This is just about my bad experiences with dust. Not how to apply paint.
There’s no bigger dissapointment than leaving your paint almost perfect with the last wave of the spray can and coming back to… fresh paint covered with dust or pet hair.
I had to sit back and think of the many possible reasons that could affect the final finish. Any one alone could easily ruin a paint-job.
1) Dog
2) Cat
3) Shop tools (bandsaw, belt sander)
4) Forced air heat/AC
5) My wife doing things around the house such as laundry
6) My own clothes
I created a system to try and combat every possible angle I could think of. This is starting out with a body that’s already prepared for paint.
The basement kitchen fan is used to evacuate the fumes. The entire area around and behind the oven-top is lined with cardboard and black garbage bags. Now I can explain a process that seems to work for this household.
1) I start the basement kitchen fan around 10PM. Throw a paint can on a stirring device. Then go upstairs closing the door behind me to leave the basement undisturbed until midnight (No pets allowed). The kitchen fan has time to remove ambient dust around the paint area.
2) I turn the heat/AC off around 11PM.
3) At around midnight the rest of the house goes to bed and I slowly and carefully make my way to basement closing the door behind me to keep the pets upstairs. I walk very slowly to prevent stirring dust up from the floor.
4) I head to the landry room first to put on a fresh T-shirt and jeans. Pet hair is the worst!
5) I give the body a fresh wash. Then rinse in filtered water to avoid residue. Dry the body with a dust-free towel. It’s ready for paint.
6) Heat the can that’s been stirring for the last 2-hours in hot water for 2-minutes. It’s ready to paint.
I paint the body with 4-coats using a 1-minute timer between coats. After 4-minutes of painting I slowly walk back upstairs, close the basement door, and watch TV for an hour. After an hour I turn the heat/AC back on and go check the paint. Hopefully I go to bed with a smile.
I installed exhaust outlets on my belt sander and bandsaw that fit the shop-vac to help keep the residual shop dust down. But prefer not to cut or sand anything the day I paint a body.
I wish everyone the best of luck in finding your own way to paint without that dreaded dust thing. :good: