3D FDM/SLA Printing, Post Processing and Spray Paint Booth Environment - Air Quality Issues/Solution

Air Quality can be a significant issue (toxicity, odour and heat) when 3D printing, cleanup and post processing take place indoors. 

Background

Initially when I had just 1 small 3D FDM printer (Prusa MK2.5s) air quality was not as big an issue as drafts and keeping the print area warm so I used the Ikea Lack enclosure setup of which you can see the remnants in the above photo (now used for shelving.  Once I got access to an Anycubic Photon Mono M5S Pro SLA printer and also the Prusa XL FDM printer air quality started to become an issue.  I also started to spray paint some of the models and this further impacted air quality.

Sources of Air Quality Issues

There are a number of sources of air quality issues (odour, toxicity and heat) related to 3D printing and post processing. 

• 3D printer (SLA or FDM) during printing and cleanup process creating heat and odour
• Post Processing of models
  • Washing/drying of SLA printed models in IPA or water resulting in odour, toxic air and contaminated IPA/water
  • Degassing of SLA printed models during UV curing process resulting in odour
  • For TPU smoothing it can be toxic fumes from TetraHydroFuran
• Waste buildup that degasses to create odour
• Aerosol/Spray Painting gases/particles

Resolution Approach 

Determined sources of air quality issues, identified the potential mitigations/options and then determined the cost.  

Solution 

The solution required a number of different actions to implement

• Contain the impacted air - this required the creation of two zones of containment.  
  • Zone 1 was a large shelving unit (approx. 2m wide  x 1m deep x 2m high) used to house the printers, post processing (IPA cleaning, curing) items and a small spray paint booth.  

• The shelving unit is enclosed within poly sheeting.   The front of the shelving can be rolled up and held in place using magnets.  There are also divider plastic sheeting drop cloths hanging vertically between segments of the shelving (held in place by magnets) to separate the printer and spray pain booth area.
• As part of Zone 1 an External Venting - Air ducting and fan are implemented allowing air to be vented directly from the enclosed shelving area to the outside.  The model I used for the venting is available at this link.  This venting system when running also creates a negative air pressure in Zone 1 and Zone 2 so that air enters into these areas and reduces the likelihood of poor quality air leaking out into other areas. 
• Within Zone 1 is a small spray paint booth (evolving project) that I use for spray painting smaller models.  An extension of the external venting that comes into the shelving area fits directly into the top of the spray paint booth when needed.

• Zone 2 is a portion (approx. 4m wide x 2.5m deep x 2.5m high) of the larger room area and houses the Zone 1 shelving unit , air purifier, filament and resin storage.  This area had poly placed along the ceiling and all walls and was taped to the floor.  The entry area was a poly drop cloth that could be pulled back.  The zone 2 entryway also allows for air to come into Zone 2 and Zone 1 since there are no duct vents inside zone 2.

• Air Purification - an air purification system was put into play in Zone 2 to aid in reducing unwanted air quality issues but this did not resolve the smell issue so while the air quality was good (as far as particles) the air still reeked of IPA or plastic.
• Waste Disposal - plastic supports, failed resin prints created a smelly mess and so there is a plan to purchase a sealed waste bin with liner to  handle solid waste.  Liquid waste in the form of used IPA (already recycled a few times) and other toxic resin items make the worst odours and are currently stored in liquid containers.   Solid waste and liquid waste are disposed off as required at the local waste transfer station in the hazardous waste area. 

Safety

• Safety glasses are a must and if there are significant fumes (SLA printing/post processing) a mask is also required.  I wear Nitril gloves for handling SLA related processes and materials. 

Related Articles

• Spray Painting Golf Stencils

Change Log

• Aug 2025 initial Version and minor tweaks/cleanup
• Jan 2026 updated to include new addition of a small spray paint booth info