Dealing with paint fumes..

[Carlos]

I spray in my work shop; paint fumes after spraying build up for several hours afterwards, and there's a problem that I need to keep the area warm in winter, so opening up windows is obviously a good idea, but then lose all the heat! Heat is a good option for the paint!

Obvious thing would be to remove smelly painted items to another area, but workshop is small, so cant do that! Or stop work for a day to allow curing and fumes to disperse, but not a good option.

How do fellow painters deal with the after-effects of painting and the fumes that linger around the work shop?

[bigwater]

Draft the fumes out as they're created. Place the heat source outside of the spray area so that the heat is drawn in by the draft. Always wear a good respirator, even painting water based paints. Take my word for it... you don't want to spend your later years sucking on an asthma inhaler just to take a breath. I have to keep one in my pocket at all times from years of painting without a respirator. I messed up and didn't pay attention to safety when I had the chance. Once I drop dead and they cut me open, I bet my lungs will be blue, green and purple.

[Carlos]

looking into water based clear but not found anything yet..

[bigwater]

Water based does not mean healthy. It just means that the pigments are floating around in a water based solution rather than a solvent based solution. The pigments will still coat your lungs... Don't get decieved that water based is any safer than solvent based. The only difference in the two is that you don't catch a buzz spraying water based. The shit can still kill you.

[Carlos]

Water based does not mean healthy. It just means that the pigments are floating around in a water based solution rather than a solvent based solution. The pigments will still coat your lungs... Don't get decieved that water based is any safer than solvent based. The only difference in the two is that you don't catch a buzz spraying water based. The shit can still kill you.no worries; I didn't mean to give the impression that I think it would be OK; it's just that it's easier in some respects i.e. clean up. I have an extraction unit that filters out the pigment in the atmosphere very effectively, built out of several bathroom type extraction units and a glass fibre filter material on top of them. There seems to be less residual smell with water based though, after the initial drying period; whereas solvent based can still smell for a while after.

[AndyW]

I use a flea bay cooker hood (graded cheapo) piped to a flap vent that closes when the fan is off, has built in carbon filter which helps knock down the fumes etc, pin up paint filter on the front.........but the best is a portable unit I built which can be set up for down draught extraction, I sit the fan in the booth under the cooker extractor, reason is that the fan exhaust has a carbon filter exhaust sock and it works brilliantly, the fan and sock came from an exotic plant growers supply shop, the missus thought we would get raided lol...............the main reason being growers of a certain herb have to keep the smell and fumes down, so it works great for what I use it for.

[Carlos]

I use a flea bay cooker hood (graded cheapo) piped to a flap vent that closes when the fan is off, has built in carbon filter which helps knock down the fumes etc, pin up paint filter on the front.........but the best is a portable unit I built which can be set up for down draught extraction, I sit the fan in the booth under the cooker extractor, reason is that the fan exhaust has a carbon filter exhaust sock and it works brilliantly, the fan and sock came from an exotic plant growers supply shop, the missus thought we would get raided lol...............the main reason being growers of a certain herb have to keep the smell and fumes down, so it works great for what I use it for.

Andy, do you find this type of filtration is effective on high solvent fumes, like from rattle cans? I've looked on fleabay and found some of the can type filters and also the replacement hood flat filters. Looks like I could rig something up with either type to help keep the smells down. Not sure which would be most effective. If I can find 4" can filters, I can install them direct to the back of my extractor fans. So, goes through glass fibre filter first, then through carbon to remove the smell.

[AndyW]

They work great especially the carbon filters, I sometimes set up a small greenhouse (before I built my new den), in the garage
used the carbon filter and fan, absolutely nothing could be smelt, inside the "booth" or externally

Which pleases the wife, as she used to make exagerrated coughing noises until I set everything up properly, also it clears everything very quickly, less than 30 minutes, which is good as when clearing I have always been told you are better to keep the air moving even after spraying while it cures a bit.