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Paint shop cleaning

I work with an Electro static spray booth with a recovery unit. Recently we have been told that cleaning our clothes and such with compressed air is not allowed. However, no one one seems to have a solution. With paint colour changes there is a risk of cross contamination from our clothes . Do you know of any cleaning utilities intended for use on the person.

Thank you.

John Murphy
Appliance trim manufacturing - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
2007

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Whats the reason for the rule? Is it safety or are the painters blowing paint all over the shop when they dust themselves off? If it's safety you might try a disposable coverall that the painters take off and throw away after each run. The remaining cleanup should be minimal. If the rule is because of compressed air blowing dust all over the place at the color change the painters can blow themselves off in the booth during the color change, or you can make a "shower" that the painters can step into that will contain the contaminate. The owner of a company I worked for told me the same thing once and finally gave up on enforcing it when a solution couldn't be found that was free.(his second rule was no money could be spent on a solution)

Sheldon Taylor
supply chain electronics
Wake Forest, North Carolina
2007

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Sheldon, I think I recall a specific OSHA rule prohibiting directing compressed air at the body, but it may not be worth the time to look it up because the principle is simply that it is dangerous. Convenient and practical, but dangerous.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2007

It is for high pressure air. I do not remember where the cutoff was, 20 or 40 PSI. Whatever it was, it was pretty ineffective. A thought, invest in a used dryer and run the coveralls thru on a no heat cycle. This will require the investment in a few more pairs of coveralls. The other option is to have a set of coveralls for each color of paint.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2007