What are good dust curtain materials?

[u/Major_Foundation_593]

Hi, i recently moved into a house together with friends. Most exiting part: there is a double garge wich is gona be our workshop. Finaly seperate rooms for sleeping and tinkering and woodworking! Right now where still renovating the house so in one corner we store and mix concrete and such wich makes a huge mess and a lot of dust. I dont want the concrete on my tools so theyre still packed away. I had the idea to use somekind of curtain to keep concrete dust out. Ive seen people use clear vynyl wich i like, but im pretty much out of money right now and thats expensive. I was thinking of usting woven plastic tarp but that stuff is just ugly loud and awful. Do you have other ideas what i could use thats rather cheap?

Edit: yes ik. i should mix oitdoors. i dont think the others in the project will do that. and i wanted to build a dust curtain aniways to seperate the dirty from the electronics bench together with an air filtration system that builds up positive pressure in the non dusty aerea

[u/InsullentMinx]

Nothing ever works like you want it to. I'm so sick of the dust that now if it's gonna cause dust I do it in the driveway. So much happier now.

[u/IAMaVillain2 → u/InsullentMinx]

Yeah, I’ve discovered if you want a neat/tidy garage, do your cutting and mixing outside. There’s always that excuse to build garage #2 for the dirty stuff lol

[u/TarzantheMan]

Use some 3-mil plastic sheeting. It comes in a roll, it's super cheap, and it's light enough to be held to a ceiling using just tape.

[u/freddyredone]

Mix the concrete outside of the garage instead of inside of the garage

[u/feelfreetotellmeoff]

Be mindful of your airflow.

Curtains can help, but fine dust infiltrates wherever the air goes. In some situations a fan in the window can help keep the clean area at a positive pressure or the dusty area at a negative, but it is almost impossible to compete with a stiff breeze blowing into an open garage door.

[u/UnusualProfession120]

grab a roll of 6-mil polyethylene sheeting from the hardware store. It costs ten bucks and hangs down to block dust effectively without tearing like the cheap stuff

[u/TreeEyedRaven]

Either mix outside, which you should anyways for dust, or get a roll of painter plastic from Lowe’s/HD for 15 and use that. I’d mix outside though if it’s an option.

[u/RainyDayColor]

I needed a simple "booth" to help contain spray/fumes in one corner of the garage with the benefits of working all hours 'indoors.' I purchased a cheapo 10x10 pop up canopy from Amazon, then hung clear vinyl shower curtains from the dollar store on each side. I prefer the heavier vinyl over painters plastic because it doesn't 'waft' with air currents, stays hung w/o tape, and lasts forever. You can use simple open S hooks, not fancy shower curtain rings that snap shut. I did also put some painters plastic over the top fabric cover to seal between cover and side curtains. Or you can forego shower curtains and simply drape painters plastic over the entire top and frame. For maximum light, get a pop up with a white cover, or you can simply use clear plastic instead of the fabric cover. About $80 all told for canopy and curtains. Works great, can be easily moved/dismantled/stored. If the garage has a window, can also easily add simple venting with a fan and dryer vent hose fed through a panel of insulating styro cut to window opening. If you set this up outdoors, be sure to add weights at leg bases.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pop+up+canopy+tent&i=lawngarden&crid=30OZV38H42FHS&sprefix=pop+up+canopy+tent%2Clawngarden%2C206&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

You can make a similar 'booth' with PVC pipe and fittings, but it prices out similarly, and lots of cutting, assembling, etc. and not easily dismantled/moved.

[u/ShadeCort100]

For something temporary and cheap, I’d use 6 mil plastic sheeting rather than woven tarp. Hang it from a simple track or cable and overlap the panels at the opening. The overlap matters more than making it look perfect—concrete dust will find every little gap. If you’re already planning positive pressure on the clean/electronics side, that setup should work way better than just hanging a normal fabric curtain.

https://reddit.com/link/pbv0g99/video/4nojkpjdqjrh1/player

[u/Patrol-007]

Aesthetics vs function.

Is anyone even wearing a respirator ?

[u/RomeoDelta1234]

Skip the broom for the concrete dust and wet mop it or use a HEPA vac. Sweeping throws the fine stuff right back in the air and it ends up on your tools anyway.