Shopping For A New Respirator

I'm sure glad somebody looks into what they breath, I wish it were me.

It looks like the filters I was looking for are no longer commonly available so I bought another respirator that looks a lot like my old one with filters for organic compounds or vapors and it has particulate filters as well.  With my old respirator which was for organic/particulate I couldn't smell a thing even when running lacquer thinner through the airbrush. 

I'm also curious as to how long the typical organic filter will last.  The way I do it, I buy new filters if I start to detect an odor when airbrushing.

Dave

I found a good NIOSH vapor respirator, made by 3M, for about $30 at Lowe's.  The filters are dated and good for about 4 years.  I can't smell a thing, no matter what I am spraying, when I wear it.

Thanks guys - It looks like I'll be shopping for new filters too.

This cartridge:   http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/3M-Organic-Vapor-Cartridge-6AM37?Pid=search

Would work with the series 6000 respirator @  Grainger, for VOC's

Reid

Hi,

That is a particulate cartridge and not what you are looking for. You want a chemical cartridge. They will filter out volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and vapors. This type of cartridge will filter out dust and heavy aerosol particulates with a hepa filter but will contain typically activated charcoal or some type of chemical media to remove vapors. Unfortunately these aren't super cheap. The ones I use are $35 each and obviously I need 2 at a time. I'm lucky though I knick them from work.

A tip for using these cartridges. The active charcoal will constantly absorb whether you are wearing it or not so take it off the mask and store it in a zip-lock bag while not in use they will last longer.

To really protect yourself a particulate mask wont work, you're still getting the vapor and I bet if you wore that and sprayed lacquer you can smell it through the mask.

I brush with acrylics but when I clean with simple clean and windex, I can't smell a thing. You should go to a safety supply dealer and ask them to be certain.

Griffin, thank you for the reply.  I see that it is a particulate filter, but does it filter out the fumes from airbrushing lacquer thinner?

Thank you,

Dave

I use one of these:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/3M-Respirator-Assembly-3WXU8

With these Cartridges:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/3M-Particulate-Filter-4JG27?cm_sp=IO-_-IDP-_-BTM_BTB05209020&cm_vc=IDPBBZ2

I'm fairly certain these are the models. I know I can abate asbestos with them though.