Fastest Way to Remove Paint Fumes
August 9, 2016, by Debra Lynn Dadd
Last week I had an interesting experience on a private Facebook group I belong to.
A pregnant woman with a 1 1/2-year-old posted that she had just moved into here new house the day after renovations were done and she could still smell new paint, floor adhesive and lacquer. She was trying to “get these toxins out of the house FAST!”
Given that this is a private group and anyone can post on any subject, she got quite a few well-intended recommendations. They were not, however, the correct actions to take to remove volatile chemical gasses from her home.
Here are some of the suggestions (and my comment on them on the indent lines after each comment):
I have a floor fan you can use.
Inadequate.
Do a wipe down with vinegar and water.
This will do nothing for paint fumes.
Leave all windows open so fumes can vent out of the house. Can also put 2 or 3 box fans in windows on one side of house in open windows drawing air OUT of the house. This will pull in fresh air from the remaining open windows. You need to let the fumes escape from the walls and flooring, and then be vented out of the house. It may take some time.
Ventilation is always good, but in this case what is needed is to accelerate the release of the VOCs in the paints and adhesives.
Place bowls of baking soda with lemon squeezed on top (leave the lemons in the bowl too) around the house.
Baking soda does remove odors, but not specifically paint fumes.
Take big bowls full of ammonia and place them in every room, shut the door, it absorbs the smells.
This may remove odors, but ammonia itself is a toxic chemical and will not remove toxic gasses.
Buy an air purifier from Target for around $100.
Air filters sold at Target and other such stores do NOT remove paint fumes and other VOCs. They are designed to remove particles such as dust and pollen, which are larger than chemical gasses.
There are a number of plants that remove toxins from the air , floors etc and then give you fresh air. You can google the list. I believe there are about 12 different ones you can choose from.
Plants are not adequate to handle the toxic chemical gasses in this home. You would need hundreds of plants. I did the math once on this to see if I could recommend this instead of air filters. Not in a situation like this. A 9x12-foot room with an 8-foot ceiling is 864 cubic fee, so you would need 72 plants to duplicate the results from Wolverton labs—a virtual jungle!
Here’s what to do in a situation like this:
Get yourself and your family out of the house. Find somewhere else to stay until you have handled the toxic exposure.
Get an air filter that removes toxic gasses. Read our recommendations in the Air Purifier Buying Guide.
Of course it’s always best to paint with a zero-VOC paint to begin with. Also read more about painting techniques to minimize off-gassing.
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