Cold snap, paint stinks

November 22, 2014 12:09 PM

We bought some lovely new radiator covers. But they took a little longer than expected, and there was a cold snap as soon as they were delivered, so the radiators have been on and the windows have been closed...and the air stinks of hot paint. Short of leaving the windows open (and freezing) or leaving the radiator covers outside for a while, any tips for counteracting the paint smell?
posted by chimpsonfilm to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Stolen from the Google place-

Getting rid of nasty paint smells is easy.

Ordinary “old fashioned” and affordable kitchen ingredients are easily available and will help mask and reduce paint odors while you wait for the compounds to evaporate.

Vanilla extract or Peppermint oil.
Add drops of pure vanilla extract or peppermint oil to cotton balls or in small bowls of water and set them out in the room.

Coffee grounds
If you are a caffeine addict, fresh coffee grounds put out in bowl around the room will mask mild paint odors.

Charcoal
Charcoal can be used to deodorize any powerful chemical odor. Lightly crush whole pieces of wood charcoal into small pieces and leave overnight in containers placed around the room.

Light a candle
Another way to get rid of solvent fumes is to light a candle and let it burn in the room for a few hours. The open flame will burn out the flammable substances in the solvent. Candles still pose a potential fire hazard so place the candle on top of a bowl or a saucer of water to catch any dripping, hot wax and keep young children out of the room while the candle is burning.

A bucket of water
If you don’t want to risk a fire by lighting a candle to burn off the fumes, you can simply place a few buckets of water around the room to absorb the solvent vapors. It is not as efficient as a candle, but is a safer option if you’re painting a room finished with or made with wood.

Onions
Cut large onions into quarters and set them out on plates throughout the room. The residual smell of onion will disappear much quicker than the smell of paint would have.

Vinegar
Place bowls of white distilled vinegar around the room to neutralize odors.

Lemon
Place lemon slices in bowls all over the newly painted room for a day or two and throw them out later to remove any unpleasant paint smells.

Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
If the room has a carpet in it, sprinkle bicarbonate of soda liberally all over the carpet and vacuum up in the morning. This is a two in one solution as your carpet will be freshened and deodorized at the same time as your freshly painted room.

Ventilation.
Open all doors and windows for as long as possible during the day and night. Putting a fan in the room for this period will also hurry along the process of clearing up any lingering, unpleasant paint smells
posted by Freedomboy at 12:16 PM on November 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you can close off a room or part of the place for a couple hours, then crank the heat up as high as it will go with a fan on blowing out an open window, that should hurry up the smell burning off. If you can't close off where you are, then turn up all the heat and go to the library or out for coffee for a bit.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:03 PM on November 22, 2014

Best answer: VOCs need ventilation. Spend your money on heat rather than absorbers/masking agents. Crack enough windows open that your heat is running all the time (heating the covers will help the cure as well) without getting cold inside to maximize your ventilation without having the house get uncomfortable.

If you have a HRV with manual control setting it full on would be another approach.
posted by Mitheral at 6:21 PM on November 22, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks, all!
posted by chimpsonfilm at 10:05 PM on November 22, 2014