Can gasoline be used as paint thinner?

[NUTTSGT]

Sounds like job security for me.

Yes, I remember using gasoline to clean brushes in the younger years. Never seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now in today's world, if I'm using an oil based paint, I use a chip brush and toss it after use. If the project calls for something really nice, I'll buy a better quality of brush and still toss it after I'm done. A decent brush can be had for $5 for what I'm doing. I have better things to do than spend 15 minutes cleaning out a brush that may still paint like **** next time I use it.

 

[rlitman]

... Now in today's world, if I'm using an oil based paint, I use a chip brush and toss it after use. If the project calls for something really nice, I'll buy a better quality of brush and still toss it after I'm done. A decent brush can be had for $5 for what I'm doing. I have better things to do than spend 15 minutes cleaning out a brush that may still paint like **** next time I use it.

I find that cleaning a brush of oil based paint in mineral spirits takes less time than cleaning a brush of latex paint in warm water.

Anyway, if you need to put the brush down for a few hours or days, put it in foil and freeze it. No cleaning required. Just warm up the foil in your hands, and it'll be all ready to go.

 

[ljhhontx]

Gasoline will turn gray paint baby blue, don't ask me how I know that....

 

[mcbane]

Gasoline will turn gray paint baby blue, don't ask me how I know that....

Not all gasoline does that. Only Chevron with techroline. Experienced painters are savvy about that. They also carefully match octane to painting conditions.

 

[johninct]

When I was a kid, I used leaded gas to clean up paint brushes. If gas was the same as 40 years ago, I would still use it to wash brushes. I never used it as a reducer but if actual experience showed that it was compatible with the paint you are using, I probably would have used it too.

 

[Lwel9226]

I put a little in some tractor paint years ago, helped it dry quicker and gave it a bit of sheen.

Paint thinned with gasoline will have less gloss, near satin finish but would not be my choice. I learned this from a fellow using Naptha gas as thinner.

When I was in the service we used gasoline to thin the green paint we used on our Jeeps.... changed the paint from flat to a satin finish....

LynnW

 

[Daniel Dudley]

When I was a kid, we would wash our hands in gasoline. Later on I found out it killed the layer of skin that keeps your hands from drying out. I did a lot of painting with oil based paints, and I would decant the paint thinner, and sometimes use brush cleaner. Putting a little motor oil in your brush and wrapping it in foil will keep the bristles soft forever, but it will eventually contaminate your thinner. I do use disposable chip brushes and foam rollers for painting oil based these days, and I use a lot less oil based products, as the latex and acrilic technology has come a long way over the years.

These days I would say cleaning brushes with gas is a lot like washing down a handful of peyote buttons with a cup of lacquer thinner. It does seem tempting at the time, but I still wouldn't recommend it. FWIW, gasoline is so toxic a 2000 gallon spill can destroy the aquifer for an entire town if not dealt with properly. Best to let it evaporate or burn it off than to pour it into the ground. I caught my BIL one time pouring used motor oil into the ground 25 feet away from the well. he used to change his oil every month. I wish I could tell you I was one of those namby pamby do gooders, but I pretty much had to learn everything the hard way. Gasolene can be an amazing solvent. If you are going to use it, be really smart about it.