Pro tip: Use a wet rag to catch drywall dust when sanding

I was refinishing my living room ceiling last weekend and the dust was getting everywhere, no matter how much plastic I taped up. My buddy who does this for a living told me to wet a bath towel and lay it under where I'm sanding, then wet it again when it dries out. That damp towel caught like 90% of the dust before it could float around the room. Has anyone else tried this or got a better way to keep the mess down?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony_wells2d ago

Not gonna lie, I tried this once and ended up with a soaking wet floor, plus the towel just got caked in mud that I had to scrape off the hardwood later. Maybe it's just me but the water mixing with the dust made this gross paste that was way harder to clean up than just vacuuming dry dust. Plus you gotta keep rewetting it every 15 minutes or the thing dries out and starts flapping around. Just putting a box fan in the window pointing out sucked up most of the mess for me without turning my drop cloths into laundry.

sandra_black2d ago

My dad taught me that same trick years ago and honestly it's wild how many little life hacks like this just make everything way less painful. Feels like half the stuff we stress about has a simple fix we just never hear about.