Ask Eli - Using A Hair Dryer On Drywall Repairs?Posted byQuestion: Show Can I speed up a sheetrock repair by blowing on the drywall mud with a hairdryer? - JR Answer: Yes you can use a hair dryer or a heat gun to dry the mud on a sheetrock repair faster. It is best to let the repair dry a little slower, but if you are in a hurry you can use a hair dryer or a heat gun to speed up the process. When drywall mud (or joint compound) dries it shrinks a little, and if you dry it too fast it can sometimes crack. This is fine and won’t hurt anything, but it does mean you will have to fill the crack with more mud. I prefer a hair dryer to a heat gun. The heat gun puts out hotter air but the hair dryer puts out more air. More air movement with heat will dry it faster. Here are some suggestions for speeding up the drying process: I would suggest using a setting compound or hot mud if the joint compound needs to be thick. Using a hairdryer on regular joint compound that is thick can dry the surface of the repair while the joint compound beneath it is still wet. The wet joint compound will continue to disperse the moisture through the dried compound over it. This could end up making your repair take longer to dry fully. The wet mud underneath can also shrink when it finally dries leaving your repair indented. If you need the joint compound to be thick you should either use hot mud or give it plenty of time to dry completely With hot mud you do not need to use a hair dryer or heat gun to speed up the drying process. Hot mud does not dry, but sets up like concrete. It also does not shrink which means it needs fewer coats. For a smaller repair I like to use a 20 minute setting compound which means it starts to set up in 20 minutes. You don't have much time to work with it but then you can get the job done fast. Regular drywall mud has to dry, which means that the moisture in the mud has to evaporate out for it to harden. By heating it up with a hair dryer, you can speed up the evaporating process. Don’t ever leave a hair dryer or heat gun running unattended! I have seen people prop them up against walls or on chairs. Once I even saw someone use masking tape to tape a hair dryer to the back of a chair and leave it running while he went and worked on something else. If you can’t hold the hair dryer then find another method to speed up the drying process that is safe. If you need a repair to set up faster and you can’t stay and hold a hair dryer, there are some other options you can consider. One is to use a space heater. Set it on the floor below the repair and pointed at the wall. The heat will hit the wall and then go up it. I don’t recommend putting heaters on chairs because the vibrations created by the fan motor can sometimes cause them to move around and they could fall off. You can decide if it is safe in your situation but I cannot recommend it here. If you don’t have a space heater you can also use a fan to speed up the drying time. Air movement will help dry the repair almost as fast as heat will. If there is no air movement, then when the moisture evaporates out of the mud it will prevent more moisture from evaporating behind it. If the moist air is constantly moved away from the repair then moisture can constantly be evaporating out of the repair. A hair dryer is an excellent way to speed up the drying process on a drywall repair. It is a method that I sometimes use myself. Just make sure you are doing it safely. Return to Ask Eli Answers of 1/16" to 1/8" thk spackling that would otherwise take many hours. Dos and don'ts? I'm aiming for just enough curing to put a coat of primer on it.
Joined Mar 8, 2011 · 2,518 Posts
It will of course dry the outside first- and might be a problem if you seal it before inside is dry. But it is done that way, or with a fan all the time. I carry a couple of blower fans and use them to dry stuff almost every day.
Joined Jul 11, 2008 · 5,990 Posts
Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 18, 2012 I carry a couple of blower fans and use them to dry stuff almost every day. With just moving air, or heat + air? How long does it take? This hair dryer thing seems to work well, and if I had real skill I'd use it with hot mud. Joined Mar 8, 2011 · 2,518 Posts
What are you patching? Usually I have a room, might have a few issues- i mud as needed- put the fan on the worst and go find something else to do. You make it sound like you have a million holes, and do them one at a time! lol Joined Dec 12, 2010 · 8,070 Posts
This would definitely be a time to use some quickset joint compound. Nice thing about it you can mix up just what you need. You could use the 20 minute drying compound and not have to worry about breaking out a hairdryer or fan. There's also something called Water Putty that sets in short order. Spackling is great but not if you're in a hurry for it to
dry. Joined Mar 8, 2011 · 2,518 Posts
(please- no Rock hard water putty..) chrisn· paper hanger and painterJoined Dec 23, 2007 · 8,301 Posts
(please- no Rock hard water putty..) :thumbsup: :no::no::no: Joined Jul 11, 2008 · 5,990 Posts
Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 18, 2012 Well, it's two clusters of three half-inch holes but I keep having to go back to the HO for one reason or another. Like, when I leave it looks good and will be ready for priming and when I come back it doesn't look so good. I may go back to trying hot mud but I will also buy a hair dryer. Thanks, folks. . . Joined Mar 8, 2011 · 2,518 Posts
BTW Gym- hot mud sets up quick- but you still cant paint until the moisture is out of it. It's great for getting multiple coats up quick, but you still have to wait.. Joined Jul 11, 2008 · 5,990 Posts
Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 19, 2012 It worked out very well except for the brush strokes in the Kilz primer. Probably lightly tamping this with a damp rag would have fixed it. And even though I brought my own, the HO gave me a hair dryer she had no use for. What a day :laughing:
Joined Dec 12, 2010 · 8,070 Posts
It is a bi*** to work with, but the idea was to give the poster products that set up quickly.........didn't think standing in front of a patch for three hours with a hair dryer was the way to go when other products set up quicker. Hot mud, sure, you don't want to paint over it right away if you DON'T HAVE TO.....but, in a pinch
and in a hurry, well you gotta do what you gotta do. chrisn· paper hanger and painterJoined Dec 23, 2007 · 8,301 Posts
It worked out very well except for the brush strokes in the Kilz primer. Probably lightly tamping this with a damp rag would have fixed it. And even though I brought my own, the HO gave me a hair dryer she had no use for. What a day :laughing:
Joined Jul 11, 2008 · 5,990 Posts
Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 19, 2012 The hair dryer sets up the 24 hr spackling within a minute. You can almost watch it shrink, so you repeat it twice or 3x, then you're done. Can I use a hair dryer to speed up spackle?Small repairs won't usually need a dehumidifier or an air conditioner to reduce drying time, but you still can't proceed until the spackle is fully dry. Instead of a fan, try using a blow dryer's cool temperature setting to speed up the time required for a minor repair to fully dry.
Can you use a hair dryer on joint compound?You can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying of drywall mud. This technique is most effective when drying thin coats of joint compound. Using a hair dryer won't significantly improve the drying rate of thicker layers.
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Can you use a hair dryer to make spackle dry faster?
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