apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is what industrial painters use too, i.e. aerospace, automotive etc.

Makes me wish i'd thought to steal a couple from my last job before i left.

Does your painting outfit decompose? Is it recycleable?
If not, I'd rather wear old clothes and let them get ruined... at least it's not waste.
And I'm betting that neat little tyvek zip up suit comes in a package too, when you purchase it.

That photo cracks me up. It's good to have a sense of humor when things like that happen. :)

I used one of these suits recently...mine was made out of paper with elastic around the wrists and ankles. Loved it!

that's hot.

I too wear old clothes when painting. Clickchick, what do you do with them afterwards? Do you compost paint splattered clothing? Can't take them to the Sand Dollar for donation like all the other old clothes...

Oh man, the tyvek suit brings back some memories from my worst job ever. I worked in a clean room one summer. The air conditioning failed. We worked with human blood, fecal and urine samples. I used to strip down to my skivvies before putting on that damn tyvek suit. Part of the preparation for the fecal samples was incinerating them in an oven. You can imagine how much fun that way.

Oh, and did I mention this was for minimum wage?

@Clickchick: a little less self righteousness gets the point across without making me want to go out and buy lots of shiny non-recyclable plastics just to piss you off. Yeah, I'm juvenile like that.

i just had a paint mishap over the weekend and this picture immediately came to mind. the can had a leak and there was a pool of paint at the bottom of the bag which had soaked thru to my wood floors thru a hole in the bag. now ordinarily i probably woulda panicked, but then i thought "hell, her WHOLE kitchen floor was covered in paint, my little mess is nothing compared to that!"

And when you've just discovered serious amounts of recently dried paint on your hardwood floor, a spray bottle of Contractor's Friend will get it right up without damaging the wood finish.

I have no idea if Contractor's Friend is organic, non-toxic, or biodegradable, but it works, and it was sold at neighborhood hardware stores in SF, so you don't need a contractor to get it.

Tyvek can be recycled, actually. Might take a little doing for someone who uses the one off suit to paint since I think most of the programs are aimed at employers who would go through lots of them. Google - recycle tyvek.

I've heard of Contractor's Friend - but can't seem to find it anywhere. When I Google it, there aren't any relevant hits.

Any one know where it can be purchased online?

i better get some of that wende! since i plan on being a total DIY'er weekend warrior on many projects i love to do that turn out mediocre but that i still love to do anyway.

many projects i love to do that turn out mediocre but that i still love to do anyway

Is there a way we can make that phrase t-shirt-ready? I'm by far the least handy of a talented DIY family and grok the sentiment in its fullness.

I found super cheap tyvek suits a few weeks ago at our local budget grocery store, in the dollar aisle. A buck apiece - I stocked up.

wende i'm always so busy with these projects lol.

Can you please post a picture of this room all cleaned up? I need closure.

lauraII,

Hmm...I didn't know they could be recycled. Good to know. I've used mine a few times now since I discovered them at my local 99c store and while I love the spatter patterns they get, I usually wash mine: in the machine, in cold water, in a lingerie bag, hang dry.

wende in phoenix
try this link: http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2194

thanks,
abby

ps, that bottom picture?
yours truly.

abby that is.

Boniva - I don't know... I haven't ruined clothes so badly that I actually have to toss them out. They're in the closets somewhere, reserved as 'old paint clothes'!

However, I grew up on a farm that has been in the family for nearly 100 years. While out digging for worms or exploring where old buildings once were... and other fun stuff as a kid -I remember encountering bits of old clothes - and learning that natural fibers decompose. Of course, if my grandmother had lost that old apron while carrying it in a plastic bag it would probably be intact. (I guess that's my snarky way of saying - sure it decomposes but if you send to the landfill in a plastic bag, not so much.)


ScienceGeek - Sorry if I came across snarky in the post above. (and again in the above paragraph) I just let the words come out of my fingers in the order they came to my head. I'm blunt like that. It's a curse.

clickchick: I'm gifted with the blunt too.

I grew up in the midst of over enthusiastic feminism, environmentalism and the suchlike (I am not exaggerating, it was a strange little bubble to grow up in). It all gets my panties in a bundle when people want to encourage others to do a specific behavior by making it almost impossible for anyone to do. Not all of us are cut out to be saints, and sometimes the sinners need encouragement and not another list of commandments. I'll never be vegan, but I could get down to only eating meat once or twice a week. I'll never live in perfect recycling harmony, but I'm working on increasing paper recycling where I work.