How do you clean off drywall dust before painting?

What do you do? Leave a comment and let us know!!!

[douglasmoore]

I do whatever you say.
Using your channel I turned my garage into a condo. Never did drywall before. Here in California all walls are typically textured. Following your directions, my walls, ceiling were so good I didn't texture. Now my old garage walls and ceilings look better than my house.
I am a tile/stone contractor for 35 years so I did know how to use tools lol.
Thanks and continued success!

[bradlyttle]

I once was pissed off enough after a taper left his sanded interior covered with drywall dust that I refused to deal with it. Instead I just went ahead and spray primed. Bad move. The entire job turned into 3k sq ft new build of sandpaper ceiling and walls. ( I"m a painting contractor who also tapes and muds.) After every sand now I take the extra little time to dust with a soft broom. Sweep it downwards to the floor. Then a quick wet/dry vac of the floor to prevent overspray kick back from floor up the walls. 1 hr of clean up is easy insurance towards an easier/better paint job. Prime/seal is HD Behr. For extra hiding I may add a little leftover paint of finish flat of any brand. The prime/seal job looks like a finish coat. Again, a small investment for a big return. Everyone's happy.
Keep the vids coming Ben. All good stuff.
ps That old corn broom is too funny!! ha

[cableguy]

I used a leaf blower one time, which I instantly regretted lol

[mrsticker]

I'm relieved to hear you say that. It's a fools errand to even attempt cleaning all the dust. Thanks for the short and simple video.

[Newokie]

Ben, you so rock! Absolutely love your videos. Straight answers with a bit of humor. You have one of the best DIY channels out there!

[charitizzle]

I'm in drywall dust hell right now, so I appreciate this video very much!

[marianneeversole]

I cover a broom with a bath towel and go over the walls.
It only takes a few minutes.
Not sure how much it helps, but that was the way my late husband taught me. ❤️

[psalmsheepdog]

That’s a tough call. The last time I didn’t clean the walls, I regretted it. I could see a small cloud of dust rolling in front of my roller and a bunch of dust boogers in the primer. You either spend time dusting or spend time sanding boogers out. On a small job, I like to use a large damp sponge or rag to lightly dust the walls clean. It works great and the walls look beautiful and ready to prime. The key is not to use much pressure and just damp, especially on the mud joints, even the screws.

[thstreet]

Just a DIY guy in Australia and I use a soft bristle domestic floor broom to remove the bulk of the dust and then using a roller apply a sealer/undercoat designed for new drywall prep before top coating with low sheen acrylic paint on walls and matte white paint with pink coloration for ceilings - this dries to white - just helps to see where paint is already applied if undercoat or ceiling is white and for second coat of white on white as required. Thanks for your informative drywall videos - contain some great tips especially for a novice like me.

[ndMorrow]

I use a blower. Doesnt touch the mud but takes down any big dust patches. The painters like that a lot because from time to time there is too much dust in a section and it just cakes the roller and messes up the nap. Spray will trap the dust or launch it to stick on another section, which makes the wall finish less smooth.

[InquisitiveOwl]

I use the really fluffy reusable fake swiffer pad + pad attachment from the dollar tree with their detachable mop handle and wipe from top to bottom to catch any loose dust. Great at catching excess dust and not making dust airborne.

[matthewsaltzman]

I use a shop vac with a bristle head and LIGHTLY vac everything. I've had even good quality primers crack or release from large or heavily sanded areas like butt joints. Or as another guy said sometimes you'll miss the edge of a liftoff or little ridge. But my new favorite primer sealer is Problock from Sherwin. Excellent adhesion, and leaves a finish that I was actually able to sponge off some thinset, wet, and even dried in a couple tiny spots with no apparent damage or staining! Blew my mind!

[GalleryGaze]

I once just forgot to wipe the drywall because I was in a rush. The paint job was as good as any other.

[PatEm]

Needed to see this last week...I put an old t shirt over the wide attachment on my shop vac. Worked great for about 3 widths, then started cutting grooves. I resanded those, then quit. I figured the dust wasn't too bad and just hoped for the best with the primer. Turned out fine. Thanks for all the other videos. They really helped me out throughout my little project.

[coopaloop]

My basement was completely empty, so after drywall was complete I vaccumed sills, floors and everything I could. Then I used a microfiber mop on the ceilings and walls. I sealed off all ducts and door, then put a powerful fan outside of the basement window, followed by the shop vac hose blowing out the window, and then used an electric leaf blower to get all the dust out. It worked pretty well to be honest.

[tonymccafferty]

I always use a feather duster for big areas, I find if you don’t dust off your walls and ceilings they end up looking like 80 grit sandpaper sometimes and it does in some cases affect the adhesion of the paint.

[arkadiuszkrzyszton]

Hi, what I do:
1) hoovering a floors,
2) using a leaf blower twice for a walls ( you need to run away from a room for 5 minutes because it's completely dusty everywhere :P),
3) hoovering again,
4) spraying one coat with pva
5) again spraying but wall primer.

Offcourse that system works for a bigger surfaces only

Regards from Poland :) Really enjoy your videos.

[raemunroe]

I came here to find out the most efficient way to get drywall dust off of walls....you just saved me a ton of time, mess and headache! Thank you. Love your channel!

[adamdevereaux]

I had horrible results in the past with not dusting, and using a “drywall primer” (PVA primer). The paint would never bond right to the paint and was very likely to chip at the interface between the drywall and the first coat. I do wipe off dust- with a soft cloth or dust mop and use a blower also at times. Though now that I sand way less (due to being much better at mudding) it’s less of a problem.

However I have one secret weapon now- or rather one success factor. Zinsser GARDZ. I use this as my first coat ALWAYS on new drywall and mud. It’s results in zero texture difference between mud and paper and it eliminates dust as an issue also. Cannot recommend it enough.

[michaelosborn]

You just saved me a TON of extra work on my living room renovation! As mentioned, besides the obvious buildups, I’m going to try this in paint process. I removed textured walls and popcorn ceiling in several rooms so far, but the LR is much bigger and I was dreading the dust removal process. I also used just an old, good quality 4” brush on the previous rooms. Took FOREVER!