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Okay so I got myself an airbrush a while back. I also got myself an airbrush booth from Amazon (not the Master one but a carbon copy from another supplier). The thing is, that thing is LOUD. Which presents a problem since I normally can't airbrush until after our son goes to bed. Now I have seen and heard that many (if not most?) people airbrush without a booth. Herein lies the conundrum: how do you deal with the paint dust that accumulates and spreads literally everywhere? I'm not so worried about any fumes (I use solely acrylics) and I'd use a mask, but the dust becomes an issue pretty quickly, especially when priming with relatively high psi.

How do you cope with the dust? And/or do you have a suggestion for a quieter booth? I'm not a DIY person so building one myself is more or less out of the question...

I airbrush inside, without a booth, i just wipe down my work station every now and then and don't really worry about it. I find the VMC primers are the worst culprits as far as residue being left behind. Try spraying at a lower PSI. For quiet, you can put your compressor in an egg crate or other box and put foam or egg cartons around it to muffle the sound.

I use this compressor - https://www.amazon.com/Paasche-D3000R-Compressor-Regulator-Moisture/dp/B001CJPWYM

It is as quiet as you could expect for an airbrush compressor, and has worked well for quite a while.

I never used overly high PSI, but I used it a lot in an apartment, in my living room. Dust accumulated on things, but it cleaned off easily enough like regular dust. I'd suggest doing it in a basement or something to avoid making a mess.

just get a big cardboard box to spray into. if you dont have any from a delivery, just go to a supermarket and they will usually have empty ones you can take. thats what I used before my old man knocked me up a wooden one. I do it next to a window with a desk fan blowing the fumes towards the window.

It's not the compressor that is loud, but the booth. The compressor noise is bearable and I can indeed put it inside a cupboard or whatever. But I'm worried I'll eventually coat everything in the room (including my computer) with fine paint dust...

I basement or a garage where a little dust doesn't matter would be nice but alas we live in an apartment.

Oh and also, I don't really want to keep any windows open, especially not during winter. I do live in Finland after all...

For moderate DIY:
-Find the smallest furnace filter you can
- Find a clear tote where the bottom of the container fits the filter.
- Find the smallest box fan you can roughly the size of the filter or slightly bigger.
- Cut a hole in the bottom of the tote slightly smaller than the filter.
- Now set the tote on it's long side, tape the box fan to the back of it where it blows away from the tote.
- Place the filter inside the tote covering the hole and tape into place or whatever method you prefer (need to replace on occasion).
- You could double stack filters depending on how fine they are, the allergy ones work best for removing the dust.

I eventually lined it with clear drop sheet to replace on occasion, unless you rig lights inside the box, the clear tote works well.
I like the tote method because i could screw things into it and is a fairly strong frame to move it around.
Many people use plastic plumbing tube to make a frame and then use the clear plastic drop sheets.

The large box fans on low are very quiet so are a good choice for your needs and move alot of air.

You do need to be careful, some bright colours use Cadmium which is a cancer causing agent.
I would still wear a mask just in case.
I try not to spray with GW paints because they tend not to list their pigment ingredients.

Anyway, I hope it works out ok.

Thanks for that Talizvar. However I suppose I'll try to cope with a cardboard box when noise is a consideration for the time being. Or I might in fact use the booth without the fan in such cases and just wipe down any dust in the near vicinity and see how well it works out.

It's a shame I can't run the booth lights without engaging the fan as well, because it's very well lit.

oh so you have a powered booth that makes noise I assume? I was confused. I thought you meant the compressor was loud. well if youre only doing moderate amounts of airbrushing, doing it into a cardboard box should be fine dust wise. maybe supplement with a desk lamp for lighting.

Yup, what queen_annes_revenge said. Like I said, I never used a booth. After a year the computer I had in that room had some greenish dust inside of it (mostly airbrushing shades of green), but it came right off when I blew it out with compressed air. There was some greenish dust on the TV as well, but again, wiped right off.

Ditto. Just adjust your cleaning habits to account for greater amounts of paint dust in the vicinity and you're fine.

If you want to get into the gubbinz of the booth you could probably bodge a switch into the fan power line so you could run gheblights separately.

 Flinty wrote:
If you want to get into the gubbinz of the booth you could probably bodge a switch into the fan power line so you could run gheblights separately.

Yeah I'll need to think about that. Also I'm going to do an autopsy on the booth and see if I can find a quieter fan and replace it. Need to find out the size and specs first.