Hello!

Quick question. I've got some pieces of wood that I'm assembling together and will be painting. I, however, have sanded the pieces down, so there's sawdust all over the pieces.

On metal, I've been told to wipe down the pieces with lacquer thinner prior to painting, and that that would make the surface completely clean. Does this go for wood as well? Or do I risk damaging the wood?

Obviously, the thinner needs to dry completely before painting (I'll probably use the thinner tonight, then join the pieces and let them sit overnight, and paint tomorrow), but is this safe/a good idea?

Thanks in advance!

I always clean a freshly sanded wood floor with mineral spirits before staining and polyurethaning. I know that Minwax wood conditioner sold for that purpose is just straight mineral spirits.

I don't know about laquer thinner but I'm inclined to think that is more for metal parts.

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Mineral Spirits. Make sure its well ventillated, and a complete abscense of sparks and flame. Unless you are making smores.

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On bare wood I would not use a thinner, it will likely raise the grain and you'll have to sand it more.

MTI, then, what would be the best way to get the sawdust from the sanding off the wood? A dry towel or a small whisk broom won't get it all, at least in my experience

Not trying to challenge you; just, I want to make sure that this paint sticks properly...I don't want to have to do this again.

Thanks!

You want to use a tack rag or a air compressor and blow it off.

This is a tack rag.

http://www.thesuperhandyman.com/tackrag.html

The tack rag is very good. I also use my compressor and blow gun to remove a lot of sawdust. If you are painting the wood then blowing it off should be sufficent. Of course depending on the wood will determine your paint application and preperation. some exotic woods have oil in them and must be treated prior to application of water based paints. Normal wood, pine, oak, ash, etc usually don't require unusual prep work.

Dave

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I've painted and stained lots of wood....dmorrison's suggestion is right on target.

If you use mineral spirits, use it lightly and give it enough time to dry before you paint or stain, especially if you're going to use water-based paint or stain.

Mike

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Depends on what you are putting on. If you are using water base paint, you need to "raise the grain" and remove the fuzz first, anyway.

What I do:

Wipe down with a damp rag -- wet enough to dampen the surface but not wet enough to leave much if any water visible. Allow to dry (couple of hours is enough). WIPE over surface with VERY find sandpaper (I use some of that endless supply of sample 3M 0.5 um polishing paper my brother got a couple years ago). Scotchbrite, the finest you can get, will work to. You only want to remove the fur that pops up from the wood fiber swelling, not remove any material (or the fibers will pop up again). Once over, in grain direction, will do it.

Wipe off with a tack rag (you can make one by putting some thinned varnish on a hunk of cheescloth and kneading it) to pull off any dust no yet removed. Don't leave any varnish or tack compound behind.

Finish with desired finish.

Peter

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Thank you all again

The paint I'm using is a spraypaint called "Painter's Touch" from Rustoleum, and is meant to go on wood or metal and is meant for indoor/outdoor use. I'm not sure if it's water-based or oil-based; I can't find it on the label.

I think I'll just blow it off with compressed air and hope that's good enough...I'm on a budget with this project, so getting the varnish, cheesecloth, etc to make the tack cloth won't be easy from that standpoint.

If you really want to clean it use oxcylic acid.