# Ventilation - Water Based Stains/Finishes



## DustyDave (Aug 5, 2007)

I just learned something. Water-based stains and finishes require ventilation just as oil-based products do. I was under the mistaken impression that I could use water-based products in the closed up basement workshop without opening a window and letting my precious heat out. I was wrong. I was creating a few test pieces and got a little bit of a headache. Started reading the rest of the can(s) and sure enough, use only with plenty of ventilation and fresh air.


----------



## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

Good to know. I was under the same impression. Is it safe to assume that it won't explode when the furnace comes on?


----------



## handplane (Oct 31, 2007)

I'm interested to hear more about this because I was thinking of converting to water based finiishes so I can use an HVLP sprayer in my basement without blowing the place up. I've pretty much heard that the explosion danger isn't there but that you should still wear a respirator with the organic filter cartridges installed. I wonder if the headache inducing properties of the finish vary from manufacturer to manufacturer? If anybody has been using waterbased finishes and can shed some light on the subject I'd really appreciate it!


----------



## DustyDave (Aug 5, 2007)

The water based products are not flammable, so no issue with combustion. The part I didn't know was that there are still chemicals that are dangerous to breathe. I guess I assumed that the stuff dangerous to breathe was in the oil base itself.


----------

