Harmful dust from old paint, shellac, stain, polyurethane and other nasty stuff can cause serious respiratory problems.
Even when I wear a mask, the dust ALWAYS gives me a headache and causes my lungs to feel EXTREMELY heavy. This promotes unattractive sneezing, coughing, and yes… I’ve even spit! Come on girls…I couldn’t be the only one! lol
The solution?
I’ve souped-up my Ryobi CornerCat with an easy and inexpensive way to reduce dust while using a sander. I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference it’s made!
It’s super simple and only took a few minutes… here’s how I did it.
1. You’ll need a shop vac or vacuum cleaner. My mystery man gave me his old HuskyShopVac which is perfect for my work area.
[box type=”info”] Tip -If you’re going to use your household vacuum cleaner, make sure you clean it regularly and have extra filters on hand. The fine dust can block it up quickly.[/box]
2. You’ll also need an inexpensive (under $10) plastic or rubber adapter and hose clamp which can be purchased at any hardware store in the vacuum attachment isle. Mine came in a kit which included the 1-1/4″ adapter plus 2 other sizes.
[box type=”info”] Tip- Measure the diameter of your the blower exhaust on your sander and the hose on your vacuum before purchasing so you get the right size.[/box]
3. Loosely place the hose clamp around the sander’s blower exhaust. Insert one end of the adapter to the exhaust on your sander. Insert the other end of the adapter to the hose on your vacuum. To secure the attachment, tighten the clamp.
4. Turn the sander and vacuum “ON”…then sand away! The wood dust gets sucked from your sander directly into the vacuum!
Amazing!
No headache, no heavy lungs and no heavy clean-up…I’m loving it!
So girls, if you ever catch yourself coughing, spitting, wiping your nose with the back of your hand and scratching yourself like a construction worker while using your sander; remember a dust free environment is the key.
Reduce the dust while sanding and it will help maintain your good health and your attractive fem-da-la-fem diva status!
Sand away and have fun!
Denise
Hello again... I'm so happy you dropped by! Let's keep in touch! Follow me on social media or sign up for a dose of furniture painting inspiration and diy tutorials. :) 
Where can I view your finished pieces?
looking for tips – i have a 6 ft country pine dinning table with veneer top, table isn’t bad BUT its about 30 yrs old and can use a overhaul. I want to buy new but my adult daughter is very attached to the table for all the memories it holds. We keep talking about refinishing it except for one problem I live in an apartment. is there anyway to take on such a job inside? I have no access to a garage or outdoor space to do it. Any suggestion you could offer would be very much appreciated – Thanks in advance!
Are you thinking of painting or staining it Joanie?
The red dresser is my favorite! I desperately need a sanding system. I am overwhelmed by choices of different systems. I am wanting to sand my kitchen cabinets. Could you tell me the exact products you use in sanders, wet/dry vac,, hose, adapters, bags, etc. That would really help me so much. There are so many choices, it makes me crazy😁
Thank You
Hi Lisa! The adapters shared in this blog post will attach to any standard sander and shop vac and can be purchased for under $15 at any hardware store. To keep everything clean, I would invest in a wet/dry shop vac and my favorite sanders that’s a workhorse this Bosch– 25% off as of writing this. Hope this helps 🙂
Can I use a regular bag free vacuum cleaner to do this? It has a hose attachment.
You sure can Julie! Keep in mind all the sanding dust that will get inside the bag free vacuum cleaner tho… if it’s your household vacuum, it will need cleaning out.
Do I still need the vacuum filter in my wet/dry vac?
Yes 🙂
What I’ve found is you still get fine dust particles (greately reduced) to fix this if you have a wet and dry shop vac:
Get a bit of flexi hose, run it from the inside where dust would enter into the unit (I hot glued mine into place), and feed it down to the bottom of the vacuum bowl. Now fill the shop vac with warm water and dish washing liquid just enough to make some suds but not too much as the suds will increase with the vacuum on.
Now when you sand the dust gets pulled through the water trapped into the suds, and stops any fine particles going through the shop vacuum which usually do not have the best filters.
The only negative this means if you want to use it with the vacuum bags as well your probably better to have two shop vacs.
This is the BEST information ever!! Thank you so much. Now I can feel free to sand my tabletop and then whitewash it. I have put it off because with asthma, doing a project like this and wearing a mask, I will cough for weeks, feel sick, and not breathe well along with those headaches you mentioned.
This tip is truly a life saver.
The red dresser looks amazing! to me it now has an Asian influence to it. Wonderful work!
Love your videos.
Ashley
I’m SO HAPPY this info is helpful to you Ashley! 🙂
I have severe asthma too but love my projects. I bought a gas mask to wear while I do my projects but that doesn’t solve the problem of the dust all over the place after my project is over. And yes my asthma is that severe. I would love to follow you if you are on Instagram. Thank you for this post.
Good you’re looking out for yourself because SAFETY FIRST!… and yes you can follow me on IG here https://www.instagram.com/salvaged_inspirations/ 🤗
Had just cleaned up drywall dust EVERYWHERE and then decided to change stairs. I know a little backwards. I was dreading another intense cleanup so I tried this. Was skeptical since so many posts don’t seem to work like they claim. This was great, hardly any dust. Thank you for sharing such valuable insight,,
So glad it was helpful Donna! 🙂
Rather than an adapter and clamp, I attached the two with Duck tape and it worked beautifully!!!
Brilliant Kaitlin!!!… duck tape works for just about everything doesn’t it!? 😉
That is the answer! You are smart and ingenious.
Where do I buy the adapter?
Home Depot or Lowes sells them Linda. 🙂
Tried this today for sanding my stairs. It worked flawlessly! Not a speck of dust in the other rooms of my house. Thank you so much for posting this! Also, I didn’t have a hose clamp, so I used duct tape. Worked great.
Duct tape… inventive Cheryl! So glad it worked! 🙂
I am an avid DIY’er with my professional organizing clients and sometimes need to make a dust fuss on the job…you never know what kinds of projects I might be asked to do! This is a great and easy way to reduce sanding dust. I wish I had read this before last week. I raised so much dust that, despite the mask, I ended up coughing for the rest of the night. Thanks for this Denise! Very helpful. I will definitely keep it in mind for next time.
Hi Ann Marie 🙂
Glad you found the tip helpful. I’m going to adopt your phrase “dust-fuss”…I really like it!