What is overspray
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
Overspray is caused by the mist that is created when spray painting a surface. The tiny paint particles are light enough to float around in the air, when they land they slowly start to harden and become overspray. Overspray can be removed safely in many cases.
Contents
Why overspray
When a painter needs to spraypaint a surface, he needs to set his equipment to work with the paint he is using. The paint is pressed through a nozzle that atomises the liquid paint into a very fine mist of tiny paint drops. This very fine mist is then sprayed on the surface to form a very even layer of paint drops. These slowly harden into a coat of paintwork. The very fine mist of paint is very light and is easily carried by air. This mist can float to area that are not covered by masking tape, and settle on a surface they are not supposed to come into contact with.
How to remove overspray
There a several ways of removing overspray, the best technique is very dependent on the type and amount of overspray.
How does overspray look like
Overspray can come in different amounts and sizes. If the droplet are bigger, the overspray will look like hardened raindrops, but in most cases it will like dust. A very fine layer if tiny dust particles that feel very rough and hard. The color might even give away that its not dust. Overspray can rarely be washed off, unlike dust.
- When you have stone chips, you probably want to fix it. However, it is not like you can just spray paint your car again. Certain stone chips are more easy to repair then others. With a lot of practice, it can give a very good end result....
- A popular item to be used by detailers and valeters alike is the washmitt. This accessory allows you to safely wash off dirt and grime from a surface with a minimum risk of creating swirls. Thus preserving the finish you achieved after polishing and refining the surface....
- When you have a matte wrap on your car, or just matte paintwork, you need to take care what protective product you are using. Protecting a matte finish is just as important as on a normal surface, but you need to be careful what you use....
- Sandblasting, or abrasive blasting, is the act of spraying a surface will small abrasive particles that are launched at very high speed and interact with the surface in a way similar to sanding....
- Claylube is a specific liquid that helps to lubricate the surface when claying. Without this lube, the clay will leave a lot of marring due to it being fairly rough and having a very high level of friction when moving....
- It is often asked on detailing fora and social media: "what is the best leather protector". Off course there is a difference between certain products and brands, but it is important to know what you are asking. In this guide I will try to explain what the problem is with this question unless it is asked more in-depth....
[…] with an LVLP gun results in the least amount of overspray of any type of spray gun on the market, even modern HVLP guns. If you’re looking for the least […]
[…] If you are painting just the trim, you can use the same masking paper and tape(on your paint masker) to mask off the first foot of the wall, and then you can switch the masking paper out for some masking film to cover further up the wall to avoid overspray. […]
[…] by forcing it through a small nozzle at high pressure. This provides more uniform coverage with less overspray than can be achieved using conventional […]