How To Clean Spray Paint Can Nozzle

Hi there, I would tip them upside down in a bowl with just enough paint thinner (or mineral spirits) in the bowl to cover their nozzles. Should do the trick after a couple of hours of soaking!

brake cleaner. old graffiti trick. Spray directly thru the cap and make some trickle into the can nozzle. Rinse both immediately because brake cleaner can degrade plastic. Instantly clear. :-)

Might be dried up in there.

Nozzles are interchangeable. I often pull nozzle from another can and use that. Best prevention is to clear the nozzle after you are done painting something. Turn the can upside down and spray for a short while. only gas will come out, thus eliminating paint that could dry in nozzle. Cleaners can also be used after each paint job, but I am mostly lucky using the upside down trick.

Betsy on Apr 07, 2020

Hi 1cs1 Take the nozzle - the plastic bit - off and run a needle or pin through it. Then, put some paint thinner in a jar with a lid and your nozzle and shake vigorously for a few minutes. Carefully replace the nozzle, but don't shove it down all the way until you point it at a piece of paper, then secure it down. Make sure it isn't pointing at you :) This always works for me. Then, when you are finished painting, turn your can upside down and spray again until nothing comes out. This cleans out the nozzle. Good luck

I agree with Betsy, the needle or pin breaks through the opening where the paint has dried, this was a trick taught to me by my mother. Then spray upside down until it blows clear.

Remove the nozzle and soak in some nail polish remover. Poking with a needle or pin can enlarge the hole and you'll be spitting paint. When ever your finished spray painting turn the can upside down and spray until no paint comes out. A few seconds and the nozzles won't clog

Make sure it is acetone based polish remover.

Acetone free is increasingly common for environmental reasons.

Have you tried to turn it upside down and spray it, sometimes that works. You could also try putting a needle into the hole to unclog it.

Dee on Apr 07, 2020

Soak it for 5 minutes in acetone, the stuff you get in the hardware store not nail polish remover. Then use a straight pin to unclog. Remember when you use spray paint to turn the can upside down and spray till it stops, that will clean the nozzle.

Soaking tips in paint thinner can clear away some of the crusted paint. I put mine in a small mason jar.p to soak.

Deb K on Apr 08, 2020

Hello, I found this for you, hope it helps you out, Errol Davis from Mississauga, Ont., devised a quick and easy way to unclog a spray can. First, remove the nozzle from the can. Then, get a can of WD-40 and remove its nozzle and put the clogged nozzle on the can of WD-40. Finally, push down on the spray nozzle to a few times and it should clear the clog.

And from me to you, once you have finished spraying your project, turn the can upside down and spray until no color comes out, this will prevent the sprayer from clogging up with dry paint as you are purging the paint out of it.

Good luck!