Bob, For years I have kept a large glass jar, with a tight fitting lid, 2/3 full with a 50% mix of ammonia and household cleaner, such as Lysol, to clean my paint bottles. When I empty a bottle, I drop it and the lid into the mix: no need to wipe any paint off. When the jar is full or I need some bottles, I dump the whole mess into a utility sink with the water running and stand back: the fumes are intense. The bottles will usually be crystal clear after a wipe with a paper towel. Sometimes the lids need a bit of brushing with an old toothbrush. You may loose some lids, which you used to be able to replace cheaply. I have a drawer full of clean bottles in my estate<g>.
Roger Nulton From: Bob Werre Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2012 3:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} painter's decisions We've a bit of a cold spell here, but it did warm up enough to mix a small batch of paint and do a bit of airbrushing. That went fairly well, I think. Problem that I'm having is simple matter of housekeeping, economics and perhaps health. I've always had a devil of a time managing that little bit of paint left over when completing a job. I like to keep my mixes until I've had a chance to closely inspect my work. More than once, I've missed a little area, so basically it's worthwhile to do so. However, eventually the model is reassembled, put on the layout and the next project is started. This now leaves me with that mixing bottle with aging paint that will eventually dry and harden like concrete. I do tend to forget those until the next painting session some months down the road. Now here is where the decisions come in. Do I throw out those little bottles and buy more. Do I try and clean those bottles (I do that now when possible) using solvents--(besides the airbrush has to be cleaned anyhow). The issues here are that I'm spending a fair amount of time cleaning them out. Next the cost and ill effects of the solvents are something to consider too--I generally wear a respirator and gloves, but they're not fool proof. Rather than bring up wheel flanges, couplers and the like, I thought I would see what opinions you might have! Bob Werre PhotoTraxx
