Choosing the right paint booth for your operation is important. Before you spend money on a paint booth, you want to make sure that you get the one that gives your business exactly what it needs. For some people, the best type of paint booth is the crossdraft booth. Continue reading to find out if a crossdraft paint booth is right for you.
What Does a Crossdraft Paint Booth Do?
Crossdraft paint booths provide a high-quality finish similar to downdraft paint booths, but instead of the airflow coming down, it goes directly across the object that’s being painted. If you’re looking for an affordable booth that provides a top-notch paint job without taking up excessive space or requiring additional construction, a crossdraft booth may be just what you need.
Here are some things you should know about crossdraft booths to help inform your purchasing decision:
1. Crossdraft Booths Are Less Expensive Than Other Models
Crossdraft paint booths are very popular with owners of small businesses, and one of those reasons is because they’re economical. Assuming you keep your paint booth clean and free of contaminants, your crossdraft booth will give you the same high-end finish that comes with downdraft paint booths, but for half the price.
The reason why crossdraft booths are significantly cheaper than other paint booths is because of their simplified design. They have significantly less material than their downdraft counterparts and are able to be mounted to any level floor, which means that you don’t have to worry about spending additional money on expensive concrete work.
2. Crossdraft Booths Are the Most Common Style of Paint Booth
There’s a reason that people prefer crossdraft booths over any other type of paint booth, and it’s not just because of the lower price tag. Understanding how a crossdraft booth operates is relatively straightforward – air moves horizontally, from wall-to-wall while the filters, usually fitted on the booth’s doors, work to remove any potential contaminants in the booth.
This simplistic design makes the crossdraft paint booth an attractive option. For starters, it means there’s not a lot of information to take in when learning how to operate the booth for the first time. In addition, it also means that performing routine maintenance or simple repairs on the booth is much easier than more complex paint booths.
3. Crossdraft Paint Booths Are Prone to Overspray
One of the downsides of using a crossdraft paint booth is not having the best overspray control. When you compare a crossdraft booth to a downdraft paint booth, its overspray control leaves much to be desired. The reason for this is because downdraft airflow forces all overspray to be sucked below along with any unwanted contaminants. Crossdraft airflow, on the other hand, ends up pushing overspray into the painted surface of your automobile or object; in some instances, this can actually damage your coating and require you to start over from the beginning.
4. You Must Keep Your Crossdraft Booth Free of Contaminants
The most important thing to remember when owning a crossdraft paint booth is that a clean workspace is required. The smallest bit of dirt or dust trapped in your crossdraft booth can get caught up in the airflow and cause an absolute mess on your paint job, often forcing you to redo the painting process.
The reason for this has to do with the airflow of crossdraft paint booths. Rather than pushing dust down into a pit or filter, it tends to blow it directly into the object being painted. This greatly increases the chances of dirt sticking to your freshly painted object before it makes its way into the filtration system and gets discarded.
5. Crossdraft Booths Can Be Inefficient for High-Volume Businesses
If you’re planning on increasing your productivity by adding a new paint booth, you may want to think twice before purchasing a crossdraft paint booth. While they are great for certain projects, some of them aren’t exactly optimized for fast-paced businesses.
One of the reasons for this is because of the contamination factor. Not only does fixing a car that’s been blasted with dirt or overspray waste time and slow one’s productivity, you must also factor in the time spent checking crossdraft booths for dirt, dust, and other contaminants. This can eat away at a lot of time and end up costing you in the long run.
Another thing to consider is if your crossdraft paint booth will be fully automated or not. Because of the way air circulates in crossdraft paint booths, painters actually end up getting in the way of the airflow, thus reducing their effectiveness and may even cause them to use more paint that usual.
6. Most Crossdraft Booths Are Better for the Environment
When running a company that uses solvent or waterborne paints, there are three things that you must always be concerned about: the environment, your health, and the health of your coworkers. Working around industrial paints means that people are exposed to a number of toxic vapors, fumes, and chemicals that are carcinogenic and could wreak havoc on the environment.
The benefit of using crossdraft paint booths is that they are generally fully enclosed. This is because your average crossdraft booth has filters on the inside of the front door, so the booth must be sealed in order to work effectively. Therefore, there’s less of a likelihood of toxic chemicals escaping from the inside of the paint booth, which means that you’re not restricted to a limited amount of spraying in a day.
A Crossdraft Paint Booth Is Versatile
One of the clear benefits of using a crossdraft paint booth is having a workspace that’s completely versatile, so you can get anything you want from your booth. Accudraft’s VentusPro is a revolutionary paint booth system that’s designed for one thing: to increase efficiency in the workplace.
Since the VentusPro doesn’t have all of the delicate working parts that other paint booths are equipped with, it can actually be converted into a multi-purpose space that’s used for painting, sanding, welding, and general automotive prep. Its powerful air filtration system is strong enough to suck up any of the dirt and debris, ensuring that you have a clean workspace free of contaminants before you get started on the painting process.
Here are some perks that come with the VentusPro paint booth:
- Its minimalistic design is able to provide power and superior performance while still being easy to learn.
- No additional concrete construction is required when installing the VentusPro. A qualified professional can have it quickly installed so that you can get back to work.
- The VentusPro is able to accommodate your workspace. It can be a small and compact as needed, or as large as you want. Its length, width, and height can even be extended later on in order to better suit your needs as your business grows.
- It creates a fully-enclosed area that prevents toxic fumes and vapors from escaping.
The VentusPro isn’t one of the most high-tech paint booths on the market. It doesn’t come with automation features or a drying cycle because, like most crossdraft paint booths, the VentusPro is a simplistic booth that useful for prep, sanding, and painting. This makes it perfect for the type of business that does some light painting but doesn’t keep the spray booths running throughout the day.
Choosing the Right Booth to Get the Job Done
Are you looking for a paint booth that will help you hurry through your projects? If you run a company that’s planning to expand their operation and take in more clients, you’re going to want a paint booth that helps you do that. While a crossdraft paint booth can do that for you, there are a number of better booths on the market designed specifically for high-volume work.
Accudraft’s Titan downdraft paint booth is perfect for those heavy-duty jobs that are too big for the average workshop. It’s also one of the few paint booths on the market that’s able to switch between solvent and waterborne paints, which provides you with a greater range of options when working. In addition, the Italia paint booth, another downdraft model, has been carefully designed to meet the needs of high-volume body shops that are expected to service a lot of customers in a short amount of time. Both of these booths make use of downdraft airflow technology, which reduces contamination and speeds up the painting process. Ultimately, they’re better suited for fast-paced operations than a crossflow paint booth.
Accudraft Is a Name You Can Trust
When it comes to paint booths, Accudraft has you covered. They have established themselves as the go-to company in the industry and have a number of different paint booths and products to help you achieve the specific results that you’re looking for.
To learn more about how crossdraft paint booths can benefit your workshop, get in touch with one of their friendly representatives today. You can also browse their products and automotive, industrial, truck, and aerospace paint booths by visiting the Accudraft webpage.