If you have recently painted a room or multiple rooms in your house, you are likely to be enjoying the look of your newly painted walls. But the downside to any new paint job can be the paint fumes that linger.
Throughout this article, we will describe some different things you can do to get rid of paint fumes, but we will first explain where the smell comes from to help you understand why the different solutions we discuss might be effective.
Why Does Paint Smell?
In most DIY painting scenarios, even if you have used non-toxic, low-odor paint, you are still likely to detect paint fumes once you have finished the job.
The fumes you are smelling are caused by the evaporation of the solvent in the paint. The fact that there are fumes should not be of concern (though you should still minimize exposure to these fumes where possible). The fumes are a natural by-product of the chemical reaction of paint drying.
Make Sure The Paint Is Dry
Before you start trying to get rid of paint fumes, make sure the paint you have applied has dried or is drying. In most cases, once the solvents have fully cured and the paint has dried, the smell should dissipate for the most part.
But if your paint has dried and there are still too many fumes, you need to move through the below steps. Be aware that paint may still be hardening (and releasing fumes) even after you can touch it with your finger, without having any paint stick.
Ventilate The Room
Once you are sure your paint has fully dried, if you still have paint fumes you need to get rid of then the next step is ventilation.
Ideally, you would have been ventilating the room or space as you painted, but if you haven’t, then open windows and doors to the maximum extent and wait 12-24 hours.
If the paint is dry and you allowed adequate ventilation time, then this will get rid of most paint fumes in most situations.
Ventilation can be aided with a fan that is actively pushing air from the inside of the painted area to another area. Ideally, have the fan pointed out a window or external door.
If allowing the fumes to leave (via ventilation) has not cleared your space of paint fumes, then you need to move on to some absorption techniques in conjunction with ongoing ventilation.
Absorb Remaining Paint Fumes
As already discussed, before worrying about any fume absorption methods, make sure your paint is fully dried, and you have had the room adequately ventilated.
So many ‘paint fumes’ issues are just people not understanding how long paint takes to dry, and not allowing for adequate ventilation.
There are many ‘hacks’ out there you can try when it comes to absorbing paint fumes.
We’ve listed five of the most common ones, in our preferred order, but you can try whichever ones you want.
Candle
Lighting a scented candle, or multiple candles, can be a great way to reduce the remaining paint fumes while also adding your preferred fragrance or scent to the room.
Candles are effective at reducing paint fumes as the naked flame burns the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air. The VOCs are released into the air as paint dries.
The VOCs will typically exit the painted space with adequate ventilation, but if there is a remaining fume smell, a candle can help eradicate them.
The method is simple:
- Light the candle(s)
- Let them burn for 3-4 hours
- Give 1 hour for the room to ventilate
- Check for remaining paint fumes
This candle method is our preferred option!
Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds or freshly ground coffee beans are other ingredients you can use to get rid of paint fumes.
Like candles, as well as reducing the fumes they also replace the fumes with alternative scents, in this case, coffee beans.
Coffee grounds don’t burn the VOCs like a flame but do absorb the fumes. As a result, these materials are not to be consumed in any way after they have been used for this purpose. They must be discarded.
The process for using coffee grounds/beans to get rid of paint fumes requires:
- Put a bowl or multiple bowls of coffee grounds/beans around the painted space
- Leave there for 6-12 hours
- Remove grounds/beans and wait one hour
- Assess the room for remaining paint fumes, and redo if needed.
Onions
Another popular, and effective way to get rid of paint fumes is using onions.
Onions are used in varying scenarios for odor reduction and are especially effective at neutralizing paint odors.
The science of it is fascinating. Basically, the paint odor stems from a chemical known as aldehyde, while the smell of onion is produced by Syn-propanediol-S-oxide.
When these two chemicals meet the Syn-propanediol-S-oxide reacts with the aldehyde and subdues it, subsequently neutralizing the odor.
Many people simply cut two onions (but you can do more) in half, place the halves in bowls in each corner of the room, and allow them to sit overnight.
In many cases, this is sufficient to eliminate most fresh paint fumes.
Following this process, you may end up with a new smell you want to eliminate (onions!), but that can easily be done with ventilation and a candle or scented mist.
Baking Soda
Like onions, baking soda is another effective ‘absorbent’ but has no distinct smell of its own.
Baking Soda by nature has absorbent properties and is commonly used to help remove odors from couches, carpets, and much more. In a similar way, it can be used to help get rid of paint fumes.
There are multiple different ways you can use Baking Soda to eliminate paint fumes.
Place in Bowls Around the Room
In a similar fashion to the coffee method, placing a cup (give or take) of baking soda into 3-4 bowls and spreading them around a room overnight is an effective method for capturing paint odor.
Like the coffee, this baking soda is not suitable for consumption or other use, after being used for this purpose, so please discard it afterward.
Rub Baking Into The Furniture
However, if the room/space you have painted already has furniture in it, you can also pour the baking soda over your fabric-covered furniture and floor coverings. Once you have applied the baking soda, leave it overnight and then vacuum it up afterward.
This method has the same effect, but might also assist in providing additional cleaning of your furniture.
Water with Lemon
The final method we will suggest for your consideration is the use of buckets of water, with a dash of lemon.
If you have buckets or large containers, fill them with water, add some lemon (freshly squeezed, juice, essence) to each bowl, and leave them in the painted area overnight.
Following this time period pour the water out into a suitable drain. Like all the other methods, this water is not suitable for use in any other way following this process, as it has absorbed some of the toxins that were floating in the air.
Final Thoughts
As we have re-enforced many times throughout the article, please make sure the paint is fully dry, and the room has been well ventilated before you worry about the remaining smell.
But after doing that, if you do still have overwhelming paint fumes, then the above methods will help you.
Our preferred method is the candle method because it is simple to prepare and carry out, and it leaves a pleasant smell at the end.
Good luck!