As interior house painters, we are all too familiar with the smell of freshly painted walls. The odour of fresh paint comes from the evaporation of solvents in the paint. Once the solvents are fully evaporated, the paint is dry and the smell will disappear.
When we paint interiors we use high quality non-toxic paints, and we take care to ventilate the property as much as possible to remove solvent odours as fast as possible. However, in some instances, especially with enamel paints, you may find that the smell may linger for a day or so.
Eliminating paint fumes after professional painting services is easier than you might think. In fact, your kitchen is probably already stocked with everything you’ll need. You can use these 7 tips for masking or eliminating any other types of odours too.
4 Tips for Masking Paint Fumes
These first 4DIY methods will mask the smell of the paint.
1. Peppermint or Vanilla Extract
If you like the smell of peppermint or vanilla, try placing a few drops of pure vanilla extract or peppermint oil on cotton balls, and place these around the room. You could also add the extract or oil to small bowls of water. Peppermint and vanilla both smell strong enough to cover up the paint fumes.
2. Use Coffee Beans
Alternatively, if you are a coffee lover, grab some freshly ground coffee beans and place them in small bowls around the room.
3. Use Charcoal
Charcoal can also be used to deodorise odours. Just crush up some wood charcoal and leave it overnight in containers throughout the room. By morning, your interior painting will smell no longer!
4. Cut Up Some Onions
This next method sounds weird, but trust us - cut a few brown onions in quarters and place them around the room. The onions will absorb any lingering paint odours.
