It’s always fun to redecorate and put a splash of new paint here and there. The creative side of you can’t wait to see the end result, but along the way those wafting paint smells that seem to stay in the house for days or weeks can start to make you feel a bit sickly.
This sickly feeling is quite often noticeable when the doors and windows are shut for the night. For this reason it is important to remove the paint smells from indoors as quick as you can.
If you have followed safety precautions while painting by wearing a paint mask, and keeping doors and windows open that open out to the outdoors while you paint, and have kept the door to the room you are painting in shut off from the rest of the house, this will limit some of the odor from accumulating to other rooms indoors.
The method below is good for those that are sensitive to chemicals or that suffer with multiple chemical sensitivity.
Once you have Finished Painting
for the Day…
You guessed it, the amazing onion comes to the rescue. This is also a great way to use up those onions that have begun to sprout.
(1) Cut a medium to large sized raw onion into 4 quarters – (If it’s a large room you have been painting, use 2 raw onions. You don’t need to peel the onion, but it is more effective if you do remove the outer skin).
(2) Place the raw onion pieces on a small plate or saucer inside the room you have painted.
(3) Close all the doors and windows in this room.
(4) Leave the onion in the room over night.
(5) Remove and throw the onion away in the morning.
By the morning the paint smell or most of it should have gone, and you will notice the onion has dried out a lot and has a sickly pong to it. This is a sign the acid in the onion has absorbed the odor.
If there is still some paint odor left in the morning, open the windows for the day and do the above onion method again later in the day.
Article written by Wen Dee
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