So you’re very happy now that you just finished giving an area in your home a well-deserved makeover. If you just had the walls or ceiling repainted, then you have to wait for the smell of fresh paint to go away before you can fully relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. This article will give you some tips on how to zap those paint fumes quickly.
Most paints these days are entirely free of or containing only minimal volatile organic compounds or VOCs, and they are regarded as less toxic to humans, pets and the environment. However, this does not mean that they no longer emit fumes as they dry — what you smell are solvents evaporating from the paint as it dries.
While they may not be poisonous, you can still consider those fumes as toxic because they are unpleasant to the nose and can leave you with a nagging headache. Especially if enamel paint is the one you used for sprucing up the walls or ceiling, then you can expect to encounter the fumes for several days, keeping you from celebrating the makeover.
If you are tired of smelling toxic fumes while waiting for paint to dry, then keep on reading. The following are some of the best ways to quickly remove the smell of drying paint from the room whose walls or ceiling you just repainted.
Light Up Some Candles
Just like what’s mentioned earlier, evaporating solvents are the reasons behind that lingering paint smell. One very quick way to make those tiny molecules of solvent in the air disappear is by lighting a few candles in the room — of course scented ones are the best for the job. Caution: do not ever leave lighted candles unattended!
Allow Charcoal to Impress
Before hitting the hay, you may place chunks of charcoal in a couple of containers, which you then have to place in opposite areas of the newly painted room — charcoal is a phenomenal absorber of bad-smelling and toxic fumes. In the morning, you will see that the room that just got a makeover no longer smells as terrible as the day before.
Let Red Onions Do the Job
Grab a handful of red onions and cut all of them in halves. Afterwards, place all of them in various spots in the room whose walls or ceiling you just gave a fresh layer of paint. Just like charcoal, red onions are so very good at soaking up odors and poisons, although they themselves are not really particularly nose-friendly.
Wait for Water to Work
Not really a fan of the smell of red onions? Then you may simply count on water. All you have to do is place small buckets of water all over the room that just received a makeover — this will help eliminate those headache-inducing paint fumes. However, water is not a fast worker as red onions, but still capable of delivering, nonetheless.
Smell the Coffee
If you happen to have lots of used coffee grounds, consider yourself lucky. That’s because coffee grounds are wonderful absorbers of odors, plus they also fill the room with their irresistible smell. Just place coffee grounds on small plates and then leave in various spots in the area to get rid of that annoying fresh paint smell ASAP.
Windows for the Win
Last but not least, of course it’s important for the room that just received a makeover to be well-ventilated. It’s for this reason why you should open the windows and let some fresh air in. Try to leave the windows open for as long as possible to make the lingering paint smell go away, letting you fully enjoy the area in no time.
Surprised how trouble-free it is to make those toxic paint fumes go away? Then share this article on social media to let your family and friends know about these nifty tips, too!
