Specialty Painting-Painting for the Chemically Sensitive

Most people are able to tolerate the smell of a freshly painted room.  However, there are some people who would greatly benefit from specialty painting designed to keep paint smells at a minimum.  Asthma sufferers, people with breathing problems and others with multiple chemical sensitivity do have options when it comes to the painting phase of a home or room remodel.  Expectant mothers and mothers of young children are also good candidates for specialty painting.

Those who have breathing difficulties should avoid oil-based paints.  Not only are the fumes from these types of paints quite strong, the solvents used to clean the brushes and rollers have strong chemical smells as well.  Fortunately, latex-based paints have come a long way in recent years and now paint manufacturers offer a wide variety of paints with lower odors.  Paint with a lower level of odor is typically labeled “low-VOC” or “low-odor”.  VOC is an acronym for volatile organic compounds.  VOCs are known to cause headaches, breathing problems, nausea, and watery eyes in some people.

Just because a paint is labeled as low-odor or low-VOC doesn’t mean it has a lower quality or less color availability than a regular latex-based paint.  Low-VOC paints are available in all the typical paint formats such as semi-gloss, gloss, eggshell and flat.  Low-VOC paints can have color added to them just as with regular latex-based paints so chemically sensitive remodelers have as much choice in paint color as anyone else.

If you would like to have a painting done in your home, but want to keep paint odors to a minimum, please contact us to discuss all your available options.