A cheap tool for cleaning the airbrush

[Mysterion]

I'm a big fan of using nail polish for painting models. I like the idea of just running to the drugstore and finding a really cool color for 2 bucks.

I just realized how well the brush inside it is for cleaning my airbrush. On my spray and touch up guns, I use acid/epoxy tin handled brushes for cleaning hard to reach places but they are a bit clumsy and big for the AB.

When you use all the nail polish, clean the jar and brush with lacquer thinner, then fill the bottle with the same. You now have a great little brush for reaching into the color cup and any other spot that's hard to reach with a rag. When your done, put the cap back on until you need it again.

I found the brush soft enough to clean the aircap/head assembly without harming the needle.

[koffinbuilder64]

Good tip Dave!! I'll keep it in mind.

[Wardster]

This next tip would likely be too big for a use on a standard airbrush, but for something a bit larger (like a "touch-up" gun; also sometimes known as a "door jamb gun") our local dollar stores had some great "inter-dental" (tooth-cleaning) products that worked great on cleaning out the paint-flow tip; and the many tiny air holes and so on. They are sort of like really tiny pipe cleaners; except made to get into tiny tube-shaped spaces, to clean the tube's walls. (Well, that's what I'm using them for, anyway! They're really used for cleaning between a person's teeth!) A pack of ten of the tiny, disposable little "between your teeth" brushes was only something like two bucks. Works great on getting larger-sized guns cleaned out well; in the areas where a person would normally try to use something like wire, to open holes up.

For cleaning things like the harder-to-reach spots on the insides of airbrush (and/or regular) paint bottles and the like, I've found that bending the metal handles on a standard acid brush makes it into a great "getting into and around tight corners" cleaning tool.

[colbart/colin]

Tepe brushes, bain of my life

I have 2 different Dental Hygenists, both with different ideas.

One tells me use the Yellow (thickest), to really clean between all my teeth. The other tells me Blue for incisors and those I can 'reach' and Orange (back teeth).


Pink 0.4mm
Orange 0.45mm
Red 0.5mm


The Red and Orange would be best for smaller air sprayers, depends on what needle size used on airbrush. There are thinner available.