Building an Airbrush Cleaning Station

Last week, I added Airbrush Paints to my long list of Airbrush Articles. This week I'm going to show you how to make your own airbrush cleaning station. What is it you ask? This allows you to spray out your airbrush at full strength without making a mess. Use it when gently cleaning between paints or for running a ton of water and airbrush cleaner through for a full clean.

If you're not much of a do-it-yourselfer, you can always find them online for about $30 or so, which isn't much, but what I'm going to show you will cost A LOT less. Something that some store-bought cleaning stations will include are filters to do a better job of handling the extra air that escapes but this tends to work just fine.

All it takes is some kind of small jar and a little bit of green stuff - practically free!

In this case, I'm using a plastic container that was full of cable ends. You could use a jam jar, margarine container or anything else with a wide enough top. (A juice bottle would be too small.) The larger your container, the more it'll handle blow-back. (It'll just take up more space.)

Next drill or cut a hole on one side around the size of a nickel. Basically large enough to fit your airbrush through and a little more.

Mix up a small ball of green stuff , stick it in the hole and smooth it over both sides of the hole. Press it against the lid tightly because you want a good seal. (Though you can always add a bead of super glue around the edge of the green stuff once you're done.)

Next take some kind of tool took poke a hole through the green stuff and pull a lip up. Work it around to make a hole that your airbrush will fit through. I used a metal sculpting tool, but you could also use the end of a brush. Try for an angle into the container, not straight down, so it doesn't end up spraying directly against the container.

If the gap is too large, you'll end up spraying yourself with some of the excess as you clean out your airbrush. Fit the front of your airbrush in and gently push the green stuff closed around it. Not too tight, as you want to be able to easily remove it still. Covering the airbrush, the green stuff or both in water first will prevent them from sticking together.

As a final step, poke / cut another hole in the side opposite your first hole. This becomes an escape for air while most of the water, soap and paint collect in the bottom of your container. (Without this, you'll definitely get blow-back.)

And there you go!


After using it, just rinse with water.