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Hobby Hacks: How To Strip Those Dirty Minis!

paint stripping brushes

Step aside all you buster European cleaning solutions, the UK is blowing the doors off your ragged selves with a brand new cleaner. How does it stack up against Stateside Champion Simple Green?

Bad paint jobs got you down? I know I have a couple models I’ve dunked into various solutions multiple times because I couldn’t get it clean enough. Mickey, over at Mickey’s Minis, says he’s just discovered the holy grail of miniature paint removal; Clean Spirit.  The product is made by Bartoline and is available at Wilkersons.

Bartoline Clean Spirit

Mickey says that, as advertised, this solution is odorless, non-toxic, biodegradable, and effective.

From the manufacture: Clean Spirit can be used to clean both oil and water based paints from brushes, rollers and paint pads. Containing a specialised conditioning agent, paint implements are left feeling soft and supple. Clean Spirit may also be used to remove paint spills from hard surfaces such as worktops, laminate flooring, glass, etc, as well as from textiles such as clothing and carpets. It also makes an excellent degreasing fluid for removing oil and grease from tools. In tests, users stated there was no difference in cleaning qualities between White Spirit and Clean Spirit, and when removing paint from textiles, they thought Clean Spirit performed better.

“It’s all singing and dancing, isn’t it?” Mickey says in his video. “I strongly suggest you get yourself down to Wilkerson’s and pick up some of this stuff.

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Mickey goes through the trouble of showing us a couple of models and techniques using the standard dunk and brush to the very effective, as you’ll see in the video, ultrasonic cleaner. After 30mintues and a quick brushing the model is bare. 042716-SpiritClean-002

“With the ultrasonic cleaner this stuff is amazing.”

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If you’re not a video person, let me just say this seems to work very well.

How does this stack up agains the Stateside champion of Simple Green? Well, I use simple green and an electric brush and achieved similar/better results. than what Spirit Clean did in the example, but I soak longer, so, there’s that.

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I’ve never used an ultrasonic cleaner. But, if you’re not in the states you don’t have access to simple green, so this is probably well worth it.

About the Author: Felix Fimbres

Sailor, Solider, Pilot, Photojournalist, Paratrooper, Technician, and Jack of Most of Trades. I consider myself a Blood Angel player, playing Death Company heavy armies. Recently, I've decided all my Blood Angels will fall to the Black Rage.