Morris Minor Owners Club

Advice please.
Do I need to use a respirator when brush-painting cellulose without thinners?

I think you need to satisfy yourself on that one, you might like to consider how strong the smell is, whether you paint outside for ventilation or indeed how much you are doing. Nothing wrong with wearing a mask but you can go overboard sometimes. However the question suggests you’d be happier wearing one.

Thanks Les. Well spotted. Better safe than sorry! I just hate having misted-up glasses.

Ventilation will be more important than mask wearing I would say. The fumes can build up quite a bit if you're doing it for long.
Frankly, cellulose isn't the best material for brush painting as it dries a bit quickly. You used to be able to obtain "brushing thinners" which allowed the paint to flow a bit better. I doubt you'll be very successful painting it without thinners as cellulose paint is rather thick straight out of the tin.

It used to be called Brushing Belco.

Yes, Belco was one manufacturer of it.

celly thinners contains styrene, thats the nasty bit,but only if breathed in,brush painting will produce very small quantity ,if any ,into the air,so don't worry too much . Spraying produces massive amounts into the air so a mask is essential then.You will find very poor results with brushed celly,even if you use the slowest thinner you can get. be better using rattle cans.Unless there is a reason for brushing.There will be a lot of issues without thinners,the paint will go on too thick and sag,and be hard if not impossble to get rid of the brush marks . Will also take forever to harden at this time of the year.

Nip to your local auto paint supplier and buy a litre of brush paint. Its the right stuff for the job, will give a better finish and only cost about £15. Its also handy to have for touching up stone chips. I always use cheap brushes and throw them away after.

Thanks all for those considered responses. I started my painting this morning, without a mask at first but soon had to put on a mask and open the door. Fortunately I was only dealing with a small area and the operation has now been successfully completed (and the headache didn't last for long). Lesson learned!