HEPA Vacuum Manufacturers

I don't really advocate the use of vacuum cleaners to pick up lead dust, although I am told it is safe. Conventional filters are absolutely a no-no as the lead dust can pass right through those and be blasted back into the air via the vacuum exhaust port.

To stop lead dust inside a vacuum, you need a special filter known as a HEPA filter. HEPA is an acronym for high performance particulate air. These filters are expensive but they can trap very, very small particles that are invisible to the eye. Lead particles are trapped for sure by these filters.

Most of the ordinary wet / dry vacuum companies make a vacuum cleaner that can be equipped with such a filter. I own a Ridgid brand wet / dry vacuum that can handle such a HEPA filter. I am reasonably confident that the following vacuum manufacturers have certain models that can be equipped with a HEPA filter. Make sure the model you buy can accept such a filter before you complete your purchase. I would not do it based on literature claims. I would want to see the actual HEPA filter and see if indeed it fits the vacuum cleaner.

Here are the vacuum manufacturers:

Companion Articles:  Lead Paint Problems, Beware of Lead Paint, Lead Poisoning Danger - Lead Paint, Free Lead Poisoning Hazard Information

Column B278

Do you want some helpful government literature? If so, there is a ton of it available for free. The following list is just a partial listing of some stuff you can get. I built this list from a helpful EPA web page . You can order 15 of the documents online right from there. If you don't have Web access, then order by mail. Call 800-424-LEAD for complete mailing instructions. Here is what they will tell you to do:

• If you would like documents sent to you via U.S. Mail, please provide your name, address, and daytime phone number.
• Make a list of what publications you want.
• Please limit your document request to 15 individual documents.
• Some NLIC documents may be available from the EPA Fax-on-Demand system. Call 1-800-424-LEAD for more information.

Partial Lead Hazard Document Listing:

• 003 EPA Fact Sheet: Learn About Lead
• 400 EPA Reducing Lead Hazard When Remodeling Your Home
• 402 EPA Lead Exposure Associated With Renovation and Remodeling Activities
• 418 EPA Testing Your Home for Lead in Paint, Dust, and Soil
• 011 CDC/ATSDR Lead in Your Drinking Water
• 017 EPA Lead in Your Home: A Parent's Reference Guide
• 019 EPA Lead Poisoning and Your Children
• 021 EPA Identifying Lead Hazards in Your Home
• 024 EPA Report on the National Survey of Lead-Based Paint in Housing
• 029 NLIC National Lead Information Center List of Documents available by FAX on Demand
• 319 EPA Fact Sheet: Disclosure of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Homes
• 322 EPA EPA and HUD Notification and Disclosure Rule
• 323 EPA/HUD Lead; Requirements for Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint
• 325 EPA/HUD Real Estate Disclosure Forms (Sale / Lease)
• 420 EPA A Field Test of Lead-Based Paint Testing Technologies: Summary
• 426 AECLP EPA's National Guidelines for Lead Hazards in Dust and Soil
• 440 EPA Residential Sampling for Lead; Protocols for Dust and Soil
• 443 EPA Sampling House Dust for Lead; Basic Concepts and Literature Review
• 471 EPA Summary and Assessment of Published Information on Determining Lead Exposures and Mitigating Lead Hazards Associated with Dust and Soil in Residential Carpets, Furniture, and Forced Air Ducts
• 500 OSHA Lead Exposure in Construction - Interim Ruling
• 601 HUD Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead Based Paint Hazards in Housing; Chapter 7 - Inspection

Companion Articles:  Lead Paint Problems, Beware of Lead Paint, Lead Poisoning Danger - Lead Paint, Hepa Filter & Hepa Vacuum Manufacturers

Column B278

Lead Paint Danger | This peeling paint might be a SERIOUS health hazard. If it's an older home, shed, or garage, it could contain LEAD! Copyright 2021 Tim Carter

A Dog Almost Dies - Chewing Painted Woodwork

One of the last jobs I did before I began my new media career was a large kitchen addition and remodeling job for my neighbor. They had a great dog that was kept in a basement room while we worked each day. The dog was fairly excitable and began to gnaw at the painted woodwork adjacent to the door of the room. Within a couple of weeks the dog was getting sick.

The neighbor mentioned the dog's illness to me and asked me what I thought. I immediately said, "I think the dog has lead poisoning." The neighbor thought I was nuts. I mentioned, "Look where the dog has been chewing on the woodwork. That is old paint that contains lead."

Well, it turns out I was right. They whisked the dog off to the vet and got blood work done. The dog's lead count was practically off the scale.

To this day, the dog has never been the same. That proves to me that lead absolutely can cause irreversible damage to the central nervous system.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local LEAD-ABATEMENT CONTRACTORS.

Lead + Vinegar = Sweetness

For some reason, the USA was slow to outlaw or restrict the use of lead in consumer products. A very long time ago it was discovered that if you mixed lead with vinegar that it created lead acetate. This is actually a sweetener. So, lead was used as a sweetener in wine for many years. In 1427 the use of lead as an ingredient in wine was outlawed in France and Spain. That was almost 600 years ago!

Lead has been used in paint for over 200 years. But, France began to restrict the use of lead in paint in 1840. The Germans did the same in 1870 and they were followed by the Australians in 1922. It wasn't until 1978 that the USA decided to act.

How Great is Lead Poisoning Danger?

The current estimate of residential housing units in the USA that have a significant amount of lead-based paint either inside, outside or both is nearly 57 million houses or living units. That is a huge amount of lead paint! It also represents a significant danger to those who do not know about lead hazards.

Is Scraping, Sanding, or Chipping Lead Paint Dangerous?

Yes! Do NOT scrape, sand, or chip lead paint.

If you see someone sanding, chipping or scraping old paint, tell them to stop and read up on the dangers involved with working with this material. If you have relatives who live in old houses, be sure they clean dust around windows and doors with wet paper towels. Lead dust is a real hazard, especially to small children!

Companion Articles:  Lead Paint Problems, Beware of Lead Paint, Free Lead Poisoning Hazard Information, Hepa Filter & Hepa Vacuum Manufacturers, Peeling Exterior House Paint

Column B278

If you are or know of a school teacher who is trying to get their Master's or Doctorate degree and they need a neat subject for their dissertation, I have one! Here is what they need to study. Let's look at the incidence of kids with learning disabilities. Let's compare the number of kids per thousand who have all sorts of disabilities and see the age of the houses they live in. Compare the number of kids with learning disabilities in suburban areas built prior to 1978 and inner city areas to those suburbs built in the 1980's and beyond.

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the statistics will shock all of us. In other words, I would be willing to bet that many of the learning disabilities are related to mild and severe cases of lead poisoning. My guess is that you will not find a statistically high number of kids with learning disabilities in houses built after 1978. This is the year that lead based paints were banned for residential use in the USA.

Exterior Hazard Too!

Don't forget that the exterior of many an old home is covered with paint. Much of this old paint contains vast amounts of lead. It is very risky to sand exterior painted surfaces as you prep an old house for a new paint job. Lead dust can enter an open window or drop down and poison the soil below. If a garden is nearby, the lead might be introduced to the garden soil by erosion or the wind.

If a painter is going to scrape old lead paint, make sure they spread drop cloths that capture all of the scrapings. Dispose of the paint chips off site. You really need to think before you work with any old painted surfaces.

Column B278

It seems there is some confusion out there about sandpapers and the properties of the different abrasives. After this column ran, I received two letters from people who said I had my information all backwards. Both of these people had worked with abrasives for years and thought they would set me straight.

Unfortunately, I had to send them the research materials I had from some of the top abrasive / sandpaper manufacturers in the world. I hate dishing up humble pie, but I had to in this case.

The reason I am bringing it up is to tell you that each and every day I find workers who unknowingly are either spreading inaccurate information or are possibly using the wrong tool for the job. This can impact you if you decide to hire a worker who thinks they know what they are doing simply because they have been doing it for 15 or 20 years. The sad fact may be that they have been doing it wrong for that length of time and never realized it!

Some Other Facts

Just after the column ran in a Kentucky newspaper I received a phone call from a reader who worked in a factory. She sanded fiberglass products each day and often saw the words "Open" and "Closed" on the back of the sanding sheets. She asked me what that meant. I told her it was an excellent question.

The abrasive particles in sandpaper can be distributed onto the paper in one of two ways. You can completely cover the paper with grit or you can apply it so that there is space between the grit particles.

Open coat sandpaper has space between the particles. The paper surface often only has 40 to 70 percent coverage of grit in open faced sandpapers. This property is really necessary when you work with raw wood as this space prevents the sandpaper from clogging with dust.

Closed coat papers have no place for the dust to go. For this reason, they are ideal when working with metals that produce an ultra-fine dust.

Backwards Labeling

When you go to buy grit, you might get confused. The coarse papers have small numbers like 40 or 60 and the fine sandpapers have large numbers like 180, 220 or 240. You can even get industrial papers that have numbers as high as 1,600!

The numbering system makes sense when you think of how the grit particles are separated to make the sandpaper. The numbers correspond to the number of holes per square inch in the mesh in the separating sieves used to filter the grit as it is crushed. If you want to get 220 holes per square inch, this means they have to be small. See how it works?

Companion Articles: Sandpaper Selection, Sandpaper Comparison, Foam Pads for Sanding, Abrasives & Specialty Sandpaper

Column B281

Other Abrasives & Specialty Sandpaper

If you need specialty sandpapers or other abrasive tools, trust me, they are out there! You can purchase sandpapers in just about any type, size, shape and profile to meet just about every need.

Woodworkers know that they can buy waterstones and diamond stones for sharpening wood chisels, knives, and other cutting tools. Did you say waterstones? Yes, I did.

Waterstones are becoming the sweetheart of the sharpening industry rather than the oil stones used in the past. You simply soak the stones in water for about 10 minutes prior to using them and sprinkle water on the stone as you use it. The water acts as a swell lubricant and you don't have any oil residue on the blade once you are done.

The industrial diamond stones come in a wide range of grits that allows you to produce surgical sharp edges on knives and chisels. They are awesome.

Companion Articles: Sandpaper Selection, Sandpaper Comparison, Foam Pads for Sanding, Sandpaper Facts

Column B281

Sources of Foam Sanding Pads

How would you like to have a sanding tool that fits the shape of your hand or the object you are gripping, is waterproof, and is economical? This is not a problem if you happen to purchase a set of foam sanding pads.

There are many times in the past when I have had all sorts of trouble sanding round spindles or other curved objects. The foam pads are the answer. I also like them because they are reusable. When you finish a project, rinse them and they look like new.

I have found two companies that make the pads or sponge sanding tools. One of them sells their products on-line and the other one doesn't. In fact, the only company that sells their sponge pads on-line happens to have a very cool project kit that includes:

• 4 sponge pads with grits ranging from coarse to extra fine
• 4 different super glues
• a glue remover
• an all purpose abrasive file

You get all of this handy project stuff for just $19.99. It is a real deal! The company that has this great project kit is Surehold. Contact them at:

• Surehold
  800-881-4495

The other company that sells foam sanding pads is:

• Norton
  800-551-4415

In a 2012 review, it appears that Surehold might have dropped the foam sanding pads from their product. They seem to be selling adhesives only.

Companion Articles: Sandpaper Selection, Sandpaper Comparison, Abrasives & Specialty Sandpaper, Sandpaper Facts

Column B281

Companion Articles: Sandpaper Selection, Foam Pads for Sanding, Abrasives & Specialty Sandpaper, Sandpaper Facts

Column B281

100 Percent Acrylic Latex House Paints and Compatible Primers

Just below is a LINK that will take you to a list of 10 manufacturers of 100 percent acrylic exterior house paints. Be aware that the manufacturers introduce new products with different names on a constant basis. For example, Sherwin Williams came out with a paint called Duration on or about 2005. Then around 2013 they introduced another new acrylic paint called Emerald.

All manufacturers make a compatible primer. These are the paints you must get for a superior painting experience. Do not accept substitutes! Beware of paints that simply state "acrylic" paint on the label. Did you know that a manufacturer can put a small amount of acrylic resin in the paint and then add additional vinyl acetate or other lesser quality resins and STILL call the paint an "Acrylic Paint"? You have to be careful out there!

Some new paints say they don't require a primer. As far as I'm concerned about this claim, the jury is still out.

Pricing is always a great barometer. Acrylic resin is the most expensive ingredient (by quantity) in paint. It can cost up to twice as much as vinyl acetate resins. This means that a 100 percent acrylic resin house paint can have maybe several dollars more worth of basic ingredients.

These costs must be passed on to you. You can bet that a 100 percent acrylic house paint will be one of the most expensive paints in the store. Thus, if you see "bargain" house paint for $8 to $10 per gallon, resist the temptation! It probably has a so-so vinyl acetate resin that's not that good.

You can get good buys on the best paint. Watch for sales. The spring and early fall are times to watch for paint sales.

CLICK HERE for the link to the top manufacturers.

Column B321