8 Best Methods On How To Remove Paint Smell

8 Best Methods On How To Remove Paint Smell

Painting is one of the great wall decor ideas to give your room a fresh look. There’s tons of combination of colors and patterns which you can use to decorate a wall even with simple geometrical shapes. There’s no need for technical or realistic painting techniques at all. You can be painting simple murals, mosaics or even a box shape to add artistic touch to your walls.

However, one down side of painting is that it leaves a paint smell that is just unpleasant. It could linger for days. So, how to remove paint smell? This guide will show you all the possible methods available. Let’s get into it!

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1. Use Baking Soda, The Most Affordable Paint Odour Eliminator

Baking soda is one of the cheapest way to get rid of smell of paint. It’s also a popular way to get rid of fridge odors just by placing it into a bowl and put it near the source of the smell in the fridge. The same method applies when using baking soda to eliminate paint odor.

How to remove paint smell with baking soda:

• Pour some baking soda into a bowl.
• Spread it through the entire base of the bowl to increase surface area.
• Leave it in the room overnight.
• Repeat as necessary with new bowl of baking soda.

Putting the baking soda in a bowl or container makes the cleaning easier. If you’re not worried about the cleaning up later, you can sprinkle them around the floor.

This is perfect especially when you have a carpet. It would seep into the surface of the carpet and works its magic. After a day, vacuum the baking soda away.

How to remove paint odor with a mix of baking soda and water:

• Pour half a cup of baking soda into a bowl of water.
• Stir and dissolve it.
• Place it in the room overnight.
• Discard and repeat as necessary.

2. Use Activated Charcoal As Paint Odor Remover

Activated charcoal in a bag isn’t only a good thing to get rid of foul smell in the car, leaving it fresh. It’s also a great paint odor eliminator! It is porous, giving it a large surface area for absorption.

Note that activated charcoal is not the same as the charcoal you use for BBQ. Activated charcoal is treated in a way to have be more porous than common charcoal.

Hence, it can be used for air filtering in a much more effective way. It can absorb both odor and moisture. It is also used as an ingredient in food such as bread and smoothies as well as skin care.

It’s generally recommended to put it under the sun after a while to dry out the accumulated moisture. Then, you can reuse it again.

To remove paint smell from room, place the bags of activated charcoal around. Leave it there for a while.

Get your activated charcoal bag from Amazon here.

3. Use Burning Candle To Mask and To Remove Paint Smell From Room

This is a fragrant way to get rid of smell of paint! The wax of the candle can absorb the smell around them. You can get the scented candle or the special candle that can eliminates odor. Beeswax or soy based candles are best.

There are several precautionary steps that needs to be taken before lighting up the candle and let it burn inside the room:

• Put the candle in a bowl of water. It will extinguish the flame in case the candle got toppled over for whatever reason there is.
• Close the door of the room to prevent kids or pets from accidentally getting injured.
• Check the room in a timely manner.

Get your odor eliminating candle from Amazon here.

4. Use White Vinegar to Remove New Paint Smell

White vinegar is stronger than culinary white vinegar in terms of acetic acid content that it has. Acetic acid is the one that we should be looking at here because this is the agent that will be getting rid of the odor.

Acetic acid bonds with volatile chemicals in the air which in this case is the paint odor. A few squirts from the spray bottle would work wonderfully well to take out the smell.

Since, the source of the paint smell is your entire wall, squeezing them out of spray bottle might not be the best way. Here’s what you should do:

How to remove paint smell using white vinegar:

• Mix equal parts of water with white vinegar.
• Fill them in several bowls.
• Place them around the room.
• Leave it for several hours or until it dries up.
• Repeat as necessary.
• Flush them into the toilet to dispose of it properly.

5. Lemon Water, A Refreshing Drink That Can Be Used To Remove Paint Odor

Water itself has the ability to get rid of odor. This would be further boosted up with a few sprinkles of salt. The lemon itself is solely to freshen up the smell of the room.

To get rid of paint of smell with this method, you will need to fill several bowls of water with lemon juice and salt. Like the methods before, place them around the room.

Get rid of the lemon water after use. It cannot be consumed after absorbing all those paint fumes.

You can also use other scented ingredients such as orange peel, lavender leaves and rosemary. However, you will need to prepare them like how you would do with tea. Boil the water and let them infuse for half an hour. Then you can place them around the room.

This scented infusion will absorb the paint odor while leaving the room smelling nice and pleasant.

6. Use Coffee Grounds To Remove Paint Smell In A Room

Odor elimination with the fragrant smell of coffee! How about that?

Coffee ground has its reputation in eliminating odors of trash can. Mainly because it can adsorb hydrogen sulfide gas that derives from decomposed waste.

It also can be used to absorb other smell from the environment as well.

Here’s how you can eliminate paint odor with coffee grounds:

• Put coffee grounds in containers.
• Spread them in the room.
• Leave them for a day.
• Repeat with new batch of coffee grounds.

7. Get Rid of Smell of Paint In Windowed Room With Fan

Nothing beats a good ventilation. A fan works best to get rid of smell of paint in a room that has windows. That’s because it needs to blow the paint fumes to somewhere.

Just point the fan towards the window. It will take in the air from the room and blow them outside the house.

You can also combine this method with any of the above for quicker results! Be cautious with the candle method. Be sure to place the candle away from the direction of the wind.

8. Eliminate Paint Odor With Onion

Onion is another popular kitchen ingredient that is vastly popular in deodorizing.

This method works incredibly well in an enclosed space. If the room has no window or you can’t open the window for some reason, you can consider the onion method.

How to remove paint smell using onion:

• Cut an onion into quarter inches thick slices.
• Put them on plates or any container so they won’t stain the surface of the floor.
• Place them at corners of the room with the cut surface facing up.
• Leave them overnight.

Throw them into the garbage can after use. Do not use them for cooking. The room might have onion smell but worry not. The smell will dissipates away before you know it.

FAQ on Paint Smell

How long does it take for paint smell to go away?

It can take up to 6 months for the paint smell to be fully disappear depending on ventilation. However, you can speed up the process by improving the air flow in and out of the room. Open up the windows and turn on the fan. For more drastic measures, you could use air purifier on full blast to get rid of smell of paint.

Is paint smell harmful for pregnant women?

A MOCEH study shows that maternal exposure to some VOCs will increase the chance for low birth weight that could result in learning disabilities. Most of the paint now has volatile organic compounds (VOC).

One of these compounds include toluene. Research shows that toluene causes harm in the behavioral and cognitive function of rats. Though the effect is prominent for long term exposure, it is best not to take the risk at all.

Before 1978, most of the paint used for the house are lead-based. Lead is highly toxic and can cause birth defects as well as harming the health of the pregnant women. Though the lead-based paint is now banned in the US. It may not be the same for other countries. So, be alert when going on staycation.

Can you sleep in a room that has just been painted?

If the room is painted with low VOC levels of paint and is well ventilated, it might be safe to sleep. However, if you are exhibiting discomfort such as irritation, dizziness and headache, it’s better to sleep elsewhere. Don’t sleep in newly painted room if you are pregnant.

Is paint smell toxic?

That depends on the type of paint. Lead paint is highly toxic and can cause harm such as reduced sperm quality, mood disorder, high blood pressure and concentration difficulty. Meanwhile, most newer types of paint has volatile organic compounds (VOC) such as xylene, formaldehyde and benzene that can cause health effects such as headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and nausea. In the long term can cause irritation of the respiratory tract and even cancer.

How long should I ventilate a room after painting?

Generally, it’s best to let the room ventilate for 2 to 3 days. Open all the windows and switch on the fans. Bring in extra fans as necessary. In the case if the occupant of the room is a pregnant woman or baby, the room should be ventilated until the paint smell is completely gone.