Spray painting is one of the most commonly used methods of painting within a home, due to its ease of application and ability to be applied onto an array of surfaces and items found throughout the home. However, although spray paint may be an easy type of paint to use, the chemicals that are contained within this paint will quickly spread throughout the air of a home or other indoor space and lead to compromised indoor air quality, which can translate to potential health risks to occupants. Therefore, if your home has been exposed to spray paint fumes, it may be necessary to integrate solutions into your home to help in the mitigation process of the spray paint chemicals and fumes present in the air space.
In this article we are going to learn more about how to remove spray paint fumes inside of a home, the risks of spray-painting items in your indoor space, and which solutions work the best to get rid of spray paint smell in the air.
What is Spray Painting
When it comes to paint, there are a variety of different kinds of paint that can be used in indoor spaces, such as oil paint, gloss paint, semi-gloss, matte, etc. These paints can all be applied in different methods like rolling on the paint, brushing it onto the surface, or even through spray paint. Spray painting is a painting technique that uses a device that will spray a coating of the paint through the air onto a surface. These pressurized containers that hold the paint and dispense them will use a valve to release a mixture of paint and a propellant, through the use of pressurized gas or compressed air. This process will result in a fine, even mist that is easily applied on to a wide variety of surfaces in your home.
This do-it-yourself paint application has risen in popularity over the years, as more and more people are turning to spray paint to reinvent certain items or surfaces in the home. It easy to find spray paint in a variety of paint types including enamels, stains, flats, and glossies that can all be applied to wood, metal, glass, plastic and masonry in your indoor environment.
What Does Spray Paint Smell Like
Do you smell a heavy scent of chemical mixtures after you spray paint an item in your home? If so, then this will be the result of this emission of the spray paint within your indoor space, or even if you spray paint something outside of your home the smell can still emit from the item and into the air of your home. The smell that is behind spray paint will be the result of the strong chemical composition of this type of paint that will become emitted and off-gassed into air which will cause this spray paint smell or fumes. It will not come as any surprise that paint can have a host of different chemicals, some of which can be dangerous when emitted into the air and when occupants or workers are exposed to these chemicals.
If you have experienced the smell of paint in your home previously, then you are aware of the strength that this paint odor can have on the air in this environment. Paint smell will vary per household, depending on type of paint used and the amount that is emitted into the air of this indoor space.
Chemicals in Spray Paint
As we discussed previously, spray paint is composed of potentially dangerous chemicals that can compromise the indoor air quality of the space, as well as the health of those occupants that are heavily exposed to these airborne chemicals in the air released from spray paint. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), many standard professional-grade spray paints contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs enter into an indoor space usually as a liquid or solid that will turn into a gaseous state as the chemicals acclimate to room temperature, and these chemicals can contribute to potential short-and long-term adverse health effects. When it comes to VOCs found in a home, two household products that can emit these types of chemicals include paint and aerosol sprays which can both be present in spray paint.
In addition to VOCs found in spray paint, there can also be other chemical compounds present in paint – depending on the brand and the type of spray paint used in the home. According to How Stuff Works, spray paint can also contain chemicals such as gas propellant such as chlorofluorocarbons. Additionally, the spray paint industry has also turned to hydrocarbons – organic compounds that are made up of hydrogen and carbons.
Is Spray Paint Toxic After It Dries?
After spray paint has been applied to certain items in your home like furniture, decorative items, or other miscellaneous items present in this space, there can be a strong chemical smell that will fill the space long after the spray-painted item has dried. When you apply spray paint to an item, the curing or drying time of this specific paint can occur very, very quickly. It has been estimated that epoxy or polyurethane paint is the fastest drying spray paint on the market, that will dry in about five minutes. This extremely fast dry time will allow the chemicals contained within this paint to emit after the paint has dried, and this emission is known as chemical off-gassing.
Chemical off-gassing is the process of the solid or liquid chemical compounds in paint turning into a gaseous compound that will slowly release into the air and compromise the indoor air quality in the home, and even will lead to exposure hazards in occupants in the indoor environment. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when an individual is exposed to or handling highly volatile paints, these paint chemicals will effects a person’s face, eyes, head, hands, and other exposed parts of the human body – especially when the fumes of spray paint are inhaled into the human body
How Long Does Spray Paint Fumes Last
How long do paint fumes last? The length of time that spray paint fumes can last in the air of your home is an important factor, especially when it comes to the indoor air quality within this indoor space. When it comes to the length of time that paint fumes last in a home, there can be many different components that will prolong these fumes such as how much spray paint was applied in the home, the amount of space in a home, and the airflow and ventilation within this space that will allow for fumes produced from spray paint to be flushed out of the air. These spray paint fumes, as we discussed previously, is produced from the VOCs and other chemical compounds that are present in spray paint and thus when the VOCs start to turn into a gas it will lead to the slow emission of these chemicals in the air, which are called fumes.
When it comes to the length of time of spray paint fumes, a surface dry of spray paint will usually be accomplished within 10 to 30 minutes after application, whereas a hard dry can take anywhere from 8 to 24 hours following the spraying. These spray paint fumes can be removed quicker with various methods or solutions that can be integrated into the indoor air space, such as fans, ventilation, and/or air purification devices that can be placed within the home.
How to Get Rid of Spray Paint Smell Fast
You finished spray painting, but the smell is still trapped within the inside of your home’s air. Many people will use specific methods for eliminating paint odor such as onions, lemon water mix, air freshener, baking soda, and even candles, have been used in a home to eradicate the strong chemical-filled spray paint aroma. What can you do to completely eliminate and breakdown the paint odors in the air of your home, and will these methods actually work safely and quickly in the environment to give your home a fresh smell, minus the paint smell?
The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is a revolutionary air purification device that has become popular for the use of paint odor elimination in this indoor environment. EnviroKlenz’s air quality products such as the air purifier contain the proprietary EnviroKlenz earth mineral technology that is imbedded into an air cartridge to capture, contain, and neutralize noxious and toxic chemicals and odors from the air – such as VOCs like formaldehyde, toluene, etc. This portable air purifier also contains a second stage of filtration that uses a hospital-grade HEPA filter that can trap and collect air pollutants on the dense surface media of the HEPA. This HEPA filter is able to collect particulate matter that is larger than 0.3 microns in size at a 99.99 percent efficiency. When you place this strategically designed air purifier for VOC, noxious odor, and particulate removal in your home that is dealing with high levels of spray paint fumes the air purifier can effectively work to capture and neutralize these chemical fumes and do so quickly and effectively.
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