Painting your home is like one of the primary things you can do when renovating. Plus, it can be very satisfying. But by the time we finish painting, we are left with unpleasant odors and stinky paint smells.
What’s the use of a newly-beautified room if you can’t even stay in there, right?
That’s why we have gathered nine easy ways you can get rid of smells of paint in a room:
Proper ventilation
Proper ventilation is still the number one method we’d recommend.
This method may not be able to mask the paint smell or remove it. But it ensures that the scent doesn’t stay in the room, giving you a more breathable environment.
You can do this by opening your windows and let the air inside your room flow continuously while you paint. This way, it wouldn’t stay inside.
But although this method is useful, there are certain circumstances when you couldn’t use ventilation. If that’s the case, then the other methods below will surely help.
Break out the charcoal
A good-charcoal recipe is so great in absorbing impurities, and that includes the unpleasant paint smell. Some homes even place charcoal inside the refrigerator, so it doesn’t become smelly.
So, how do you remove the paint smell with this method? Easy.
All you have to do is pour these powdered charcoals you bought in a bowl. Place it around the room, and that’s it!
You can then sit back and wait as the charcoal absorbs the smell and clean out the air.
Burn some candles
This may sound odd, but it’s pretty useful. Turns out that burning candles produce negative ions that help neutralize odor particles.
It’s either the candle absorbs the positive ions from the air or lets them fall to the ground, leaving your home with a more pleasant fragrance.
But not any kind of candle will do the trick. You can buy vegetable wax candles that are made with all-natural ingredients to best combat unpleasant smells.
Sprinkle baking soda
Baking soda is probably one of the most known materials used to neutralize odor in your home. As most smells are acidic, baking soda neutralizes the pH and gets rid of the smell.
All you need to do is sprinkle baking soda in your room and leave it overnight. You’ll have a great looking place the next day that doesn’t seem to be newly-painted at all.
Use coffee grounds
Coffee has that inviting aroma that seems to wake you up.
But what you may not know is that it’s also really good at absorbing unpleasant smells. This is because coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which also helps in neutralizing odors.
It’s a great alternative to baking soda. Just place it in several containers, put it in several areas of your room, and leave it overnight to absorb the smell.
Slice an onion in half
Another great trick you can do is slice an onion in half and place each half on opposite sides of the room with the cut side facing upward.
You might need to add more onions, though, if the room is bigger. Maid Sailors Cleaning Service Chicago advises to leave them there for hours, and you’ll notice the smell disappearing.
The idea behind this is that paint odor is produced by chemicals called aldehydes.
Onions, on the other hand, produce chemicals called Syn-propanethial-S-oxide. This is what enables the onion smell to cover up the smell of paint.
Make lemon water
Other than onions, you can also use lemons and make lemon water. Fill a bucket with water and add a few slices of lemon inside. You can also use a large pot if you don’t have a bucket.
Place this bucket inside the room, and the water will soak up the paint fumes leaving your space with a pleasant smell of lemons.
If you have a bigger room, then it might take days before the odor is gone. You may also need to change your bucket of water once a day until the smell disappears.
Use vinegar
Another way is to use vinegar to absorb odor. This method works in two ways: Killing bacteria and fungi that may cause the odor and neutralizing molecules that carry aroma.
All you need is to place the vinegar in a bowl or bowls and place it around the room. Change them every day until the smell goes away.
You can also simmer the vinegar on a stove before placing them on the bowls to make the acetic acid more active for better neutralization.
Use air purifier
Utilizing an air purifier is another smart and effective method you can use. Just make sure that you’re using an air filter to remove the gaseous VOCs as most air filters can only remove air particles and not the odor.
You don’t have to suffer for days because of the unbreathable environment brought by the paint by using these nine ways. Of course, there’s no one-stop solution. So, if one way doesn’t work, try the others. You can also combine several methods to get faster results.
About the Author:
Andi Croft is a freelance writer whose main interests are topics related to travel, lifestyle, and technology. This is brought about by her passion for going around the world, meeting people from all walks of life, and bringing along with her the latest tech to enhance her adventures. Twitter
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One Response
Wow, these are wonderful tips! I used a bowl of 6% vinegar and five bags of coffee that I use to keep bugs out of the storage to help rid my bathroom of oil-based paint. I just had my bathroom painted and the painter had to use oil-based paint for the woodwork and door and the odor was overwhelming. I used your pointers here and overnight the strong paint odors were nearly gone.
Thank you for this superb information!