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Made in dk
Regular Dakkanaut




My little family is looking to buy a house for ourselves and the plan is for me to then get an airbrush (and accessories) to make my painting life more comfortable. I know that ventilation is important, I will for sure have at least one window that can open and others that have ventilation rosters in the room I'm planning to use the airbrush in.

One thing I've always wondered about though is whether the paint that is 'lost' to the air and becomes an airborne pollutant will eventually cause stains on other surfaces in the room such as walls, furniture, etc.? Or is the paint so small/light that it will circulate in the air until it is eventually removed through ventilation in due time? I've not been able to find anything on this matter and I know people must have experience with this. Would appreciate any insight you can give me.

Getting an airbrush booth is an option by the way, but I prefer to not have to use it.
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







The pigment that doesn’t stick to a surface becomes dust. You want decent ventilation to get rid of the airborne dust because that’s bad for your lungs, and then just wipe up the surface dust frequently enough to stop it becoming airborne agains.

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





I think in general you don't just want ventilation in the form of open windows, you want an extractor fan sucking the fumes away and blowing them out of your house.

Personally I airbrushed for a little while without an extractor and never noticed paint dust build up, but that might just be because my house is naturally dusty, there's definitely a bunch of paint that just gets put into the air and has to settle somewhere. When I (stupidly) tried to spray something with a rattle can in my bathroom because it was cold and rainy outside I ended up with paint dust over everything and it was a pain in the arse to clean up.

So yeah, get a decent extractor rather than relying on an open window. The cheap extractors you can buy are kind of okay, but the one I got had a piddly fan that wasn't powerful enough to pull paint through the filter at the rate I was spraying it, so I adapted the exhaust to another more powerful fan and it's working okay now. Before buying that I was just using that same more powerful fan with a box that had a hole cut into it and some ducting, but it was too annoying to pack up all the time so I bought the cheap foldaway one.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/06/22 10:30:34


 
   
Made in au
Anti-Armour Swiss Guard






Newcastle, OZ

Yes, it will cover other surfaces.

This is why a spraybooth is a good idea. You can even get desktop ones that can vent through a window (some have a panel that fits into a standard sized window spacing (for sash windows at least).

A decent mask (not a dust mask, a proper filtered one) is also recommended - because certain airbrushing paints really shouldn't be inhaled (there's a few that still contain cadmium, for example).

I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.

That is not dead which can eternal lie ...

... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
 
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





 chromedog wrote:
A decent mask (not a dust mask, a proper filtered one) is also recommended - because certain airbrushing paints really shouldn't be inhaled (there's a few that still contain cadmium, for example).


There's definitely things you don't want to be inhaling in paints and also the thinners, but I thought pretty much all hobby paints were now free of cadmium, certainly the ones specifically designed for airbrushing? I thought one of the ASTM standards that hobby paints followed now required being cadmium free.
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







I have some vallejo air paints that have a cadmium warning on them. they might be older vintage though.

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





 Flinty wrote:
I have some vallejo air paints that have a cadmium warning on them. they might be older vintage though.


Interesting. I thought Vallejo got rid of the Cadmium in their paints quite a while ago, and their air paints even longer ago.

But yeah, either way it's worth not breathing the fumes. I'd rely on a good extractor first and foremost since with masks you could potentially use the wrong filter or not have it sealed properly on your face, but still a good idea to use a mask also.

   
Made in us
Killer Khymerae





Midwest USA

Two words.

Spray Booth.

<end>
   
Made in us
Killer Khymerae





Midwest USA

Painting/Modelling Desk Showing my Home brewed Paint Booth. Booth exhausts through a dryer hose to a port outside. Note: This hose can also be simply placed into an open window. Used this for years painting Lacquers and other less environmentally safe paints/solvents. Someone standing 3 feet away cannot smell anything.

Note: You can also see that it's not possible to have too much might. There are six lamps, one of which is a three tube fluorescent.



[Thumb - Modelling Desk.JPG]

   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut






I recommend something to catch overspray and airborne particles. Catching overspray could be done by just a cardboard box, sucking up particles takes a filter and a fan. Commercially available cheapo airbrush booths (<$100) are plastic boxes, with a fan and a filter. The filter exhaust air doesn't need to go anywhere. This is assuming you are not spraying mostly acrylics or Vallejo Primer.

I use a simple airbrush box with filter and fan. This did the job, except for heavy priming sessions, when the fan couldn't keep up. For that kinda application I like a bit of DKOK mask cosplay.
The good news is that the stuff that floats around isn't sticky anymore, it's dust. Even if it settles on a surface, it can be wiped/vacuumed off.
I've airbrushed a lot for several years, including priming a couple of armies, in a small room (12qm ~130 sq ft) and moved recently. There were no issues with any surface.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/23 12:46:01


   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut




Thanks everyone, I got all the info that I needed. Great to hear that the paint basically becomes dust, very helpful to know. Incidentally, we reached an agreement today on the purchase of a house, so I'll be getting myself an airbrush setup in the next couple of months .
   
 
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