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My wife had a baby about 9 months ago, and I have been paranoid about using the airbrush indoors. I would like to get back into painting and am thinking about getting a spraybooth, and would like to know what people think about how to properly ventilate.

In the past, I have simply used a facemask and kept the windows open. This worked well enough, given that I am pretty fast with the airbrush and really only use it about an hour at a time. But now I want to cut down on the fumes as much as possible.

I have seen a number of portable spraybooths with a ventilation hose you can stick out a window. This would be hard to make work because a) it's cold and b) there's no window in the room where I now paint - just a door leading outside.

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't currently own a spraybooth and don't really know what's out there. If it's portable, great, but I am not hung up on that feature. I just want to know the air is clear.

I bought one of those portable spray booths, it definitely helps, but doesn't get it all.

I used to route it out the window, which was fine until it got cold (Australia cold, so less than 60F) - so I punched a hole through the drywall and piped it to the deadspace there.

But yeah, even with that thing, there is still a lot of fumes and dust - wouldn't use it with kids in the room personally. Not sure what I'd do, probably take it outside and batch paint the airbrush stuff in a few marathon sessions.

This is the one that I have used for the last 2 years, its portable and it works.

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush%C2%AE-Portable-Airbrush-Painting/dp/B00BMUH8L6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422359596&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush+spray+booth

If you're just shooting acrylics, the filter in the back helps tremendously without it being hooked up to the window.

Using water based paints - the overspray is the big thing to catch. You shouldn't need to vent that outside. A fan with a high enough CFM rating pulling air through an A/C filter actually does a good job of things.

If you own the home you are in, you can punch a hole through the exterior wall and install a dryer duct vent. Keeps everything nice and neat...though sometimes the land lord isn't pleased.

While the risks are pretty low, if you are going to consider them - do it right. Your big issue with the dust isn't the stuff you see, rather what you don't see. Those smallest of paint particles are able to hang in the air for hours after you are done and are too small to be picked up by regular air filters. The more expensive pleated style often have the ability to grab sub-micron particles though. The target range is in the 2-10 micron area for filters...which happens to be right in the ball park for airbrush overspray. These are too small to be filtered by our lungs regular crap filters...and too big to simply breathe in/breathe out.

Venting to the outdoors is best - even if you can't grab them, you can get rid of them. Once outside, there is enough other stuff that is trying to kill you...you don't have to worry too much, though if you vent close to the ground and plant some plants around the vent, it catches most the garbage.

I have been thinking about this recently myself. We might be moving house in the next 6 months or so, so the prospect of having a fully kitted hobby room is drawing nearer!

Has anyone tried using kitchen/oven hoods as an extractor for airbrushes?

One like this?

The major problem with the airborne dirt and dust isn't the stuff you observe, somewhat everything you do not see. Those smallest of fresh paint contaminants are able to hang up in mid-air all night after you are carried out and therefore are they cannot be found through normal air conditioning filters.

HEPA filtration is probably requiered if you absolutly want to filter everything. WalMart, Target and other retailers have portable HEPA filter : http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=bionaire%20purifier

According to Createx (I suppose it's the same for most airbrush paint), pigment particules are 0.1 microns. Of course, the actual particule size of the mist coming out of the airbrush will be bigger, considering the medium "wetting" it. So right, in the alley of HEPA filter.
I'm personally considering buying one of the portable HEPA filter and use a plastic bin as a hood, with the bottom cut-out to fit the purifier.

Call me crazy but shooting acrylic paints is not that bad. A spray booth filter should sufice.

If your getting alcohol based, enamels etc maybe all the other stuff is needed.

I tend to agree with you - though, when I was growing up...we thought it was fun to stick scissors in wall outlets to weld them together, didn't have car seats and lead paint tasted like candy.

Lead paint STILL tastes like candy.

The lead oxides used to tint paint have a "sweet" flavour for some reason.

Yep...and it still is fun to stick scissors in outlets to weld them together.

The government just tries to ruin the fun by mandating arc fault interrupt breakers and the like.

I've been considering an activated carbon filter for this job,

like these; http://www.rhinofilter.com/pro.html

As far as I can tell, the typical application for these filters is on extraction in hydroponics.

Can anyone here help me decide if this would do the job? ; you duct them to an inline extractor fan and pull air through them. they come in all sizes to suit varying volume spaces it seems. Struggling to figure out if thats adequate for the particle size we create by spraying paints.

Works well for covering up your indoor pot grow out rooms...

...not generally useful for particulate filtration.

When looking at using carbon filters to remove VOCs from air for recirculation, it will depend to some extent on the VOCs and the concentration levels in question. For most hobby related vapors (alcohol, lacquer thinners and what not) your concentration levels are fairly low.

With the those, provided you have them pretty close to the point of origin - the smaller ones should be suitable. The big thing is to make sure you pair the correct sized filter with the fan you are using. If the blower is moving the air too fast, it won't give the carbon enough time to capture the VOCs.

You will still want a particulate filter in the loop. Your kidneys and liver are much better at dealing with VOCs than your lungs are at dealing with particulates. Ideally, the particulate filter will be in front of the carbon filter in order to avoid having particulates clog the carbon.

I have set up clean rooms which utilize recirculating air using similar set ups (usually platen style filters as opposed to those...seriously, those are usually sold in the back of High Times...).

If you are working with a booth setup to catch the primary overspray - you will want somewhere around 150-200 cfm to catch all the fine overspray in a small booth. Larger ones (30-40+ width) would need closer to 500 cfm. Provided that you maintain large enough diameter exhaust hoses - the velocity should be low enough for any of those filters to work (4" and larger should be fine...as you get smaller though, the airspeed increases dramatically...as does the pressure loss which will reduce efficiency).

Thanks Sean, I'm aware of the normal use for those kinds of filters; I could pick one up cheaply, which is why I've considered them.
My thinking was actually to use a small sized tent (from the same hydroponics supplier) to construct a small home made booth.

They can do fans with that much flow, tbh they can offer ten times that if youve got the money and the need for it.

I may however need to put more research into the filter.

edit; would you say theyre worth using atall on a home made spray booth extraction? perhaps in conjuction with a particulate filter? or should I just look to purpose built setups? forgeting about the normal use of them thats not what im interested in; theyre still an activated carbon air filter, no?I could perhaps box one of these in with particulate filter screens, for a multi stage diy air filter?

I honestly have lost track of what we are talking about

HairySticks wrote:
Thanks Sean, I'm aware of the normal use for those kinds of filters; I could pick one up cheaply, which is why I've considered them.
My thinking was actually to use a small sized tent (from the same hydroponics supplier) to construct a small home made booth.

They can do fans with that much flow, tbh they can offer ten times that if youve got the money and the need for it.

I may however need to put more research into the filter.

edit; would you say theyre worth using atall on a home made spray booth extraction? perhaps in conjuction with a particulate filter? or should I just look to purpose built setups? forgeting about the normal use of them thats not what im interested in; theyre still an activated carbon air filter, no?I could perhaps box one of these in with particulate filter screens, for a multi stage diy air filter?

Like I said - it would work. My point with the blower rating was more to emphasize that you need to be able to move enough air through the filter in order to avoid the fumes you are trying to deal with go through it...as opposed to intermingle with outside air. Getting one that can move the air is pretty simple stuff. Though keep in mind, the rated CFM is usually at the end of a 6-12" long straight pipe, once you start adding flex lines, corners and the filters themselves - it drops rather dramatically. In order to figure out where it needs to be, you can do some pretty simple calculations based off from the static pressure and line losses for the ducting/filters you choose to use.

My own rig vents straight out of the house through a coarse fiber filter. In my hobby room, I have an air return to the house A/C that allows me to maintain negative pressure in the room and the filter going back into the house is an activated carbon/particle filter - the type they sell for use in cigar bars and the like. The primary purpose for that is when I am working with items too large to fit in the hood as well as various adhesives and other chemicals that I don't normally use within the confines of my spray booth. In my case, it is less of a concern about the safety of the fumes and more an issue of the odor of the adhesives. I spill a can of MEK in there and you wouldn't be able to smell it in the rest of the house (not saying I have ever spilled a can of MEK...).

If for whatever reason you can't vent (best) and are using solvents - than the activated carbon is a perfectly acceptable method of cleaning the air prior to recirculation. Just watch your flow rates (too fast, the carbon wont be able to do its job - too slow and the fumes can get out the front of the booth). A simple inline filter to get the big particles is fine as well. Probably the easiest is to size it to use a standard A/C filter at the back of the booth (common design of off the shelf units). If you will be using a lot of solvents - look into brushless motors as well in order to avoid the risk of a spark from the fan motor possibly igniting the fumes in your hose. Risk of fire is actually pretty minimal (bit like the trick of holding alcohol in your hand and lighting it on fire...) - but it can cause a fire in things like filters down stream of the fan. They can end up shooting flames like an afterburner on an engine, though generally it just ends up being a puff of fire that burns itself out.

Im not too sure on A/C filters being off the shelf around here (in the UK I dont believe I know a person with a home A/C system, some shops (usually big chain stores) have them though.

I'l shop around for it though, The tube filters, i know they tend to have a matching fan ; I'd hope someone put in the effort to make it suitable like you say not too fast / slow.
It was just something I spotted, could be a nice diy lil spray booth made on the cheap ; I don't know what these things go for in your area, but here I could get a 50x50x100cm tent (which I'd probably build on its side to have 50x100 of floor), and a 125mm inline extractor/carbon filter kit for £70-80ish Which sounded reasonable to me for such a sized booth? (the tents also are made to be fitted with these filters for the intended purposes, and so have vent holes with draw strings)
simply by re purposing a couple of items.

Solvents, I would really only use a spot of acetone when cleaning the airbrush, sometimes IPA, and whatever is inside vallejo airbrush thinners (the smell reminds me of waterborne automotive paints) .
Other than that its mostly about the acrylic paint in heavy painting sessions I have noticed the paint dust build up on surfaces around the room.

Oh and thanks Sean your a star! you certainly seem to know what you are talking about atleast... work in the a/c industry?

If you really are paranoid, install a fume hood like you see in chemistry labs. Depending on the style, you can get from virtually zero to actually zero, as 100% enclosed, airtight fume hoods are available.

On the plus side, no need to wear a face mask, or any other protective gear. You will still need an extractor, if course.

A friend picked one up at a bankruptcy auction, essentially for free, and it not only works great but looks very impressive

Talys wrote:
If you really are paranoid, install a fume hood like you see in chemistry labs. Depending on the style, you can get from virtually zero to actually zero, as 100% enclosed, airtight fume hoods are available.

On the plus side, no need to wear a face mask, or any other protective gear. You will still need an extractor, if course.

A friend picked one up at a bankruptcy auction, essentially for free, and it not only works great but looks very impressive

Its not so much being paranoid, as not enjoying having to wipe down everything periodically ; Admittedly I spray a bit more than most people would painting just mini's, I could be spraying at a canvas for a solid hour easily, only really stopping to rinse the paint cup and for tip dry (or if the music runs out )
Currently its the windows open method, and its not quite upto it I guess ; making me think of using a filter, and a booth. I can have a massive paint booth, nowhere for it to go. I want to be able to put a canvas in it, theres going to be some larger ones that wont fit, but I can still spray near it and run the filter in those situations. Money isnt infinite, But I would spent what was necessary to do the job and buy/make the enclosure.

Its not like your average house hold dust; which I can be as slobbish as the next guy about and neglect a bit more than we should.

I cant imagine im going to get okayed to put a vent hole in the wall, so it might need to recirculate, or have a duct out the window when in use.

HairySticks wrote:
work in the a/c industry?

Retired several times over - now I do industrial consulting...with a focus on compliance and process improvement (OSHA compliance and HAZMAT issues in this thread...).

You would be surprised how many off the shelf filters are actually poorly designed. About half of them (even off the shelf commercial units) that I deal with have to be reworked in part or entirely in order to actually get the most out of them. Companies do cost/benefit analysis when they bring a product to market, and often a good design doesn't survive contact with the accounting department. Motors are undersized for the impellers, rigid duct is exchanged for flex tube...lots of little things that add up to reduced efficiency, and sometimes even pointlessness.

The plan is definitely feasible. You may need to go ahead and tweak a few parts of the products in order to deal with the differing end use.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Talys wrote:
If you really are paranoid, install a fume hood like you see in chemistry labs. Depending on the style, you can get from virtually zero to actually zero, as 100% enclosed, airtight fume hoods are available.

On the plus side, no need to wear a face mask, or any other protective gear. You will still need an extractor, if course.

A friend picked one up at a bankruptcy auction, essentially for free, and it not only works great but looks very impressive

Actually what I am using. The fume hood is perfect and most of them are already plumbed for air supplies (just had to build my manifold for running multiple brushes). It is big enough that I can comfortably fit a 1/48 scale B-1 bomber in it. The only downside is it is a bit on the load side when detail painting. In order to get right up on things, I have to flip up the glass shield on the front and with my head in the hood itself (plenty of room...) the air flow is a good bit loud. Not loud from the motor or anything...just the amount of air being moved.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

HairySticks wrote:

Talys wrote:
If you really are paranoid, install a fume hood like you see in chemistry labs. Depending on the style, you can get from virtually zero to actually zero, as 100% enclosed, airtight fume hoods are available.

On the plus side, no need to wear a face mask, or any other protective gear. You will still need an extractor, if course.

A friend picked one up at a bankruptcy auction, essentially for free, and it not only works great but looks very impressive

Its not so much being paranoid, as not enjoying having to wipe down everything periodically ; Admittedly I spray a bit more than most people would painting just mini's, I could be spraying at a canvas for a solid hour easily, only really stopping to rinse the paint cup and for tip dry (or if the music runs out )
Currently its the windows open method, and its not quite upto it I guess ; making me think of using a filter, and a booth. I can have a massive paint booth, nowhere for it to go. I want to be able to put a canvas in it, theres going to be some larger ones that wont fit, but I can still spray near it and run the filter in those situations. Money isnt infinite, But I would spent what was necessary to do the job and buy/make the enclosure.

Its not like your average house hold dust; which I can be as slobbish as the next guy about and neglect a bit more than we should.

I cant imagine im going to get okayed to put a vent hole in the wall, so it might need to recirculate, or have a duct out the window when in use.

Might also look at something like this:

http://woodgears.ca/dust/air_cleaner.html

(very interesting site, lots of good stuff, lots of dangerous stuff, but mostly lots of good stuff). You can modify most of what he does to use minimal hand tools.