Distilled Water?
#1
Quick question.

On my small collection of Polly Scale paints it says to use Distilled Water when thinning paints for airbrushing at a ratio of 4 parts paint, 1 part water? Is it necessary to use distilled water or will just plain ol' tap water be fine?

Thanks.
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#2
tetters Wrote:Quick question.

On my small collection of Polly Scale paints it says to use Distilled Water when thinning paints for airbrushing at a ratio of 4 parts paint, 1 part water? Is it necessary to use distilled water or will just plain ol' tap water be fine?

If you have hard water, you may cause slight discoloration of the paint. I doubt tap water anywhere is hard enough to cause precipitation of solids or chemical reactions when mixed with the paint. I use tap water (actually I just did 10 minutes ago) and don't worry about it. You can get distilled water at the supermarket, a buck or two per gallon, and it could last you forever if this is all you use it for.
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#3
I suppose that it depends on the quality of your tap water.

Hard water with a lot of minerals will effect the quality of the paint job.

Chlorines and Flourines may also effect the paint, but they will settle or off-gas if you let the water sit overnight...

Pure distilled water is only ~$1.50CAD for 4-litres, and it makes a better cup of tea or coffee than tap water.

Another way around the subject is to filter the water. Use a fresh "Brita" filter or reverse osmosis filter on your domestic supply.
Ron Wm. Hurlbut
Toronto, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Ontario Narrow Gauge Show
Humber Valley & Simcoe Railway Blog
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#4
You can also get distilled (or close to it) water out of your dehumidifier.

Andrew
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#5
MasonJar Wrote:You can also get distilled (or close to it) water out of your dehumidifier.

Andrew

I suppose that you are correct, but you may have dust, lint and cat/dog fur in the mix, unless you've got a good clean filter on it...
Ron Wm. Hurlbut
Toronto, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Ontario Narrow Gauge Show
Humber Valley & Simcoe Railway Blog
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#6
A CHEAP coffee filter will remove all that and dead insects, too ! Icon_lol
James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
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#7
I don't use water. The water based acrylics will thin nicely with denatured alcohol. Sometimes they will thin with the 90% isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (not 70% though), but sometimes if you try using the rubbing alcohol the paint will shock like when you use lacquer thinner with enamel. You can get denatured alcohol at any big box home improvement center in the paint thinner dept. A gallon will last you the rest of your life, and only costs $20.00 US or so. I find that the paint dries much faster with alcohol as the thinning medium rather than water.
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#8
Russ Bellinis Wrote:I don't use water. The water based acrylics will thin nicely with denatured alcohol. Sometimes they will thin with the 90% isopropyl or rubbing alcohol (not 70% though), but sometimes if you try using the rubbing alcohol the paint will shock like when you use lacquer thinner with enamel. You can get denatured alcohol at any big box home improvement center in the paint thinner dept. A gallon will last you the rest of your life, and only costs $20.00 US or so. I find that the paint dries much faster with alcohol as the thinning medium rather than water.
I've never tried using alcohol for thinning, but I've used it for cleanup and for acrylic paint removal at times. I'll give it a try as a thinner next time.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#9
I use windex, usually around 5-1. I found the surface tension of tap water to be the problem, that using distilled water aids, windex aids even more. Only problem is it tints lighter colors!
Josh
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#10
A friend of mine did some tests on thinning paint for his airbrush. He used ordinary tap water, boiled water and distilled water. His results showed tap water did not give good results, but distilled and boiled water were about equal, both giving very good results.
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#11
Hmmmm....The only difference between tap water and boiled tap water is that the boiled water should have no biotics in it, but the concentration of minerals (which is what could possibly interfere in the painting process) might well be higher, as some of the water boiled off. Distilled water should have no mineral content....
Gus (LC&P).
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#12
Boiling water removes the calcium as you will notice if you look at the heating element in your kettle. It mainly applies to hard water areas of course.
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#13
The stuff in your kettle (and around steam relief valves on locomotives) is calcium and other minerals from the water that evaporates - that's how distillation works to remove minerals dissolved in the water - works the same for tropical fish tank water, softens it - but you then must add back the metabolically necessary minerals. Do NOT try Tropical fish in your kettle, however ! Bob C.
James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
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#14
Bob C Wrote:The stuff in your kettle (and around steam relief valves on locomotives) is calcium and other minerals from the water that evaporates - that's how distillation works to remove minerals dissolved in the water - works the same for tropical fish tank water, softens it - but you then must add back the metabolically necessary minerals. Do NOT try Tropical fish in your kettle, however ! Bob C.

You never know, they might be tasty, but most of them are too small to make much more than a snack.
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#15
The deposits you see in the kettle are the minerals that crystalize after the water has evaporated. If he recovered the steam and condensed it, then yes, the condensate would be mineral free. If he just boiled the water, letting steam escape, then the minerals in solution in the water will be at a higher concentration than when he started. Believe me, I distilled hundreds of gallons of water at my ol' man's chemical laboratory, where the use of distilled water is the mainstay of any chemical test done.
Gus (LC&P).
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