How Can I Reduce Drywall Dust When Sanding Drywall Joints?

Question: How Can I Reduce Drywall Dust When Sanding Drywall Joints?

How to reduce drywall dust? That's the Ultimate Question, and one that companies and individuals have been trying to solve for years. Cleaning up dried on joint compound (i.e., "mud") is a walk in the park compared to cleaning up drywall dust...

Answer: There are three ways to reduce drywall dust: barriers, wet sanding method, and drywall vacuum sanders.

1. Barrier - Block Drywall Dust

Barriers, made of sheet plastic available at any hardware store, are only a partial solution. Tape the plastic against floors, ceilings, and walls, separating the dusting zone from the area you want to remain clean. If you never remove the barrier, and if the barrier has absolutely zero holes, the "clean area" should remain clean. But even the tiniest hole in the plastic will, surprisingly, allow drywall dust into the clean area. Moving the plastic aside even once to pass through will do the same thing. An instant barrier like Zip-Wall is great, but you really need even less permeability in order to keep drywall dust out.

2. Wet Sanding Drywall Joints

Wet drywall sanding is not really sanding. It means using a damp sponge to smear the hardened but water-soluble drywall joint compound away. If you have ever wiped dried flour dough from a kitchen counter, it is much the same thing. Wet sanding works fine on the small scale--a joint or two--but impossible to do any entire room. In fact, I would advise you not to wet-sand entire joints but to save the wet sanding for the drywall screw holes.

3. Drywall Sanding Vacuum

The ultimate way to reduce (but not entirely remove) drywall dust, the drywall sanding vac is a hose attached to your wet-dry shop vacuum. On one end is the sander, a special grid-like implement that sucks the drywall dust away and down through the hose. At the other end of the hose is a bucket of water. Dusty air runs into the bucket, trapping the dust in the water. It's an elegant idea, and would work great, except for the fact that the suction on the sander head makes it very hard to move the sander on the wall.

I would not discount the idea of using the drywall sander vacuum, though. I often start out a drywall sanding project with the sander vac, until my arms get tired. Then, I will switch to the usual hand or pole sander. I am still creating dust, but I have significantly reduced the amount of dust.

The Dustless Technologies Drywall Sander is pretty good, but a bit pricy (it does include an extension pole, though).

(Buy Direct - Dustless Technologies Turbo Drywall Sander with 7-Foot Extendable Pole)