Hi, I was wondering if I could use denatured alcohol as a airbrush paint thinner, I am using polly scale paint.
Could you? Sure. Should you? That’s a horse of a different color. Personally, I use denatured alcohol as a track cleaner. I use 35% isopropyl alcohol (that is, the 70% stuff you buy at the store, diluted 50% with filtered or distilled water) as a thinner for acrylics, which is the only kind I use. For solvent based paints, I would stick with the thinners sold for those paints.
71% isopropyl alcohol is basically what is in those expensive acrylic paint thinners. I buy mine at the local Walmart, and use it for thinning Polly Scale acrylic paint. Polly Scale is not ‘air brush ready’. Each color is a little different due to the pigments used. I thin my paint with alcohol to the consistency of 2% milk - it will spray very well with 20-25 lbs of air pressure. Like all acrylics, clean your air brush immediately after painting. Acrylic paint dries very fast and ‘hard’ - and can mean a complete tear down of the air brush , and a soaking of the metal parts in lacquer thinner to unclog it!
Jim
When I first tried PollyScale for airbrushing, I used 70% alcohol, as I had seen recommended here, and had all sorts of problems with the paint clogging the tip because it was drying too fast. I went back to Floquil, which I’ve been using since the '50s, thinning with lacquer thinner.
Some time ago, Floquil became difficult to obtain in this area, and I decided to give Pollyscale another try. This time, however, I checked out their website for info on thinning, spray pressures, etc. Testors recommends either their own thinner for Pollyscale or distilled water, and a pressure of 15-25psi. Using distilled water and spraying at about 20psi, I had no trouble whatsoever with clogs, and during a subsequent painting session, did 4 dozen various freight cars with zero clogs. Clean-up was about the same as with lacquer-based paints. Since water isn’t readily available in my paint shop (and would freeze during the winter months) I used lacquer thinner for clean-up, with good results.
Wayne
Wayne-- that’s exactly why I use 35% isopropyl – to keep the paint from drying too fast. As far as gunking up the airbrush, I shoot a cupful of soapy water through the bruch after every cup of paint, and keep an old mayonnais jar of soapy water nearby. As soon as I’m done with something, into the soapy water it goes. If something does get gunked up, old fashioned window cleaner with ammonia will strip it right off. I resist using the Testors thinner because it’s so expensive (which I suspect is why the OP asked the question to begin with).
Sunnyside,
I’m surprised,that you didn’t use your own product,Sunnyside Corporation,Wheeling,IL. makers of chemical products,alcohol,solvents etc. LOL…
Cheers,
Frank
LOL!!! that is where I got my user name from! Thanks a bunch everyone you have helped me alot!!![:D]
No… Denatured alcohol makes a better paint stripper then 91 or 71% alcohol…Use 71%.
When you use any type of alcohol be sure to wear protective gloves.
Why?
Alcohol will absorb through the skin and can lead to alcohol poisoning…
Alcohol poisoning is the colloquial term for acute alcohol intoxication, which is a problem for binge drinkers or people whose BAC approaches 0.5% (where intoxication generally occurs around 0.2%). While alcohol can be absorbed through the skin, it does not do so in sufficient quantites to cause poisoning. A far greater risk is the breathing of fumes, contact with the mucous membranes, or accidental ingestion. Healthcare workers wear rubber gloves to protect themselves from bodily fluids of their parients, not for fear of alcohol poisoning, While both denatured alcohol and isopropyl alcohol are made from ethanol, drnatured alcohol contains petroleum distillates which makes it better suited for stripper than thinner.
Methyl alcohol is useful as a paint stripper, too, but it’s readily absorbed through the skin. Short term hazard is nerve damage, with long term exposure causing liver and kidney problems. Fumes. of course, are hazardous, too. The fumes of many such volatile compounds are also readily absorbed through the eyes - it’s surprising how many chemicals which used to be “safe” lost that status with the advent of MSDS. [:-^]
Wayne
I was just passing on what I was told by a nurse…The rubbing acohol can be absorb through the skin and can cause poisoning.
Use gloves.
Just a little correction here for those interested in obscure facts. Denatured alcohol is ethanol that has had petroleum distillates or other denaturing agents added to make it undrinkable. Isopropyl alcohol isn’t made from ethanol it is a larger molecule made from propene by a chemical process. The two alcohols are decent solvents and good for hobby purposes if used with common sense.
Joe
Thanks for the correction, Joe. I have obviously been away from the Chem lab too long, and my information is getting mixed. Upon conducting a little research, it is apparent that EITHER isopropyl or ethyl alcohol can be sold as rubbing alcohol, which led me to conflate the two. Perhaps a healthcare worker who is exposed to the stuff nearly continuously for an entire shift, 5 or more days a week might be at some risk, but I and most people of my acquaintance have used the stuff for decades, in moderation, for painting, sterilizing, and cleaning, with nary a problem. Never a glove in sight.
Of course, we’re WAAAAY off-topic now, so pehaps it is time to let this thread go quietly into that good night.