Enclosing old lead paint on wooden venetian blinds with a clear product

[Redmo88]

Hi, We have very old wooden venetian blinds (100+ years old Australian red cedar ). We will be progressively retaping them and whilst disassembled we are going to have to deal with the old lead paint on them (original finish, a small few have been repainted but the majority not). Our intentions currently are to give them a light wet sand to remove the loosest materials and wipe over. The paint is so old that it is very dusty so we are very wary and will be careful about dust etc. We then could either a) repaint them or b) seal them over with a clear product (preferred current option for visual appeal). I am researching different products and would be grateful for any advice offered here. Obviously we don't want to use a modern estapol product. We live in a dusty town so the product will need to be wipeable, relatively hard (ie. not an oil finish that would catch and hold dust) and sun resistant. Wish list would also include - sprayable application, one coat (or two at most), able to safely encapsulate the lead paint underneath, long lasting (so we dont have to redo in our ownership) and compatible with a heritage use. Can anyone recommend something (besides just repainting them) that will meet those requirements? Also any tips on what best to use after the wet sand to wipe them clean/remove lead paint dust residue would be interesting. Thanks in advance for the collective knowledge on here.

[BobL]

Given that you are not completely removing the paint, the amount of exposure that you will get from a light sanding will be relatively low risk. If you live in a dusty town you will already be exposed to a far greater long term lead exposure from the local dust from when motor vehicles used leaded petrol that is laying around everywhere in the top 300 mm or so of Aussie soils.

Nevertheless use of a face mask and rinsing off the blinds with water into the garden (where there is already lead dust) is about all you can do. If you wanted to you could trap the water in a container and allow it to evaporate and put the container into rubbish destined for landfill.

Be wary about using a clear product. Even inside over time it will eventually yellow and may become unattractive. Maybe just paint with the closest colour available in a plastic paint.

[China]

As you have already disassembled them take them and have them chemically dipped, this will remove all the finish and you can simply apply what ever you want, this is how the professional restorers do it.