The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Waterborn Paint

I just saw on TV where they painted a Hotrod entirely in "waterborn" paint including the clear coat. I guess "waterborn" is water based? Does this mean the end to hazardous paint fumes using this system or is there bad stuff going into the air with it too?

Check the MSDS on whatever brand you are interested in, and check your state/national regulations. Less dangerous stuff, but you still need to take care.

http://www.ppg.com/coatings/refinish/en/products/waterborne/Pages/environmental_information.aspx

http://www.horizonpaint.ca/

The push to waterborn paints is primarily to cut down the amount of solvents introduced into the atmosphere. The biggest difference between the water and the solvents is that the solvents have a much lower evaporation point, so they will tend to evaporate more readily on their own. Granted, you still need forced ventilation for the air movement to outgas the solvents prior to flash so you don't end up with solvent pop in your catalyzed finish. Water, by contrast, will require much more air movement (and/or additional time) to realize the same amount of evaporation rate. You'll notice all the air movement devices being marketed by the automotive paint industries, these are almost a neccessity to get air into the nooks and crannies the air typically doesn't flow into, to help the water to evaporate. For home setups that are typically lacking in the air flow department, changing from solvents to water born would undoubtedly add considerable time to the process to insure evaporation is sufficient.

Waterborn needs lots of warm air movement. Takes longer to cure.
I would not paint without a resperator, it still has nasties in it.