Sanding?

[yarwel]

I ordered my first resin doll from Mirodoll, and I know they don't always sand as thoroughly as other companies do and I'm also considering doing some other mods(though I don't know if I'll be brave enough to actually go through with them) so, I'll need to do some sanding. Before my Thunder arrives, I would like to get some things straight about sanding resin.
First, how much protection against resin dust do I need? Would a dust mask(the type sold for construction work) be sufficient? Do I need to wear gloves? The woman in the bjd collectasy video was wearing a half face respirator, and that makes me a bit nervous.
If I sand inside, do I need to air out the room afterwards or will the dust just settle and be harmless?
I'd really appreciate you guys' expertise. Thanks!

[Nella]

You don't need a half face respirator for sanding, just for spraying. Well, if you have a half respirator you could use it for sanding but it' is not the basic requirement. I'll just paste what the recommendations are for sanding from a DoA sticky.

"For sanding applications (including sanding of resin, apoxie and other sculpting materials, and wood), you need a respirator that provides at least N95 level protection. It should say N95 somewhere on the mask itself. If it doesn't say, it is not good enough. There is a scale to protection levels and anything above N95 is also acceptable (of course).

The levels are:
N95
P95
N100
P100"

[SoapBubbles]

Like Nella said, you definitely need a mask but it can be one of those disposable kinds and you don't need the re-usable half face respirators.

Resin is not toxic on the skin, but wearing gloves will keep the dust away from beneath your fingernails.

As for the room... I'm actually not sure, but for particles as big as sanded resin I think the ventilation of the actual room doesn't matter so much as actually taking time to vacuum and clean your work area once you're done.

[K2!]

Assuming the resin has cured completely and not still significantly off gassing (did the doll/box have a distinct "chemical" odor when opened the first time?), as mentioned before, an N95 (or better) mask should be sufficient for the dust generated by hand sanding. Not being familiar with the Collectasy video mentioned, the woman in the video could be wearing a respirator with pre-filters (for dust) fitted over the chemical cartridges. If you are sanding indoors in your living space (not a dedicated work space away from your living areas, like a garage, etc.) you might want to consider wet sanding to help keep the dust from becoming airborne. Airing out the room, while good for the immediate work location, can spread the resin dust throughout your house/apartment and most furnace filters are not equipped to deal with the small dust particles created.

[Trethowan]

I'll second wet-sanding. It's so much better without dust flying everywhere. And it will fly everywhere, and get on your clothes and in the house.

Wear eye protection too, so dust doesn't get in your eyes.

[yarwel]

So I should sand in a basin of water after waiting a few weeks for the "new resin" smell to go away?
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice!

[Trethowan]

I wouldn't go that far, it would be splashy and hard to see anything. Just keep everything wet and that should do the trick. Lots of rinsing will be enough I'm sure.