Today I had to airbrush a 10" square fondant-covered cake that was decorated as a baseball diamond. I set paper strips under the edges of my cake, as usual, to catch the overspray and set up a cookie sheet behind the cake, also to catch the overspray. Did the cake, cleaned the airbrush. Finished cake, delivered cake. At the party (my nephew's BD party), my sister mentioned that I had a little green smudged on my nose. I had spilled a couple of drops, which got on my hands, so it didn't really surprise me that I had rubbed my nose and transferred some color.

Got home, looked at my nose, and thought, WHOA, that's weird. Blew my nose and swabbed both nasal passages over and over, and guess what? I breathed in so much green airbrush color it looks like the inside of my nose is decorated for St. Patrick's Day!

Dear God, what do my poor lungs look like???

Irish antidote:

pint of: Guinness/ale/etc.

that is funny.. guess you will have to start wearing a surgical mask from now on

Well, I guess that would depend on your personal color preferences.

If you like green, they'd look good

So all kidding aside, are you going to start wearing a mask from now on when you airbrush.

If JaneK's wheezy condition from powdered sugar dust is Baker's Lung; can we call Cakepro's condition from overspray Decorator's Lung !!!

Including Jane's thread so you can get ideas on future prevention:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-55720-.html

oh yeah, puleze...I use my airbrush every day..!! and everytime I sneeze it's in technicolor! lol

I try to hold my breath when I airbursh now...I don't even realize that I'm doing that..lol

Take care!!

First time I airbrushed I used blue. I'm just thankful it wasn't red because when I blue my nose it took me a minute to figure it out.

That color goes everywhere!! I've heard of people finding it on their filters in the air conditioner.

Yeah, when I worked at wallymart that's what I had all the time was technicolor snot (I know, I know, tmi) but that's just part of the job I reckon, the overspray. See if you can adjust the pressure to reduce some of the overspray. It's just part of what happens when you use the airbrush.

LOL! I figured I was just had my face waaaay too close to the airbrush today, although I was positioned as I normally am. Glad to hear we all have rainbow sneezes.

What was really surprising to me was that when I cleaned off my work area (removed tools and other stuff that was on the counter while I was airbrushing the cake), I saw no green at all anywhere...until I sprayed cleaner on the counter, which made all the super-teeny (and invisible to me) particles of color bloom, showing perfect outlines of where my scissors and other tools had been.

I have never had such a fine mist fall over everything before like it did today. CORRECTION: today I airbrushed on a white worksurface, whereas in the past I had always done it on my dark maple dining room table. OY.

Thanks for the reassurances,
Sherri

I have not had the pleasure of airbrushing...can't wait now!!!

woohoo! I've never used an airbrush yet, but I have used those aerosol cans of spray color. I had blue nose...that stuff goes everywhere!

My husband insist that using the air brush (we haven't used ours yet) will get color all over the kitchen. Is that true?

I'm thinking I might set up an area in my sewing room in the basement if it makes that big of a mess. Thanks for all the information.

when I used the airbrush in school we had acess to large sheets of parchment paper, which I would lay out over the table to keep the overspray in check!

HTH

i have smurf boogers sometimes...AM I GONNA DIE????

ha ha ha....

one day i was sooooo busy i didn't have a chance all day to "check myself"...

at the end of the day (i had airbrushed so much green)....i had faint lil green rings around my nostrils....ugh!...and here i'm waiting on customers all day too.....

oh yeah about the overspray....some people build a box to airbrush in....theres one on earlenes site i think...

The first time I used my airbrush it freaked me out when I blew my nose. To top it off I kept getting small nose bleeds for the next 3 days. So now I always wear a mask, I think it a must.

WOW!!! That's hillarious!!!

I get cocoa in my nose every time that I use it.....I don't really get it, but I have chocolate snot for a day or so. LOL

I used yellow and must of been a little too close. If you wear glasses you end up with spray on your glasses and when you take them off--you get the picture. Luckily it comes off--eventually!

If I am really close when I am spraying stuff (I use the stuff in a can since I can't justify the cost of an airbrush) I notice that I get it up my nose. But if I can keep my head as far away as possible I'm ok. But I definetely need to get a cheap box of disposable medical masks or painter's masks.

Many years ago people didn't wear masks around asbestos either and look what happened. The same is true about toluene's...inhaling them repeatedly can cause leukemia and aplastic anemia. Heck...we used to run behind the mosquito spraying truck and play in the chemical fog. Maybe that's what wrong with me?? Ha..

As a nurse, I wouldn't take this too lightly. If it's in your nose...it's in your lungs. Be safe, not sorry and wear a mask.