Can anyone tell me.......

[Gwenoakes]

how to get rid of the smell of gloss paint?

We have used some very reasonably priced non drip gloss paint from Homebase, but the smell is horrendous. I have done the onion in a little water in dish and doors and windows have been open for as long as possible, all to no avail. The whole house stinks of it and we have only done a smal area of skirting and one door downstairs.

To be honest it is now making me feel a bit queasy. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[Homemade]

Light some candles - plain or scented, seems to clean the air well after painting.

[thewife]

hi my gran used to swear by an onion cut in half in the room overnight. ive never tried it, so if you do let me know if it works

[Gwenoakes]

I can say for sure that the onion cut in half doesnt work, its been in there for three days and done absolutely nothing and its only a very small room too. It has worked before though, but this paint was exceptionally strong, in fact I cannot ever remember using a gloss paint with such a strong smell before.

Have had scented candles, plain candles and found something on google that said to use white vinegar, which I couldnt find so used malt vinegar......then I found the white vinegar and put a bowl of that too. The smell is definitely much better, but dont know which of the above has worked. LOL

Did also read on google that a bucket of water in the room would absorb the paint smell but not tried that.

Thanks for the info though.

[rhubarb93]

How about some lavender and/or rosemary essential oil, either dropped onto potpouri or shaken into water and sprayed around? Should help the queasiness too

[perchy]

What about a neutradol gel air freshner?

[Gwenoakes]

Rhubarb & Perchy, will look for both those tomorrow. The smell has gone a bit, but is still really hanging heavy and we are painting again tomorrow!

The paint is THE best gloss we have ever used, such a pity about the horrendous smell as without that it would be totally perfect.

[maggie1946]

Try cutting up a lemon or 2 cook in micro for a couple of mins (no water) and leave in room .. Gets rid of any nasty nifs in kitchen so might work.. Maggie...

[Gwenoakes]

Will try that Maggie, thanks. It just so happens I have a lemon in the fridge.

Have rung Homebase this morning and even they cant suggest anything, apparently I am the second enquiry within a week......I dont know whether to feel comforted by it not being just me or not. LOL

[luckilotti]

I'm glad you called homebase, if you still cant get rid of it i would recontact them and say they need to sort it out - does anyone recall the same problems with one of the Dulux and Crown paints? It took quite a lot of people to complain until they took notice but there was actually a problem with their paint.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/201 ... pdate.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/201 ... aints.html

[Stig]

It's these new formula VOC 2010-compliant paints, they are a bloomin' nuisance... they take ages to dry, go yellow very quickly and smell rather unpleasant.

I mentioned it on here a while back and have now switched, reluctantly, to waterbased paint (eggshell) for woodwork. To be fair, it seems fairly durable so far, and is forgiving when you're applying it (unless it's a warm day).

[Gwenoakes]

Have read that info, was quite interesting. Our smell is not horrid, it is just an overwhelming really strong smell of paint, that just goes on and on like Ariston!

The chap from Homebase did say that even if you wiped the walls down with a clean cloth before painting then you could get a nasty smell from bacteria, but that is not what I have, its just a strong paint smell.

[foghornleghorn2]

The chap from Homebase did say that even if you wiped the walls down with a clean cloth before painting then you could get a nasty smell from bacteria, but that is not what I have, its just a strong paint smell.

I think the chap from homebase is talking horlicks, what bacteria ?? there is no bacteria in paint. Paint is merely a pigment suspended in a fluid be it solvent or water, once applied the solvent or water evaporates leaving the pigment coating whatever substrate you have painted, solvent/oil based paints leave an odour as they dry but after a few days this should lessen and eventually fade away. Any persistant smell should be reported back to the manufacturer, homebase don't make their own paint, it will be supplied by one of the larger paint manufacturers such as Crown, AkzoNobel (Dulux), or Johnstones. i suggest you contact homebase customer services and find out who makes it and get on to them for a solution, most manufacturers have a techy helpline manned by people who really know their stuff.

Oil based paint is a nightmare at the moment, ever since the new regs came in it has been nothing but a pain in the proverbial. I will only use waterbased products now to avoid the multitude of problems that they cause.

[Gwenoakes]

The way the chap explained it was that there would be bacteria even on a new cloth and also bacteria on the walls or woodwork. Thats how I understood it anyway, although didnt agree with it, but.......

Might just get back onto HB though as the smell is still hanging, although it is at an acceptable level now. Thanks FHLH.

[Gwenoakes]

Just a little update.

I did go back to Homebase and they were not much help to be honest. OH decided to carry on using the rest of the paint . He then bought another tin and the smell wasnt bad at all. So am thinking that possibly there was a problem with that particular batch. Anyway whatever it was/caused it, it isnt happening now.....