Blocked air gun / nail art - can you help?

[nailartnut]

Hi,

I'm new to Salon Geek and wondered if anyone could help me please.

I have reccently qualified in gel nails and am now working on acrylic nails, but the thing I really want to do is nail art.

Firstly, I have an airgun and this was sold to me 2nd hand as I did not want to spend lots on one untill I have done some training and know I am good at it, however there is quite a bit of paint left in it as it obviously was not cleaned after its last use.

Can anyone advise how I can clean it? I have the little brushes for cleaning and I have the cleaning fluid for cleaning after each use but I have a feeling this will not work for long dried paint?

As well as airbrush art I am very keen on freehand nail art and I was wondering what type of paint you use for this?

If anyone can offer any advice I would be really grateful.

Im really looking forward to becoming part of the saloon Geek community and welcome all replies :smack:

 

[jac extreme]

I remember doing some airbrush training a long time ago and the thing that put me off it was that it kept blocking with paint, I prefer to hand paint my nail art but even more than that I like fancy french, which still allows you to give the client a great set of french style nails with a difference. for hand painted I prefer to use acrylic paint.

 

[chaseyboi]

Hiya

Go to www.everythingairbrush.com & get yourself one of the cleaning kits. It has tiny brushes that will fit through your fluid nozzle & will allow you to scrub out the dried paint. Make sure you pull the pin back before you do this. Also take you airbrush unit apart and give it a good clean. I use a small dot of cuticle oil on the pin/needle on a lint free wipe and that seems to keep my airbrush working fine. You can also back flush when you clean or change the colour. fold a lint free wipe in half & place it right up over the nozzle. press for air & GENTLY pull the trigger back for paint. this will force air & any paint in the opposit direction & you can then use your small brush to clean. I dont use any cleaning fluid just plain clean water & had my airbrush for years

HTH

 

[geeg]

I love to use the airbrush ... I was taught by one of the very best in the world at the time , Elisabeth Anthony... so I was very fortunate there.

For your airbrush to work beautifully all the time two things are necessary .. the right spraying technique (this stops you gun gunking up with paint) and keeping the AB scrupulously clean.

You can have a go at cleaning it but I have my doubts after all this time and loads of dried on paint; depends on how bad it really is!!

 

[joe90]

Airbrushes for nail art are such delicate pieces of kit that they really need meticulous care, something I found out early which nearly ruined my airbrush, tiny tiny amounts of paint can play havoc inside your equipment. I had to take mine apart piece by piece and clean each part separately.

 

[nailartnut]

Do you think a tiny bit of acetone might disolve the paint? :cry:

 

[naturalnails]

Airbrush paints are waterbased and should be cleaned with airbrush cleaner - this is the one I use - Premi Air Foaming Airbrush Cleaner for stubborn paint and Createx airbrush cleaner at the end of every service.

It comes with a tiny straw which you place on the nozzle end and blast any stuck stuff back into the cup to be then rinsed out.

 

[mum]

If you have just qualified in using gels and want to learn l&p, please concentrate on that first!!! Plus the understanding of the natural nail .

Nail art is such a small part of a commercial salon!

The best technicians never make much money on nail art in general. Learn your craft in natural and enhanced nails first. Don't divert to nail art yet as you'll be losing your potential bread and butter money.

The % of a nail service client is, on average, only 10% for enhancements (depends on area). Nail art clients are less than 1% of these. Therefore the vast majority are natural nail clients; a tiny percentage is interested in nail art.

This is all dependant on area but demonstrates the importance of your focus!

An airbrush is purely mechanical, no scientific chemical reactions involved. If it's blocked, it needs unblocking! Learn about the mechanics of it and how certain components can get blocked and how to unblock them