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09/12/2003 Archived Entry: "Rain and Paint"

RAIN AND PAINT

Looks like it is still raining in Colorado, according to our vacationing blogger.

The phones were out most of yesterday. That happens from time to time when we get rain and wind.

So here's a question: How many times have you done something stupid? As for me, I do it all the time. Doing things I 'know better' than to try. As I get older (and this may be a function of the ability to actually get older), I find I am a little slower to get things done, but more thorough and careful in doing them. Some years ago, although I knew better, I sprayed insecticide without wearing gloves, repirator (I had one stored for just such use...but did I use it? Nope!) or eye protection. After I sprayed, I felt sick. Queasy. Nauseated. I recovered without a trip to the ER, but I can tell you I never sprayed again without wearing protection. (When we're young, we think we are invincible, I reckon.)

I heard from an acquaintance the other day. Said he had a frightening headache. Did he think I was a physician? Naw, he said, but he couldn't understand why he felt so terrible. I think it was Ramazzini who said if you want to know what ails a man, look at what he does [for a living]. I asked him what he'd been doing. Turns out, he'd been painting a car body in his garage. So here are some tips on painting (these sound like common sense, of course, but my friend has advanced degrees in the biological sciences and still he went ahead and painted without any protection. It can happen to any of us.).

Read the directions, read the warnings and read the MSDS (material safety data sheet). Paint in well ventilated areas. What's 'well ventilated'? Painting in the garage with the garage door open is not 'well ventilated', that's just a big room with the door open. Ventilation is 'air moving'. If air isn't moving (and moving at a certain rate) through the area where you are painting, then it is not well ventilated. And ventilation, believe it or not, will make a better paint job because the solvents can evaporate more efficiently. Inefficient drying of solvents often causes patches or holes on the paint surface.

Wear gloves and get as little paint and solvents on your hands as possible. Wear the right kind of gloves. All materials will not protect against all chemicals. Wear the glove made of material that will protect you against the particular substance you are using. How do you know which materials protect against which chemicals? Read the label on the paint or solvents, read the MSDS and ask the seller (and of course, you can always look on the internet!).

Wear a respirator. I'm not talking about the little paper masks similar to surgical masks. While those might keep a few paint droplets out of your mouth or nose, they won't protect you against vapors. (Or fumes. Fumes are formed when a volatilized solid condenses. Put another way, this means fumes can be formed when metal or glass is heated. While in common parlance people speak of 'gasoline fumes' and 'paint fumes'; they really mean 'gases and vapors'.) Respirators need to be fit tested, too. (Gets more complicated as we go along, doesn't it?)

The best idea I could suggest to my friend was to rent a paint booth. Many body shops, and sometimes marinas, have paint booths they will rent on a per day or per hour basis.

He called around and found a booth for rent at $15/hour or $50/day. The major result of using the paint booth was that he didn't come away with a six-hour headache after painting his car.

Well! There you go. More than you ever wanted to know about painting that old car body.