Cleaning sawdust off sanded French Doors

[Don Morris]

We had unfinished French Doors (pine) installed well over a year ago and are just getting around to painting them. The glass panes have a plastic coating on them. The doors came with instructions for finishing which said to sand with a fine grit sandpaper prior to staining or painting (we're painting) but don't use an air compressor to blow the dust off because of the possibility of getting oils in the compressed air on the wood. My compressor has a filter on it but I can understand their point. They suggested brushing the dust off. I've brushed vigorously but can see small bits still in crevices. How about using mineral spirits with a rag or some other way to remove the dust. I'm hesitant to use a tack cloth as they always seem a little oily too.

[Howard Acheson]

Nothing like a vacuum cleaner. Use the soft dusting brush.

Once you have vacuumed them, apply your primer or thinned first coat. Let it dry 24 hours and then flat sand with 320 paper on a flat sanding block. Then vacuum again and apply your first full coat. Let dry again, sand and vacuum. This time lightly dampen a rag with mineral spirits (if using an oil based paint) or water (if using a waterborne paint and wipe the vacuumed surface. This will remove the last vestages of dust. Then carefully apply your final coat and get out of the room until the paint is dry.

[Prashun Patel]

Compressed air isn't the best choice IMHO bkz it doesn't remove the dust, just blows it around the finishing room.

However, if yr priming and painting, then any miniscule droplets of oil are not going to make a difference in the quality of the finish. Don't forget to sand yr primer between coats too...

[Phil Green]

Don,

The only thing I would add to Howard's post is when you are vacuuming, try to use a dusting brush head that is either new or one that you have cleaned well. Also, try to get the vacuum to exhaust to the outside or another room, the dust picked up by most vacuums is usually blown right back into the room.
Phil

[Howard Acheson]

Both good points Phil. I use my shop vacuum and have a couple of soft brushes dedicated to dusting off work pieces.

[Don Morris]

OK, vacuumed the devil out of them, and first coat (primer) is on. Will wait and sand with 320, vacuum well again and wipe as advised before the top coat. Repeat if needed. I know, it always seems to be needed. Took 4 hours to do the 4 sides carefully. Now why did I order unfinished doors? Oh yeh, $$$$$. Thanks for the input.

Don M

[Neal Clayton]

i don't care for shop vacs. they invariably fail at some seal or leaky filter at some point and start doing as much harm as good.

tack cloth is your friend ;).

[Leo Graywacz]

A little dust on the door will do no harm. You need to prime it and then sand the prime coat, this will get rid of any little flecks of dust. I spray my primer, and I always do 2 coats. You can blow with air all you want after it is primed. If you have a spray room/area it should be filtered with a fan, all the dust should exit out the fan. Most small compressors are oil less so there is no need to worry about oil. You can put an oil trap on the output of the compressor to get rid of oil.

[Matt Meiser]

I always blow my projects down with compressed air the night before I'm going to finish them with my air cleaner running. Then I wipe them down with a tack cloth right before finishing. The air gets the dust out of crevices and pores better than anything.

[glenn bradley]

Nothing like a vacuum cleaner. Use the soft dusting brush.

Me too, that is what I do.

[Don Morris]

I had a professional Devilbis spray can (cost a lot years ago). After my house renovation of a couple years ago, I can't find it. Used it when I totally renovated a '71 VW bug with my son, so I know about spraying and used my garage to do it in. Had an exhaust fan in one of the windows. I don't want to get into that again. Can't lean over a wheel well or crawl under the frame on a creepy crawler anymore. I'm a ww'er now, easier on the back, and it's inside work in my case. So, I'll run a line from my compressor to the doors, blow the sanded coats off then use a tack cloth (which I worried about before but now won't). Finishing is more tedious than building. Next time, I'm going to convince LOML - no glass panes. Thanks guys for the tips and advice!