Yes, cleaning is a pain, especially since Graco doesn't describe how to get to all of the parts that need cleaning. Plus, some water-based paints dry so quickly. I use water to clean and haven't had a problem.

If you are using water based paints use water and if you are using oil based paints use mineral spirits.

Reuse the mineral spirits. One five gallon bucket of mineral spirits should last a professional painter a couple of years. A DIY'er should never have to rebuy it. Oil based paint will settle to the bottom of the mineral spirits and harden fairly fast, leaving you with mineral spirits more than clean enough to reuse. If you are spraying 3 or 4 different colors in a day, and you properly move from light to dark, you might have to filter the mineral spirits once. Which is not a real problem, any bag filter for oil based paints will work.

I am using sherwin wood and wall primer and also their snapdry door paint. I was afraid to use water because of it rusting. The mineral spirits just never seemed to break down those paints and i'd spend a half hour trying to clean everything.

Those are water based paints. Clean the equipment with warm soap and water, flush with a bit of clean water and then use some solvent cleanser for parts protection.

Start with reading the directions.

live_wire is always so helpful!

"live_wire is always so helpful!"

Not wrong though...........................