Best type of mask for airbrushing?

[Axineton]

So I’m going to be ordering this spray booth in the next few days: https://www.bartsharpairbrush.co.uk/product/large-airbrush-spray-booth-led-lights-sb04/

and wondered what face masks would be appropriate for airbrushing. When I airbrushed before, I never used a mask but I want to start doing it properly and I feel a mask would be appropriate for health reasons. 

[Evil Eye]

I'm fortunate enough to have a military surplus store in my local city, and I was able to get a military-standard face mask (not full-head gas mask) for a decent enough price. Overkill for certain but if it's good enough to protect against gas it'll be fine for paint fumes!

[Firedrake Cordova]

You want a mask that will filter particulate matter for regular painting, and organic gasses if you're using lacquer-based paints. Personally, I like the 3M half-face "rubber" masks - they're comfortable, and don't get hot (they have a "breathe out" valve). Air-Craft sell a selection of them (I have the 6500QL with both the particulate and gas filters).

Edited October 25, 2022 by Firedrake Cordova
missing bracket - doh

[Axineton]

I could probably get one of those from work instead of shelling out £45 for one. Nice one cheers.

[pawl]

Hey Axy! =]

 

I actually published a post on exactly this recently, might be of some use! In particular it shows you the kind of filters you need to be using, as they're not all the same.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's a good article, @pawl 

 

If anyone's interested, the performance requirements for each grading seem to be:

• P1: at least 80% filtering efficiency
• P2: at least 94% filtering efficiency (equivalent to FFP2 or N95)
• P3: at least 97% filtering efficiency (equivalent to FFP3 or N99)
• A1: suitable for concentrations up to 0.1% (1,000ppm)
• A2: suitable for concentrations up to 0.5% (5,000ppm)
• A3: suitable for concentrations up to 1% (10,000ppm)

3M have a handy-dandy guide to decoding their filter product numbers.

[pawl]

In fairness, @Firedrake Cordova, the actual work that went into it wasn't mine! I do think it covers pretty much all the bases for our hobby rather well though. =]

[Arkhanist]

On 10/24/2022 at 4:46 PM, Axineton said:

I could probably get one of those from work instead of shelling out £45 for one. Nice one cheers.

 

A mask is a good idea - you only get one pair of lungs! (usually...) Good ventilation is also a good start, to prevent a build up in the area.

 

It also depends what you're spraying. If it's hobby acrylic or polyurethane, e.g. water based, then the primary risk is paint dust/particulates (water vapour isn't a problem!). So a straightforward cheap dust mask is sufficient, as long as it's N95 (US) or FFP2 (UK/EU) rated or better. These are considered good enough for work-level exposure, and we should be getting a lot less than that. We all probably have a box load of these already...

 

If you're spraying organic solvents or paints, e.g. containing IPA, laquers, oils, enamels, acetone, white spirit or other smelly solvent, then you need a half mask with A2 (or better) organic vapour box filters as Pawl's link explains, and the P2 filter pads on top to catch any solid dust/particulates. You do also need to replace the filters periodically, but how often will depend upon how much you use them.

 

You can of course wear the half mask for spraying everything and that's great, but personally I find it bit uncomfortable to wear one for extended periods, so when I'm only spraying low-toxicity acrylic paint (which is most of the time), I just wear a dust mask as it's more comfortable, and still doing the job, plus an open window for any minor offgassing (small amount of IPA in the thinner, for example). A mask you'll wear is better than none at all!

 

edit: A good thing to have is also an airbrush spray out/cleaning pot. This is useful to spray the mess into when you rinse out the airbrush with cleaner under high pressure at the end of session, or just flushing between colours, and the air vent has a filter to help keep your workspace air clean.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Arkhanist