Keeping dust off my paint, picture attached, I need your input

[Sixx]

I'm having a hard time keeping dust off my paint.

I'm thinking about fitting a removable piece of plexi glass across the front that can be sealed off with a hole for my hands to keep the area free from dust.

Currently, I am working in the garage and spraying the room with water from a plant sprayer to trap the dust in the air. I then spray when the mist is gone. It has worked fairly well, but inevitably, a hair falls in the clear.

What do you guys do to keep the area free from dust, and what is your set-up like. What do you suggest I do for this set-up.

Thanks

[freakray]

Personally, I start the fan on my booth at least 30 minutes before I start to spray, this draws a lot of the air through the booth and subsequently a lot of the dust out the air.

If you're spraying the room with water, you're doing a lot to help too.

I am sure you'll get some more ideas soon from other members too

[MPWR]

The most important thing I do to avoid dust is to clean the paint booth itself. By far the largest source of dust and debris for me is dried atomized paint from previous spray sessions. So before a body gets painted, the paintbooth gets completely cleaned. My booth has sheet metal walls, so it's easy to wipe down. If your booth is a clean environment, you've solved probably 80% of the problem already.

Other than that, I don't worry about it much. It's important to learn how to deal with contaminants as you paint. If you see dust in your paint, stop painting! Give the paint time to dry and sand out the debris, then continue. This is part of why painting bodies (for me anyways) can take days, and cannot be rushed. (Trying to paint to a deadline- "I'll have the paint done today!"- is a recipe for disaster.) If you see a flaw that needs to be fixed then take the time to do it right, and never try to rush it.

[Adam Baker]

I fire up my fan a little while before I start painting as well as try to do a little cleaning before I paint, for the reasons mentioned before. I also have a door on the front of my booth. Ive noticed a lot of people dont have any kind of door on their booth, but I prefer having one on mine. Once Ive painted, I can pull the door almost completely closed, leaving it just open enough to still draw some air through the fan, to vent any remaining fumes, but it also helps to keep the dust down.

[BVC500]

When I lived in Miami, I had a sheltered balcony enclosed on three sides on the north side of the building. I painted on the balcony. The weather was generally great, and I rarely ever got a dirt in my paint. I was lucky!

[CFarias]

Plastic naturally attracts dust do to its inherent ability to retain static electricity. Prepare the part with a cleaner that can reduce this such as Polly S Platic Prep. This should help somewhat.

[Guido]

In addition to what is said above: 30 mins prior to paint the fan goes on, cleaning the booth, water vapour etc.

I started wearing a t-shirt only when I spray paint, as I found that my jumper or pull-over was also a good source to release dust and little hairs. Since then, no more dust or other contaminations.

[Didymus]

Except in a true clean room, there's always going to be some dust in the air. Using lacquer instead of enamel (or even acrylic) greatly reduces "wet time" and thus the amount of dust that settles into the paint.

I have not tested this scientifically, but it seems like dust specks are also much easier to remove from lacquer. And they leave less of a mark; a flick of a fingernail and a little polishing and all traces are gone.

I'd also consider painting or varnishing all that bare wood in your work area. The woodgrain collects - and actually produces! - dust.

Ddms

[Spike2933]

one thing to do is to get a big display case and right after painting, put it in the cast and cover it, put a toothpick on the bottom to let the air breath, and helps reduce the chance of letting any dust to come inside

[prortiz80]

Well, my self i cut up a plastic black trash bag. and place it around my spray both plus the fans and the intake removing all the fumes plus i found an old microwave and when im done spraying i take and place in there to keep dust out...... but thats just me..........

[Sixx]

THANKS FOR THE EXCELLENT ADVICE!

I'm going to implement MANY of your ideas, my wife had a good one too, she said, we are going to either build out of PVC pipe and elbows a small area that will encase my spray booth or buy a small greenhouse that we can set up in the garage and use as a mini spray booth and continue to spray the area with water, fit the inside of the booth with sheet metal and shalack the wood to keep dust off of it. I will take some shots of what we come up with.

but I do want to thank you guys for the great advice as always

[MidMazar]

A filter would be the best option in a box.