Creating more Humidity in my work area

[hooterville75]

Might be a stupid question but I don't know the answer to it so I'm going to take a stab at it and ask anyways lol. During the colder months that are upon us, the humidity level I need to be able to airbrush any paint isn't near the percentage I need it to be. Is there a way I can develop a system or a way to create Humidity in my spray booth area ? If not, am I basically stuck hand painting all winter ? Also, hope this is in the right section but when doing the paint spoon test for colors. If one was to hand paint the paint spoon test vs airbrushing the paint spoon test, would the results be the same or completely different ?

[ScaleArmorBuilder]

You could use a small humidifier to add moisture to the air.

[hooterville75]

THat or I was thinking perhaps patch the freekin tiny pin hole that lets water into the basement everytime it rains. It didnt get its name the Swamp Pit for no reason haha. Ive got alot of work to do in the work area starting tomorrow even. Im thinking once the hole is patched that i can keep the water out of my basement where my work area is, with the addition of when we start turning the heat on and running the furnace will bring the Humidity up. IF then I still need more Humidity, Ill try the humidifier, but man there so spendy here in the US anyways. IF worse comes to worse Im thinking I could set up a burner of some type and boil water when Im ready to paint to help increase the humidity. ???? Just some thoughts that crossed my mind. Thanks for posting Corporal Scale Armor Builder

[hooterville75]

I should have added Sir Corporal Scale Armor Builder

[ScaleArmorBuilder]

Depending how big the space is a small one should work and they are pretty cheap. I bought a small one for my bedroom for $30 from Walmart...

[PhildaFish]

Depending what type of furnace you have and whether the whole unit gets hot on the outside then I would simply leave a saucepan or metal bucket or similar full of water on top of the furnace to slowly evaporate into the atmosphere. The larger the surface area of water, the better.

[hooterville75]

I will either take pics or do a video tomorrow of my spray brush booth area (thats the only area) Im concerned about. I want to be able to paint all winter long without brush painting everything because of Humidity issues. Thanks for the reply.

[ForbesHutton]

What sort of heating system do you have? And how much heat does it put into the basement?

The electric heaters really dry the air, forced air will dry the air as well, but not as much as electric heaters. If you have a hot water system it shouldn't really affect the humidity level that much.

I'm not sure that it can ever be too dry to airbrush, too much humidity can and will cause problem.

One easy sign that an area is "too dry" is static shocks, if you are able to build a static charge in the basement (hopefully carpeted so you can find out) and shock yourself on a door knob or cat's nose then it's dry.

[hooterville75]

Maybe Im misunderstanding the humidity levels needed for airbrushing then. I thought you wanted to have at least the minimum of 75% humidity for air brushing ? I have an area in my basement under my house which is unfinished. Let me explain the entire story. Cellar stairs going down fro the outside to the basement. Basement is under the house. Walk in the door, Furnace is right to the left with the fuel tank right beside. I have two areas of my basement where I consider my work area. The wife has a tiny lil area for storing her seasonal decorations. I then have a tiny lil area where my daughter uses her easel to airbrush on. Beside that I have about a five foot by five foot area that I have my spray booth set up, with a sink right beside. The sink and platform are on a maybe 10X10 Platform built on the concrete. I then have another area about 10X10 where I have my work desk with a work bench coming off each side of me that are seven foot long and about 2 1/2 feet wide by 31" high. The entire basement is open though. Theres no sub partitians. The furnace duct or pipes all run in the basement and go up to each room by a vent hole in the floors. I will do a video or take some photos tomorrow sometime and post or doa video and post. Perhaps maybe Im missing or mis understanding something about how this humidity for air brushing works. I will have to say that before I do anything to fix it I have to fix a tiny hole in the block wall (I fixed once already but obviously missed a lil hole) because water shoots through there like a rocket when it rains making it damp down there. Thats why I had to clean the entire basement several weeks ago because I ended up having a blocked pipe from roots in the ground (God love the roto rooter lol), and had six inches of water in my entire basement. Being a procrastinator I left it there for a week before totally getting it all out. Mold formed and it wasnt good. So I gave everything a bath in bleach and water ratio mixed and sprayed on everything with a sprayer getting rid of all the mold. Now Ill get rid of the pin hole in the block wall to avoid the water coming in and go from there with ya alls suggestions. To end my normal humidity level in my basement is 45-55 %

[ScaleArmorBuilder]

75% is pretty humid.
I think you will be fine, give it a try and see.

[ForbesHutton]

45-55% is fine for airbrushing.

[hooterville75]

What worries me is the fact the last time I shot a car body for a competition, it was the same conditions as now and the paint orange peeled on me. I figured it was because of the humidity conditions ? I didnt know Im really new to all this haha

[Paul]

What worries me is the fact the last time I shot a car body for a competition, it was the same conditions as now and the paint orange peeled on me. I figured it was because of the humidity conditions ? I didnt know Im really new to all this haha

I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much deron, i know we don't get the same weather conditions here in the uk, but I've not had a problem airbrushing due to the weather yet