I have taken an exterior wall of an old building down to bare wood, using combinations of pressure washing, infra-red paint stripper and water based chemical stripper. I then sanded over all the areas that had turned grey due to exposure to the elements where the old paint had peeled.

Sanding was done with 50 and 60 grit using a random orbital sander. Before painting I now need to remove the sanding dust. I plan to rinse the entire wall using a low pressure nozzle with the pressure washer. I think dry brushing would be too laborious and apt to leave a lot of the dust behind, but I am wondering if water would actually remove the dust, or would it turn it to mud that would still cling to the wood from the runoff?

Also, I need to put some kind of anti-rust coating over the exposed nail heads to avoid rust stains. On non-painting projects I have had very good results with Rustoleum aluminium paint, on iron and steel exposed to the elements. I have found it almost as durable as galvanising and it lasts for decades. I am wondering if I might have any problems with the house paint adhering to the nail heads if I covered them with that? For the paint job I plan to use 100% acrylic primer, to be covered with two 100% acrylic topcoats.

Don