Spray Booth

A paint booth is a large, enclosed space outfitted with exhaust fans and filters to make commercial spray painting safer and cleaner. It improves results by changing the container's air pressure to blow contaminants out and clear overspray from the paint sprayers. As it does so, fresh, clean air is constantly pushed into the booth.

How Does a Painting Booth Work?

A painting booth has exhaust fans that pull contaminated air out of the booth. The air replacement paint booth fan pushes fresh air into the booth to maintain consistent pressure. Some models even include a pit, an open space beneath the object covered with a grate that allows air to flow. Several painting booth designs include crossdraft booths, semi-downdraft booths, sidedraft booths, and downdraft booths. Below are different types of paint booths and how they work.

Cross Draft and Side Draft

A crossdraft paint booth directs airflow directly across the object being painted. The air in a crossdraft auto painting booth circulates the sides of the vehicle. Incoming air is drawn directly through filtered columns in the paint booth's front corners. Another set of columns located towards the back of this portable painting booth controls the exhaust. A side-draft industrial painting booth works by bringing filtered air through the ceiling and exhausting it through the workspace's sidewalls. This technique creates an even airflow around the painted object, drawing overspray and contaminants down and away from the finish, resulting in a cleaner environment and a more efficient paint job.

Downdraft and Semi-downdraft

The most efficient and clean option is a downdraft inflatable painting booth. It produces a draft pattern that runs straight from the ceiling to the floor. The air is drawn around the painted object and exhausted beneath it. This pulls overspray and contaminants downward and away from the object regardless of where the operator is spraying. Overspray and contamination are also greatly reduced for the painter. Semi-downdraft spray painting booth functions similarly to crossdraft. The exhaust is still routed through the back of the paint booth. The main difference is that the incoming air now enters through a small section of the ceiling at the front of the spray paint booth. This results in a diagonal draft pattern that moves contaminants away from the painted object.