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There are advantages and disadvantages to each spray technology. Air spray is best for products requiring a high-quality finish but doesn’t have a good transfer efficiency rate. Airless has a higher transfer efficiency rate and is often used for protective, rather than decorative coatings. Air-assisted airless offers high production levels and a high-quality finish. To identify the best technology for your application, determine your line requirements.

(Source: Painting Q&A: Choosing Air Spray, Air-Assist and Airless Spray Technology)

In grit blasting, an abrasive material is used to remove scale, rust, hard rough contamination on the surface of your product, which must be able to withstand such an aggressive process. It is not used to remove oils and it does not apply a conversion coating. It is the most basic method of cleaning and can be very effective depending on the finish requirement and product end use.

Be aware of a product that must be blasted. Wash off oil or grease before you blast. If you don’t, then all your grit will be contaminated and your part will still be dirty after you blast.

Washing is more accurately described as pretreatment because that is exactly what is happening: treatment of the product. The highest performance of coatings and product pretreatment is aqueous cleaning. A manual high pressure wand system may be the most effective for larger products.

Various suppliers can help you determine the best process for you once you have the following information:

• Define the finish requirement (do some reading!): Salt spray? Adhesion standard? Indoor use or outdoor use?
• Define the coating type: Water-based coating (requires excellent cleaning), powder coating (requires excellent cleaning) or solvent-based paints or coatings (slightly more forgiving of surface oils).
• Look at your budget, but make your decision based on the quality of your personnel and equipment.
• Quantity of parts: Is production required? Low production enables more flexibility, while high production can be much more challenging and more expensive.
• The area you have available for these processes.
• Talk to many suppliers, ask for proof and go look at other installations.

(Source: Painting Q&A: Grit Blasting versus Washing Parts)

You must degrease to remove all the oily soils, rust, and particulate matter in that order before painting. It is important that you perform the metal pretreatment in the following order:

1. Degrease the surface using a warm aqueous detergent solution.
2. Remove all surface rust using sand paper, wire brush or steel wool.
3. Remove particulates by wiping using mineral spirits.
4. Paint immediately after solvent wiping.

(Source: Painting Fabricated Carbon Steel)

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is needed to keep painters safe on the job and help them avoid short- and long-term health risks. For PPE to be most effective, you must determine what PPE is appropriate for your operation and ensure you are using the right type.

When it comes to PPE, one size does not fit all. For example, painters with beards or prescription glasses may require different PPE. The PPE must fit comfortably and enable the person wearing it to properly perform their job, communicate effectively and move without restriction.

If you are wearing a respirator when spraying paint, a fit test should be performed to ensure that there is an adequate seal to your face. The respirator should fit snugly on your face, with no openings through which you could inhale VOCs.

(Source: Selecting PPE for Your Paint Shop)