[ColoradoMalibu]

If this has been discussed previously, I could'nt find it.
After filling and sanding, what is the best way to clean off the filler dust before shooting primer. Compressed air doesn't seem to get it all. Tack cloth ?, Liquid of the fast drying kind ?

 

[pist0lpete]

Use a degreaser and then tack cloth. Also on a bit of a side note many people are not aware of this but filler dust is HIGHLY flammable so be careful when blowing it around. A bunch of that stuff in the air and one spark and things can get ugly real fast.

 

[vettefella]

If this has been discussed previously, I could'nt find it.
After filling and sanding, what is the best way to clean off the filler dust before shooting primer. Compressed air doesn't seem to get it all. Tack cloth ?, Liquid of the fast drying kind ?

Compressed air while wiping the panel with a dry, clean cloth is the best method. Using any kind of liquid such as washing with water or especially using wax and grease remover is a sure fire way of inviting problems down the road. The filler will absorb the w & g remover and it will return as bubbles/delamination within a few weeks or months.

 

[67shovel]

I've heard that bondo dust is very carcinogenic. When I work with it I have a fan blowing pass me pointed at another exhaust fan in the window to get that dust out of the shop. I also just hit it with an air gun to clean off the dust before primer.

 

[TechNova]

This is one of the ASE sample test questions.
According to the ASE sample test you are to go to a wax and grease remover
to remove the dust in prep for primer.
I do not know of a shop that does it this way. Why get all the dust in the rags designed to remove other contaminates?
Every shop I know of uses compressed air or if they have vacuum sanding they vacuum the dust. A dry rag wipe while blowing or sucking helps.
They then use wax and grease remover to float off the remaining contaminants. By the time you get the primer ready any wax and grease remover that soaked into the filler will be evaporated and gone. Body filler has parafin in it, it needs to be cleaned before priming.
A light wipe with a tack rag before priming doesn't hurt.
If you're gonna use a tack rag, wipe it immediately before priming, as in when the gun is in your other hand ready to spray. Don't wipe it and let it sit while you are mixing or suiting up.

 

[pist0lpete]

Ya I have used wax and grease remover many times without any problems. It evaporates too fast for there to be any issues. I can't imagine that any automotive finish products manufacturer would make something that would interfere with paint or primer in a detrimental manner. You gotta get the oils from your hands etc. off of there.

 

[dreamchevelle]

I am not sure why you are having so much trouble removing the dust becuase i done alot of bodywork in my days and never had a problem getting the dust off the car. I always use my air compressor and a dry rag then right before i primer i wipe the car down using a tack rag. Worked for me every time. Perfect results. I am sure that using wax and greese remover would work but bondo absorbs very easy and the amount of time you spend preping the car i wouldn't want any chance of something backfiring. Anyways hope i helped.

 

[MARTINSR]

I agree, been doing this for a long time and with what I have learned about trapped solvents and the functions of wax and grease remover I don't see the benifits outweighing the possibilities of problems.

First off, if a wax and grease is going to be used, which one? A mild, slow cleaner which is mostly mineral spirits is going to be soaked up by the filler. A fast, weak one would be ok. A fast strong one is going to attack the edges of the filler pretty fast, that isn't good.

Unless you are eating a bacon cheese burger as you are feeling your body work I say there is no need to clean the filler it's self anyway. If you wipe it down prior to any work you are going to be fine.

Blowing it off is all you really need as far as I am concerned.

Brian

 

[rubadub]

Brian, where you're working is in what I would call a controlled environment, in a hobbist garage theres lots of things on the shelf, in the air, perhaps a little different situation, like nobody has sprayed any wd-40, silicone or started up any weedeaters or lawnmowers, hobbist usually do most of there own mechanic work, greasy wrenches, airhoses, doorknobs. Even sandpaper can get contaminated. Depending on the type of shop the hobbist is running might determine the need for a little bit of acryliclean, but you have a valid point.

Rob

 

[ColoradoMalibu]

Thanks for all the replies, I just want to make sure I get as much dust off as possible before shooting primer. I am careful about hand prints but my 8 and 11 year old may not be so careful. Especially since I told my 8 year old he might get the car when he gets his license. It's amazing he hasn't forgotten that yet.

 

[baddbob71]

This is one of the ASE sample test questions.
According to the ASE sample test you are to go to a wax and grease remover
to remove the dust in prep for primer.
I do not know of a shop that does it this way. Why get all the dust in the rags designed to remove other contaminates?
Every shop I know of uses compressed air or if they have vacuum sanding they vacuum the dust. A dry rag wipe while blowing or sucking helps.
They then use wax and grease remover to float off the remaining contaminants. By the time you get the primer ready any wax and grease remover that soaked into the filler will be evaporated and gone. Body filler has parafin in it, it needs to be cleaned before priming.
A light wipe with a tack rag before priming doesn't hurt.
If you're gonna use a tack rag, wipe it immediately before priming, as in when the gun is in your other hand ready to spray. Don't wipe it and let it sit while you are mixing or suiting up.

I agree, wax and grease remover if used correctly should never pose a problem whether your cleaning paint, metal, primer, or fillers.

 

[TechNova]

Brian, it's not very often I disagree with you, in fact probably never before!
Everyone I've ever known uses wax and grease remover on body filler. A couple key points being to give it some time before spraying primer and to be very careful with the sprayers we are now using for W&G remover. The sprayers tend to flood it on, so the filler could soak up alot more. I like to continue the three rag method over filler and save the sprayer for non-filler jobs. I have never seen a failure over filler if it is done this way, even as a paint tech visiting shops.
Some of the reasons my fellow Wisconsinite Rubadub mentioned are good reasons to clean. Maybe in this part of the country we contaminate the filler with the cheese on our hands, who knows.
Possibly the waterbased cleaners that (I think) are required in Cal. are slower evaporating and could cause trouble. I'll have to watch for that as we are starting to use them also.
However, with the amount of experience you have, for you to say not to do it, it really catches my attention. I guess my point is that it may not matter if we are cleaning the filler with W&G remover. I will continue to do it because it has always worked for me. Brian, you know that techs don't like to change if things are working for them.
If it works for others not to do it then don't.
If you are just stating out, choose a method, do it properly and stick with it.

 

[MARTINSR]

I appreciate the fact that not everyone has an environment free (or near free) of contaminants. I understand that, but I also understand the huge window in doing it properly. I personally had mineral spirit based surface cleaners bite me big time back in the lacquer primer days. I had a number of paint jobs fail a year or two later with this "water spot" looking effect. After close study I could see that the patterns where MY patterns created when I wiped with the wax and grease remover.

If you wipe the plastic filler down the RIGHT way with the surface being very wet and then wiping it dry, you have exposed quite a bit of solvent to that filler.

Unless you KNOW that there has been some kind of contamination, I say it just isn't needed.

I don't want to say I was told this by S-W when I was a rep, but I seem to remember being told, do not wipe down plastic filler. It is "common sense" (being MY common sense, I could be wrong, I admit that) that plastic filler is a sponge, it WILL suck up solvents. Why introduce another solvent to the mix?

I just got up and went to ask the head painter here at the shop this question. He remembers being specifically told in tech class as well. We do about 3.5 million dollars in repairs here a year, about 135 cars a month, the paint department does NOT wipe down plastic filler with surface cleaner, period. When I asked him he looked at me like I was crazy, "well of course the filler would absorb the cleaner" were the first words out of his mouth.

I have never wiped it in my life other than when I KNEW there was a contamination issue.

I don't know guys, we have zero contamination issues here, VERY rarely even have a fisheye, VERY rarely. It is a lifetime warranteed shop with all the painters and preppers having gone thru training for lifetime warrantee. In five years here we have had ONE failure and it was do to solvent in primer that wasn't flashed properly before paint.

Color matches, LOL, now that we redo often. But contaminants are not an issue.

I hope you know there was no region crack with the cheeseburger comment. that is a generic statment I have made for years painting a picture of the ultimate mistake.

Brian

 

[TechNova]

I hope you know there was no region crack with the cheeseburger comment. that is a generic statment I have made for years painting a picture of the ultimate mistake.

Brian

I didn't take it wrong, I use the same remark with Doritos, the younger generation is eating them all the time and they are in every vending machine.