All paint thinners are not made equal. Some are designed for cleaning brushes, guns and equipment; others are for use with oil-based paints, stains and varnishes to provide a superior finish. The key to achieving a top-notch paint job is understanding which type of thinner to use for which situation.
What Are Paint Thinners?
The term’ paint thinner’ refers to a generic group of solvents and solvent blends that can dissolve oil-based coatings and reduce their viscosity. The most commonly used chemicals in thinners include:
- Acetone, Dimethylformamide (DMF)
- Glycol ethers
- Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)
- Mineral spirits (white spirit)
- Naphtha
- Toluene
- Turpentine
- Xylene
What’s The Difference Between Thinners For Cleaning And Thinners For Spray Application?
Purity is the weapon of a paint thinner – the more pure; the better the finish. Thinners that contain a high volume of particles and recycled solvent content are only suitable for cleaning. The debris will clog your spray gun and contaminate your finish if you try to use these lower quality thinners with paint.
What Happens If I Don’t Use Paint Thinner?
Thinner is used to allow the paint to atomise through the spray gun correctly and give a fine finish. If you are using a high pressure airless paint system then you may not require thinner as the pump will force the paint through the nozzle at high pressure.
However if you are using a conventional spray gun without thinner, the paint could dry matt, have orange peel effect or a very uneven finish.
Can I use gun wash or standard thinners in my paint? We would never recommend using gun wash or standard thinners in paint. These products are recycled solvent and have varying quantities of water in the solution. When putting this in paint it will likely cause major problems including not drying, blooming, going matt or flaking off the substrate.