Rubber seals o-rings may suffer.
A water rinse and a good blast of air is my last step
If they come in contact with acetone then for sure they will suffer. In completely assembled airbrush, no rubber O-rings are exposed to paints/thinners/solvents. The only thing that is exposed is needle packing O ring that is almost always (at-least in all modern airbrushes) made of PTFE (Teflon) and acetone cannot even scratch PTFE.
 
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