Eliminating brushstrokes and bubbles

[cblakey1]

Someone mentioned one time using windex in their acrylic paint to avoid brushstrokes. What would the windex/paint ratio be and does it blend well?

Thanks!

[CKinSD]

not sure what the ratio is but there is another product called flotrol that is great for this as well. i use about a 1/3 mix of flo to paint.

hey DAnno we need an answer.. or saul or John... any paint master help.... Rick are you around????? lol

[cblakey1]

Originally Posted by CKinSD

not sure what the ratio is but there is another product called flotrol that is great for this as well. i use about a 1/3 mix of flo to paint.

hey DAnno we need an answer.. or saul or John... any paint master help.... Rick are you around????? lol

I’ve tried finding it at the Home Depot and they don’t have it. Of course asking anyone that works there where it is, I get the usual confused look.

I just use regular thinner. Adjust accordingly.

[batman1180]

Originally Posted by cblakey1

I’ve tried finding it at the Home Depot and they don’t have it. Of course asking anyone that works there where it is, I get the usual confused look.

Dude, i was just there last night looking for this and they guy told me they only sold it by the gallon. i pointed at the price tag for the quart right under it that they were out of and said, then what's that for? he got real quite. Home Depot sucks.

I just went home and used some distilled water. worked fine for me.

[Car50n]

i use floetrol. got it from home depot. it's in the house paint section, usually where the additives, dyes, and other "paint-related, but not quite wall paint" things are located.

[Danno]

Floetrol is basically a paint conditioner that in our hobby can be used for several things. Since it extends the "wet life" of the paint, it allows any hand brush artist to perform numerous effects such as blending, glazing, smoother base paint application, translucent effects and such. In the US, it can be purchased from any major paint store like Home Depot, Sherman Williams, Mautz, Hallman Lindsey, etc... Penetrol is basically very sililar except that it is used for oil based paints.

You can easily thin Floetrol with water and how much you add depends on what technique you are going to perform.

For airbrushing with Floetrol, I thin Floetrol with a 50/50 mix of water and Liquitex airbrush medium and thin heavy so that is is very thin and watery (this is also what can be used to thin for washes).

For glazing, I normally do not thin the Floetrol at all and mix about 30% paint to about 70% Floetrol for a nice translucent glaze. (Add more paint for more opaque effects)

For base coating, pour a small bit of paint into a mixing dish and add only a touch of Floetrol to help the paint spread smooth. This product really helps to avoid those unsightly brush marks.

Add a touch more Floetrol to your paint for blending and feathering the color.

Remember, the more Floetrol you add, the more translucent your paint becomes.

Windex is a completely different animal, you can use it to thin paints....but you will need to thin paint VERY heavy with Windex to avoid brush marks. The great thing about Windex is that is has detergent in it to help paint bond to the surface alond with ammonia to help the paint dry very fast. But test windex first as it can make the paint "craze" and turn gummy.

I hope this helps a little.

[cblakey1]

Originally Posted by Danno

I hope this helps a little.

Thanks Dan, it helps ALOT! I'm going to the Depot tomorrow to jack them boys around 'til they find it for me!

[moon_knight1971]

Great tips Danno!

[batman1180]

Thanks danno!