Detailing in a dust free environment

A

AntonV

New member
I recently got a flex for the holidays, and will be doing a full exterior detail at the end of the winter.



I winterized my 09 135i by hand a few months ago. I will never do that again!



My main problem is my garage. It has accumulated 27 years of misc junk and lots of dust. During my last clay/polish/sealant/wax, I was constantly battling dust accumulating on the panels. A mf towel/ qd solved the problem along the way. I just felt that all of the dust can and will lead to a big problem during a detail.



There is no way, I can get the garage dust under control. I would have to power wash the whole garage, which means emptying it out, and probably ruining the sheet rock.



Obviously, I prefer to do it indoors, and not outside, for the obvious reasons (wind/pollen/heat/sun)



i was thinking of getting this: Enclosed Car Canopy 10x10



Does anyone go through a big process like this? Assembling, all of the work on the car, then breaking it down? What about some advice on quickly making the air quality better in the garage? Fans, throwing a tarp over the work area?



The garage is big. Holds 2 cars and my motorcycle.



All of your info will be greatly appreciated.
 
AntonV- Welcome to Autopia!



Heh heh, I suspect you won't like my response here, but I'd clean the garage. My previous shop was an *OLD* (Historic Register syle old) commercial building that used to be a Ford dealership. It had caked filth everywhere when I got it, and by "caked" I mean you would grab handfuls off the exposed rafters, and that [stuff] would rain down on everything until it was cleaned off. It cleaned up just fine, though it took a bit of work.



There are paint products that can "seal in" the dirt on sheetrock; I believe the one we used was called "Wall Up" or something like that. Seriously, I think it'd be well worth it. Your size garage isn't *too* big to be doable by any means even if you're doing it all by yourself.



And emptying out buildings like that now and then has all sorts of other benefits too...rent a dumpster and plan to fill it ;)
 
Or try Craigslist. I've made some money by selling trash [to me] to people who need them.



You'd be surprised what people are willing to buy and pay these days.
 
If your space is large enough build a paint tent with plastic and work in there. I've set up paint booths in some really nasty barns with little troubles.
 
It would seem that as you are working on a vehicle, most of the dust would kick up from the area most used...the floor. This is, unless you keep your supplies on a shelf. Anyway, clean out as much of the dust collectors (junk) as you can. Keep your supplies on a clean shelf (preferably a grated vs. solid shelf) so dust cant collect as easily on it, and mist down the floor in the garage to keep any dust on the floor. I personally have never had any problems with dusting while detailing a vehicle, however, I do get dust on my car when it sits over the winter...this is just from constantly opening and closing the doors, taking the trash out, taking the dog out, etc. But to accumulate dust when detailing, it is sooo minimal, that it doesn't affect the outcome of the detail.
 
3M makes a wall duster that you might want to try. I use it at work and you would be surprised on how much dust it gets off of walls that look clean, so I can only imagine that it would really help you. It would be less money and less hassle than setting up one of the tents. You can find it through an industrial supply company called Grainger.
 
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