Do you hear that? It is baking season knock, knock, knocking at your door. It is fast approaching and we need to make sure we are ready for it. I am not talking about piping bags and decorating tips. Although those things are important, we need to check things like our airbrush guns to make sure they are ready for the holiday stress we are about to put them through.

I have had several emails lately of people asking for airbrush gun help. Most of them just need some tips on how to take the airbrush gun a part and clean it while others need a new airbrush gun replacement. Don’t panic! I am here to help you save some money. Just because the gun needs to be replaced doesn’t mean you are going to spend over $100 to replace it. And I found a great video to show you exactly how to take your gun apart, clean it and assemble it again.

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I know I did a post on “How to Clean an Airbrush Gun” already, but this one is different because I’m using a little vodka to clean it instead of just water. Once you clean your airbrush gun with water, is it really clean? I’ve been conducting a little experiment this week. I’ve been cleaning my airbrush gun with vodka after each time it is used because I wanted to see if it made a difference.

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This my airbrush gun. Isn’t she pretty? Her name is “Wendy.”  I got her from Karen’s Cookies. An airbrush gun wasn’t a big investment like my DSLR Camera but, it is an investment. Any time I purchase something new, I want to know how to take care of it because I want to keep it running as smoothly as possible for as long as it can. I want to share with you how to properly clean your gun so it will work like new for a long time.

If you want to know how to use the airbrush gun, click here.

Purge Your Airbrush Gun:

NEVER USE HOT WATER on your airbrush gun because, there are plastic gaskets that can be warped and destroy your gun. Use warm water.

This cup is where you add the airbrush color. It needs to be cleaned when you are done using it. So add some warm water to and dump it out into a trash can or a cup of water or the sink. Add a little more water and dump it out.

Then, with the gun plugged in and on,submerge the needle and cup into a bowl of warm water and pull the trigger. The gun is connected to a rubber hose so as long as the mini compressor or power cord doesn’t touch the water, you will not be shocked. No electric current runs through the hose. Run water through for a few minutes to make sure all of the color is out of the gun. Pull and release the trigger several times  to force particles out of the needle and end cap. If you water turns colors, you will need to get fresh water and continue to rinse.

When you remove the gun from the water, add fresh water to the cup. Then, put your finger over the needle cap and pull the trigger to make the air flow backward into the gun to remove any left color. It will bubble up. Dump the water and submerge the needle and cup into the warm water and pull the trigger.

Remove the gun from the water and spray onto a white napkin or white paper towel. If you don’t see any color on your napkin or paper towel, your gun is clean.

You can buy cleaners to clean your gun but Edward assured me you can use the process above but, if you want a cleaning solution, add 2 drips of dish washing liquid to the water. After you clean it be sure to rinse it very well! You don’t want it to dry with bubbles in gun because it will harm it.

This is the needle. It is a very important part of your gun. You don’t want to do anything to harm your needle so treat it with care.

Pearl Sheen:

Pearl Sheen is a beautiful thing! It can give your cookies a marvelous finish. I love Pearl Sheen and use it every chance I get. I am going to do a post soon on how to use your Pearl Sheen with it blowing chunks onto your cookies. It will work for all sheen colors so stay tuned.

I have also learned Peal Sheen is not like the regular colors for your airbrush gun. It will dry as a solid and can mess up your gun if you don’t clean it properly after you use it because it will set up in your gun. If you follow the steps above, you should not have any problems with your gun. Use that Pearl Sheen and don’t be afraid!

TROUBLESHOOTING:

If your trigger is lose and nothing is coming out of your gun, don’t panic. You can curdle your gun and soak it in water overnight if you follow the steps below. The gun is designed not to rust so if you don’t scratch it, it will be fine left in water for a day or two. This should help unclog it.  Edward told me he has left his gun in water for 2 weeks and it works fine.

Curdle Your Airbrush Gun:

Do you ever wonder why there is a tiny little wrench in your airbrush gun box? Well, I will tell you.It is used to remove this! Every once in a while you need to curdle your gun especially if you use a lot of Pearl Sheen. BUT DON’T TAKE THE LONG NEEDLE OUT!!! JUST REMOVE THE NEEDLE CAP AND NOZZLE TO LET THE WATER REACH INSIDE THE GUN!

Remove the needle cap and the nozzle cap. With your little wrench, remove the nozzle.

Look at that needle! That is a beautiful sight! Be careful to just remove the nozzle and not the needle!! Once you loosen the nozzle, carefully slide it off leaving the needle in place.

Put it in water and let it soak overnight. You can add a with a drop or two of vinegar if you want a cleaning solution. (Pretend I took my gun apart like the picture above. You should remove the end cap, and the nozzle. I forgot to take a picture of that step but will add it when I get home from vacation.)

Once it soaks overnight put it back together and rinse. You are ready to go airbrush some cookies now.

I hope I have taken the scary out of the cleaning process for you. If you have any other questions please email me at lisa@thebearfootbaker.com or Edward at info@sugarart.com. His number is 817-297-2240 if you want to get encouragement from him before you start to take your gun apart. He is the one who taught me and he is a great teacher!

More on Airbrush Guns:
How to use and airbrush gun
Airbrush 101 

Happy Creating,

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Meet Wendy! Windy is my friend. When you look at her from the outside she seems complicated! I ordered her at Karen’s Cookies.net only after I saw a demo by my friend Marlyn aka Montreal Confections. She makes some amazing things with hers! She also made some beautiful things that day but what amazed me most  is how easy it was to use and clean the airbrush gun. She totally blew my mind and I ordered one for myself right away and named her Wendy!

Here is what is inside the box (there was some other things that I am not sure how to use but I will figure it out one day). It comes with a nice little case to keep the gun in. The gun is the part that you need to take care of. You don’t want to break it so when you are not using it place it back in there. The gun is Wendy’s brain! Protect it!

Airbrush 101:

Start with the assembly. First, plug one end of the rubber tube into Wendy.

Plug the other end into the gun.

Now plug the power cord into Wendy. Then plug it into an outlet.

The button with the circle and the line at the top is the on/off button. The other 3 buttons are the mode buttons which controls how fast the air comes out. It has high, medium and low. I use low a lot.

Before you can airbrush something you need to pick a color. I ordered my colors with the gun and I got the Airbrush 12 Color Kit! I was so happy!  I also got the Pearl Sheen.  The Pearl is beautiful and I will show you more on that this week.

The trigger on the top of the gun is how you spray. The farther you pull it back the more color comes out. I am not going to spray anything tonight. This is Airbrush 101 and we will get to the fun stuff this week. I just want you to see how it works so you can decide if you want one for yourself or not. It is an investment so before you buy remember, knowledge is power!

Look how easy it is to get the color in. Just a few drops go a LONG way! Then you are ready to spray your cookie. More on that later.

Now, Wendy needs a good bath and Marlyn taught me to do this over the sink and she is BRILLIANT! I wish cleaning the icing tips were this easy!  See the little squeeze dropper? Fill it with water. Then, put it into the gun and spray into the sink until the water comes out clear. You may have to fill it up a time or two but it is kinda fun to watch the colors fade.

This is the fun part. Put your finger over the tip and pull back on the trigger. This will clean the inside of the gun and make some fun bubbles! See them! Then move your finger and spray the rest of the water out of it and it is all clean!! How easy was that!!!

When you are done, put it back in the box until you are ready to use it again.

There you have it! How to use your airbrush gun. I have said it before and I will say it again, we will have fun using this all week long!

More on Airbrush Gun:
How to use an airbrush gun
How to clean an airbrush gun

Bear hugs,

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