How to Paint Airless
- 1). Mask off the areas you're going to spray, using blue tape and masking paper. Depending on the surface you're spraying, you'll need to mask off the floors, windows, outlet covers and anything else that could get in the way of paint over-spray. Do not place tape over the surface to be sprayed, but right up next to it, to achieve a straight line.
- 2). Mix all your paint together into a clean, empty 5-gallon bucket. Stir the paint together for a couple of minutes.
- 3). Wheel the airless paint sprayer over to the 5-gallon bucket of paint. Grab the top handle of the sprayer and pull it backwards to raise the dip tube away from the ground. Lower the sprayer and dip tube down again, right into the paint bucket.
- 4). Strap a half-mask respirator onto your face. Use one that utilizes two disposable cartridges and two pre-filters. Put on safety glasses and work gloves before you begin to spray. Do not spray paint without wearing a respirator.
- 5). Turn the airless sprayer on. Allow the sprayer to cycle for a minute, to build up pressure.
- 6). Adjust the pressure by turning the pressure knob. Turn the pressure knob clockwise to increase the pressure, and counter-clockwise to decrease pressure. Experiment a little to find the setting that works best for the surface in which you're spraying. Too little pressure results in "fingering," or noticeable paint lines on the surface. Too much pressure results in heavy paint and more over-spray.
- 7). Insert the appropriate size spray tip into the spray gun. Use .019 tip for latex paint and a .015 tip for oil-based paints. Inspect the gun and make sure the spray tip remains tightly in place. Use a wrench to tighten parts if necessary.
- 8). Begin spraying, maintaining a reasonable distance of at least 1 foot from the surface. For vertical surfaces such as walls, spray the paint up and down, using an overlapping spray pattern. For horizontal surfaces, spray the paint sideways. Keep a steady motion while spraying and avoid stopping in the middle. Spray the paint from one side of the surface to the other.
- 9). Remove the paint bucket from the sprayer when you're finished, and place the dip tube into a 5-gallon bucket of clean water. Cycle water through the spray line for a few minutes until clean water emerges from the spray gun.
- 10
Turn the sprayer off. Turn down the pressure and squeeze the spray gun trigger to remove pressure from the spray hose. Wrap up the spray hose after releasing the pressure.
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