How To Use Waterborne Paint In Your Paint Booth
Waterborne paint is by no means a new technology. However, the way it works is you spray it on a surface, and then dry it for the solvent and water to evaporate. Once evaporated, pigment is left behind on the surface and is ready for sealing and clear coating. When it comes down to it, waterborne paint can cut airborne emissions in half. In fact, in some states, waterborne has become the required paint for most booths.
Below, we have a few essential tips for using waterborne paint in your paint booth.
Maintain Proper Humidity Levels
If you were to compare solvent and waterborne, the biggest difference would be in the drying process. Solvents are dried and cured through specific temperature control. However, waterborne is dried and controlled through humidity levels. Beyond that, it’s incredibly important to control the internet air and humidity of your spray booth. You do this through proper airflow and ventilation.
Fortunately, the equipment needed for solvent and waterborne paint isn’t much different. However, because waterborne is what it is, your equipment should be stainless steel to avoid rusting (it should also be cleaned regularly). Most modern paint booths come with controllers that allow you to maintain certain heat and humidity levels.
Essential Tips To Keep In Mind
- Even though waterborne is safer than solvent, you cannot skimp out on protect eye and face-wear. You need to always wear a respirator whenever you’re in the booth because paint can linger in the air.
- On occasion, waterborne paint will require you to do wet-on-wet application. This means the paint color you immediately apply may look different than the one that appears after it dries. However, some paints also have higher amounts of solid compositions. This means you can fully paint the part of vehicle with few coats.
- Outside of having a full or half arch gas catalytic dryer, you should also use a handheld gas catalytic dryer to help quickly set the paint and prevent running or sagging.
Garmat Can Help!
At Garmat USA, we are all about production efficiencies both for your shop, and for our operation. We thrive on coming up with new methods to address the needs of our customers while meeting their budgets.
We are also dedicated to helping you save on your cost of operation. Garmat USA equipment is designed to reduce energy consumption, giving you the best possible return on your investment.
Every product and every improvement is developed with your business goals in mind- Lowering your operating costs and Increasing your production.