Paint Thinner

hooterville75

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I ran upon these two bottles of Paint Thinner I got at Walmart a couple years ago. It was in a clear bottle with blue writing on the bottle. The price per bottle was like $4.57 for a bigger bottle of it. I proceed to think that Ill use this specifically to clean enamel used paint brushes or even clean the airbrush etc.

I use this stuff to do what I stated above and it DOESN'T CLEAN ANYTHING. Doesn't clean paint brushes, wont take paint off the airbrush etc. I always assumed Paint Thinner was Paint thinner. I then try to thin some Testors Red Enamel to spray through the airbrush with it, with not so good of luck. I use the same paint, but only with the can of Specs Paint Thinner I have in the tin can, and it works perfectly with all of the mentioned above.

Could this paint thinner I had for a couple of years have reached its shelf life or ? Could this paint thinner be junk period or ? It kind of confused me a little.
 
That really all depends on what kind of paint thinner it is.....not all paint thinners will clean up Enamel.....has to be an enamel thinner (or lacquer will also clean up enamel).

Telling us that it is a clear bottle with blue writing that you bought at Walmart, doesn't really tell us anything....if you hadn't said it was paint thinner, I might have guessed it was Future.
 
The little one is about to have a birthday party sleepover with about seven of her little classmates so Ill be sure to get the name of it seeing Ill be in the man cave as much as possible while her sleepover is going on lol. Ill get the name of the Paint Thinner and give to you so you could further possibly analyze this. Sounds like I need to pay closer attention next time I purchase stuff of this caliber. I'm planning on buying some Vallejo and Tamiya thinners both the beginning of this month when I place my paint order.
 
Laquer Thinner. Works as a thinner and cleaner. It's very 'hot', as in it is very strong. It can react badly with some paints. And can melt plastic if spilled on it. Use on enamel, laquer, solvent and oil paints. Fantastic and strong for cleaning, fast drying, and a great thinner for Testors enamel, Floquil enamel, Pactra enamel, and Humbrol enamel. Will dry out O-rings in airbrushes and remove lubricants.

Enamel Thinner and Turpentine. A good thinner, slow drying, and not hot. Won't harm most plastic,but is very oily. Use it on gloss enamels to keep the paint 'wet' longer. That lets it self level, dry slowly, and turn out shiny. Doesn't dry out O-rings and actually works a gentle lubricant in an airbrush.

Isopropyl Alcohol 50%-99%. Works as a good cleaner for Acrylic paints. Alright as a thinner. Can react badly with some brands. Can dry out O-rings.

Windex Glass Cleaner. Works as a good thinner for acrylics. It can react bad with some brands.

Denatured Alcohol. Sort of the Laquer thinner for Acrylic. It's 'hot', thins well, and dries fast. Works fantastic as a cleaner and paint remover for both enamel and acrylic. Works as a gentle lubricant in an airbrush and doesn't dry out the O-rings.

Water. Works OK as thinner in acrylics. Can dry out O-rings. Can react badly with some acrylics. Arch enemy of every oil, enamel, and laquer paint.

Now here's the thing. Every brand will react differently. Certain colors in brands will act differently with thinners. You can only really learn by experimenting. You need to do it for yourself to learn. It's hands on. It's constant trial and error. The net is only going to be useful to you for specific brands and results. Acrylics with water, enamels with oils.

And finally, for the easiest results, you need to use the specific paint brands thinner for the same brand paint. Or, just get to trying it all out. ;) ;D
 
I have both Vallejo and Tamiya paints and thinner coming October 3rd haha. Until it arrives I thought Id play with some stuff that I already have and found that this thinner I currently have from Walmart is good for nothing but a big ole paper weight lol. The Specs Paint Thinner in a white and yellow Tin is awesome. I have 91% Isoprophyl Alcohol and it works great as well. I'm thinking about taking a stab at decanting paint as well perhaps a Tamiya spray can or one of each etc to see how that works as well as I'm hearing that you don't need to thin that as well :D Your right about the experimenting. With the budget I have, Id like to find something that is routine and already proven to work and stick with that ha. I've sprayed my second coat of Testors Red enamel and my first coat of Future. I'm hoping to decal my first model tomorrow afternoon and finishing my FIRST model using different techniques Ive learned since using You Tube and this website :D Super stoaked tonight :D
 
Gundamhead said:
Laquer Thinner. Works as a thinner and cleaner. It's very 'hot', as in it is very strong.

That is not entirely accurate.
There are several degrees of "hot" lacquer thinners and some are "hotter" than others.
Sunnyside Lacquer thinner, for example, is a lacquer thinner that is "mild" in comparison to the stuff you'd find in Home Depot.
If you read the labels on the can and it say medium or slow drying then it is a cold thinner.
If it say fast drying, it's hot.
 
hooterville75 said:
I ran upon these two bottles of Paint Thinner I got at Walmart a couple years ago. It was in a clear bottle with blue writing on the bottle. The price per bottle was like $4.57 for a bigger bottle of it. I proceed to think that Ill use this specifically to clean enamel used paint brushes or even clean the airbrush etc.

I use this stuff to do what I stated above and it DOESN'T CLEAN ANYTHING. Doesn't clean paint brushes, wont take paint off the airbrush etc. I always assumed Paint Thinner was Paint thinner. I then try to thin some Testors Red Enamel to spray through the airbrush with it, with not so good of luck. I use the same paint, but only with the can of Specs Paint Thinner I have in the tin can, and it works perfectly with all of the mentioned above.

Could this paint thinner I had for a couple of years have reached its shelf life or ? Could this paint thinner be junk period or ? It kind of confused me a little.

Was that bottle glass or plastic?
If it was plastic, there's your first clue that it is a "cold" thinner and maybe not a lacquer thinner.
Lacquer thinner will eat through most plastic bottles.
There are some plastic bottles that are solvent resistant but I'm not sure what kind of plastic it is.
And I've never seen lacquer thinner sold in plastic bottles in the hardware stores.
 
Any lacquer thinner is 'hot' for polystyrene plastic (models), and model paint. The bottles of lacquer that are plastic are polypropylene/ethylene, which is more or less impervious to most chemicals.
 
hooterville75 said:
I have both Vallejo and Tamiya paints and thinner coming October 3rd haha. Until it arrives I thought Id play with some stuff that I already have and found that this thinner I currently have from Walmart is good for nothing but a big ole paper weight lol. The Specs Paint Thinner in a white and yellow Tin is awesome. I have 91% Isoprophyl Alcohol and it works great as well. I'm thinking about taking a stab at decanting paint as well perhaps a Tamiya spray can or one of each etc to see how that works as well as I'm hearing that you don't need to thin that as well :D Your right about the experimenting. With the budget I have, Id like to find something that is routine and already proven to work and stick with that ha. I've sprayed my second coat of Testors Red enamel and my first coat of Future. I'm hoping to decal my first model tomorrow afternoon and finishing my FIRST model using different techniques Ive learned since using You Tube and this website :D Super stoaked tonight :D

I don't know about using your thinner on your paints. It's a mineral spirits and it may work on some acrylics, I doubt it will work well. (Oil and water). Tamiya is partly solvent, so maybe (Doubtful), but Vallejo is very water friendly. If you used it with the Testors enamel, you're OK. It'll work fine there.

As to decanting, sure for a particular color, or primer that's unavailable in a smaller amount, but you're wasting your time and money trying to get out of thinning. Odds are you will still need to thin it to use it in an airbrush. Think of it this way, you are paying for the propellant, can, thinner, nozzle, and paint versus thinner and paint.

As for your red. I hope your just painting the red over the red and not red future red future. You also don't need to add Future to a gloss finish.

Future is a trick. It works great because you can make clear parts look like they were polished. You can use Future to coat a model and give it uniform gloss. You don't need to only spary Future, it can be brushed on.
 
No, I went primer, primer, red, red, red, future now Im decaling it and then going to hit it with a coat of Duplicolor Clear coat or possibly another coat of future. Regardless it looks like K9 Poop. haha, will take photos of the finished product to post on here for ya all to make fun of ha ha. Na just playen I know ya all wouldnt do that but Ill post photos. Its definately not a piece Id be content to show. But hey such is the life of a first kit build I guess :) Just like anything else, it will get better with practice.
 

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