Paint thinner vs reducer?

blunosr

Member
Hi, I'm about to paint my FEL mount on my old Ford 5000, and I'm wondering what the difference is between paint thinner, and reducer?

What do you use to clean the parts before paint?

Thanks,

Troy
 
generally speaking, paint thinner can be any number of products, but it most likely lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, xylene or m.e.k. (methyl ethyl ketone) reducers are usually enamel reducers or urethane reducers. use whatever thinner/reducer from the paint manufacturer you are spraying. often people just use what ever they think will work, and wind up with a disaster, then complain the paint product was no good. for a pre clean product, stop by your body shop supply or napa, and get wax and grease remover, often called pre-cleano or prep sol, or final wash. it will be the last thing you do before painting except for using a tack rag.
 
What is usually called paint thinner is mineral spirits. There is some stuff called low odor paint thinner I've never found any use for especially thinning paint. The best thing to do when using any paint is not play chemist. Use the solvent recommended by the manufacturer, their brand. Reducers are a mixture of a lot of different solvents designed to go with a particular paint. Normally using an oil based paint it is recommended to use naphtha for paint to be sprayed. Look for that recommendation on the can.

As far as cleaning the parts it would depend on what condition their in. If they are relatively clean and rust free just use a wax and grease remover. If they are rusty or has flaking paint, it would be best to sandblast them to bare metal.
If they are caked with grease wash with oven cleaner. Note: if you use oven cleaner after you rinse treat with vinegar to neutralize the sodium hydroxide.
 
Just wondering, have you priced any M.E.K. lately? I checked yesterday, $154.00 for a 5 gallon can. But you get what you pay for.
 
yup, i own a body shop. our paint and material bills are over 1k per week. we use diamont and mix in house.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top