Avoiding dust

Why, when I spray a body everytime small dust parts land on the paint???
How can I avoid this. I have dust both inside and outside my house!

Second thing: After painting a body I want to clearcoat it and so I wash it before spraying clear colour... After washing some round parts of dry water are on the body... how can I clean them out without dirtying the body with dust?

Buy or build a painting booth.

A spraybooth will help. But you should understand that it is not the ventilation and filtration devices in a spraybooth that control dust. Contamination control is up to you cleaning your booth before painting. If you do not clean it, a paint booth becomes very dirty very quickly. All the paint that you spray that does contact the model dries and becomes dust to contaminate the next body that you paint. So each time you paint a body, the booth must be made completely clean- like you are getting ready for surgery. Good booth ventilation means that when you spray, the booth does not collect and concentrate the vapors in the box where your model and face are. But dust control is really about making your painting area clean.

I have made a very good experience spraying outside and then rushing the sprayed body immediately into the microwave. Even very wet coats don´t collect dust there...You just need to be fast. I don´t live in the desert, though.

I can tell you how i control dust (still not 100% dust free) but i leave it up to you to decide if it's workable for you...

i do my wet coats....in the toilet!
yes, toilet with the door & window closed & the floor filled with water!
i placed the body inside & start flooding the floor with water, then i go out & prepared my paint...after a while (i assume dust has more or less settled on the watered floor) i come back & start doing the wets coat...one layer then go out close the door & come back @10mins repeatedly for 3 times...

that's how i minimise dust buildup.

Novel approaches.

There is nothing special, or particularly clean about the inside of a microwave. Like an oven, stovetop, food processor, paintbooth, or any other appliance in regular use, they must be made to be clean. They do not make or keep themselves clean. An easier solution would be a sealable plastic food container.

But if your using fast drying paint (like aqueous acrylic or lacquer) it's really only dust present while you're painting that you need to worry about. Anything that settles on the body after the paint is applied can easily be brushed away after with a clean cloth, lens cleaning brush, or some very fine sandpaper.

MPWR: "But if your using fast drying paint (like aqueous acrylic or lacquer) it's really only dust present while you're painting that you need to worry about. Anything that settles on the body after the paint is applied can easily be brushed away after with a clean cloth, lens cleaning brush, or some very fine sandpaper."

Exactly, the problem is the dust that it's present while i'm painting the problem!!

When it comes to dust, I always consider airflow around the model/painting area. Dust mostly falls and so I always try to make sure that there is a good flow of air above and around the model so that no dust falls onto it. The air being blown over obviously also needs to be dust free, so I try to filter it.

Using a "booth" or as I use the poor-man's booth...a box...simply reduces the size of the "room" you're spraying in, so making it much, much easier to control the quantity and movement of any dust present. When using my box or "booth", I mainly concentrate on the exhaust system and thus try and work along the same principles of a vacuum chamber (like they use for making computer processors).

I never wash before applying clear coat...more especially so if there are decals :lol:.

Novel approaches.

There is nothing special, or particularly clean about the inside of a microwave. Like an oven, stovetop, food processor, paintbooth, or any other appliance in regular use, they must be made to be clean.



:eek: :eek: :eek:

Now, come on. :wink: You are right from an objective point of view but you have to admit that this one of the more cleaner and dustfree places in a home. And its regular use - which is rather clean - adds to this.

So please everybody, my advice was not an objective one so I shall edit it: I personally have achieved good results using a clean microwave to dry my paint jobs. That is I must admit more sincere and truthful.

End of novel.

Robert

I recommend you get a dehydrator.

I fought it for a couple for years because I thought it was a bit overkill. How wrong I was!

It will not only provide you with a (relatively) dust free environment with a positive airflow/preassure but it also dries your paint out very quickly which significantly reduces the risk of any dust sticking to your wet paint.

Also remember that any small dust/hairs/fibers that get into the paint during the painting stage can usually be easily sanded out and the area polished back up to a shine. After all, I don't suppose you are talking about dust at the levels of ..... (or are you? :) )

Honestly, you wouldn't believe the dust lying around in my workroom in the cellar and I don't really have an issue since I started using the dehydrator.

My :2cents:

I was lucky when I used to paint on the balcony of my apartment in Miami and I rarely ever got a speck of dust in my paint. It was a north facing balcony with walls on three sides. Oh, how I miss it! Good preparation, no doubt, but also good air quality and the right conditions.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Now, come on. :wink: You are right from an objective point of view but you have to admit that this one of the more cleaner and dustfree places in a home. And its regular use - which is rather clean - adds to this.


Maybe your microwave is cleaner than mine. :lol: I might guess that the radiation keeps things fairly bacteriologically inert in there, but certainly not clean. Every time a reheating curry boils a bit in mine, it splatters bits of debris here and there. Also because a microwave is a somewhat heavy five sided opaque box, it can be rather difficult to asses how clean it really is/isn't.

But then on the other hand if it works for you, there's no real reason to change it.

A dehydrator may help with outgassing paint. But as the real concern is dust during the painting process instead of dust after, I'm not sure how much it would help with contamination control. Honestly when I've just applied a coat of paint and it is still soft, the very last thing I want to do is risk moving it anywhere. It's just too easy to bump it into something and mar/ding/damage the paint- and that for me is alot more work to fix then brushing off some dust. I've learned from experience that an hour or so sitting unmoved and undisturbed in the booth with me not around to bump it/admire it/mess with it is by far safest. :uhoh: If I leave it alone, it does not get dropped on the floor, crushed by a dehydrator lid, or melted with a cup of tea. :crying:

I always spray outside and then hang up the parts, and yes even car bodies, to dry under my porch roof and I never get dust on them.

There is nothing special, or particularly clean about the inside of a microwave. Like an oven, stovetop, food processor, paintbooth, or any other appliance in regular use, they must be made to be clean. They do not make or keep themselves clean. An easier solution would be a sealable plastic food container.

unless you have one of them swanky ovens that has a self cleaning mode where it basically goes mini-supernova inside to burn up any cooking gunk left inside.

MPWR: "But if your using fast drying paint (like aqueous acrylic or lacquer) it's really only dust present while you're painting that you need to worry about. Anything that settles on the body after the paint is applied can easily be brushed away after with a clean cloth, lens cleaning brush, or some very fine sandpaper."

Exactly, the problem is the dust that it's present while i'm painting the problem!!

You could get an air purifier/cleaner. I turn it on 30min before painting. Helps to cut down the amount of dust particles floating around.

A dehydrator may help with outgassing paint. But as the real concern is dust during the painting process instead of dust after, I'm not sure how much it would help with contamination control.
It helps :D

Without pictures it is hard to know exactly but I have seen many paint issues attributed to dust that were actually debris in the paint right from the start. I find it to be a good habit to filter my thinned paint before putting it in the airbrush cup. The act of thinning paint (especially if doing it in the original bottle) can release semi hardened particles into your mix. Often times thinner will not break these particles no mater how thorough your mixing technique.

Sorry if I made an incorrect assumption that you are airbrushing vs rattle can :banghead:

One big source of dust is YOU. And me too. I wear only cotton t-shirts, nothing remotely fuzzy like a new flannel shirt or something synthetic that can hold a charge. If I have a serious paint job in the works, I shake out my shirt first outside. Avoid walking arcoss a carpet and painting in extremely dry weather.

I also use a dehydrator, as soon as the paint is down, in it goes. Enamels stay tacky longer, lacquers flash over quickly and if any dust falls on it, it often comes off once the paint is dry.

I paint outside too. If the weather is warm (not too hot) I leave it out for maybe 15 minutes before going to the dehydrator.

Bob

I have made a very good experience spraying outside and then rushing the sprayed body immediately into the microwave. Even very wet coats don´t collect dust there...You just need to be fast. I don´t live in the desert, though.


This is what i do with great results, have no room for a paintbooth.

When you wash the model before you paint is important to let it air dry. If you wipe it clean you will create a static electrical charge on the plastic that will attract dust immediately. I don't know if this is how you dry your models, but this is an often overlooked source of dust contamination.

A food dehydrator, mentioned previously, is a big help here. Not only will it quickly dry your paint but it will air dry your model quickly, too.

Using automotive grade paints and primers will also help. In my experience they are easier to fix when dust gets to them than standard hobby paints.

It sounds like you also have a problem with fish-eyes, too. If you paint outside be sure that your model is absolutely dry and that you paint when the humidity is low. Don't paint after it rains or late at night.

Hope this helps.

Before painting you can eliminate any built up static charge in the piece to be painted by wiping it with an anti-static cloth. These work very well and are available at a small cost from most good camera stores. I've had good success with them.

I paint in a carpeted room with a spray booth. I had a dust problem, even with the spray booth until I did the following, which I learned here and from other model sites: (1) turn the fan on in the booth at least 1/2 hour before painting; (2) make sure the booth is clean as noted in a prior post; (3) spray the booth down with a water mist from a spray bottle or airbrush about 10 minutes before painting; (4) wear a lint free hat while painting; (5) wear a lint free shirt or jacket like a golf windshirt or windbreaker jacket; (6) leave the sprayed part in the booth until is flashes (is dry to the touch); (7) use quick drying paints like acrylics or lacquers - don't use enamels unless they're quick drying emamel/lacquer hybrids like Kustom Kolor. I hope this helps.

As for the spots, they are probably mineral deposits from the water that you use to wash the parts. I had the same problem and did the following to fix it. Use a detergent/soap that does not have additives like scents or lotion. Ivory hand soap is a good choice but certainly not the only choice. If you have an airbrush, blow the water off the washed part with it.

I try to spray my models outdoors using a Tamiya paint stand. Then place both inside a clean 50 quart cooler, close the top and wait till the paints is dry. I can usually paint outside for some 8 months out of the year. For the the other four months, it's the bathroom for the time being with the shower door closed. I'm getting married next year and I'm not sure the bathroom thing is going to work in the future with the wife. LOL

Jim

I do all my painting and drying outside, i haven't had a problem with dust. Maybe u can try to wet the ground around the area you are painting so that things wont go flying around when u move your feet.

I think the key element is cleanliness at all times.Make sure the spray booth is clean, the airbrush and all associated parts.Filter the paint before use, clean off the parts you are painting and use a tack rag on them before you spray.Leave them somewhere clean, warm and dry whilst they are drying.If you do as much as possible to minimize the possibility of dust, any that does slip through the net will polish out quite easily.I think this is an age old problem with anyone who does any kind of spray painting, so you are not alone.