Audrey
It seems like the world is changing. People are becoming more aware and vigilant about the chemicals and toxins they are exposed to. People want to be fitter and healthier, eat organic foods, and live longer, happier lives for themselves and their families. Who doesn’t?
Most people don’t give a second thought to what type of paint they’ll be coating their homes with and how it might affect young children, yet a regular and recently pregnant client of ours living on the Gold Coast recently asked, “Is it safe to begin painting with me living in the house?”
As professional interior house painters on the Gold Coast in the famous Queensland state, we know a thing or two about painting homes and the risks involved. When it comes to chemicals in paint, the truth can be unsettling. But here’s the good news: awareness is empowering. Understanding the risks and the types of paint on the market today allows you to make more informed choices.
Water-Based VS Oil-Based Paints
Perhaps the most important place to start is with the types of paints. Paints generally fall into 2 categories, water-based and oil-based, both containing the same general composition that consists of:
- Pigments
- Solvents
- Resins
All paints contain a solvent. The solvent is what makes up the bulk of any paint. Think of solvent as the base liquid in which everything else is suspended. Oil-based paint is usually made up of mineral turpentine, but water-based paints are just that, water. And if you’ve ever been exposed to an insanely smelly freshly painted surface and felt a strong urge to find some fresh air, you’ve probably been exposed to an oil-based paint. What you’re being overcome with is the organic solvents being expelled into the air. What’s interesting is the solvents in oil-based paints are typically made up of organic plant-based materials. Nonetheless, they are incredibly irritating to our lungs and eyes and contain higher amounts of VOCs compared to water-based alternatives.
VOC Fumes Are Harmful To Children
VOCs can cause respiratory issues like coughing, wheezing, and worsened asthma, as well as headaches, and dizziness, and make you feel nauseated, even for adults working in the space. We’ve done it for long enough to know we hate using the stuff ourselves.
Prolonged exposure may also impact brain development, concentration, and behavior, with some VOCs linked to long-term health risks like liver damage or even cancer. Most high-VOC paint products are regulated to ensure that a good portion of the fumes have left the space within a couple of hours. However, these tests are done in lab conditions in a perfectly ventilated room.
This cannot be guaranteed in your home own home, not to mention an interior repaint may take up to a week. Who’s to say how long these nasty chemicals can linger around? We’re in the trade ourselves, but can we truly trust what big companies say about their products? In our opinion, if you can smell it then you’re inhaling something you shouldn’t be.
Why Would Anybody Choose Oil-Based Paints Anyway?
Well, the good news is over the last two decades, oil-based paints have been on the decline and water-based paints have become the clear popular choice.
But previously people opted for oil paints due to their great ability to keep a “wet edge”, traditional painting involves cutting and rolling, and this can sometimes leave crossover lines where the final roll overlaps the brush cut that was done around the wall perimeter. Oil-based paints do not dry as quickly.
Another excellent property of oil-based paint is its self-leveling nature, this makes its finish nice and smooth once applied to tight and smaller areas where you can’t use a roller such as door frames and skirting. Once applied with a brush, those tiny brush stroke marks self-level as it dries, leaving a silky smooth appearance.
Sticking With Water-Based Paints
All of those properties sound excellent for repainting a home interior. However, water-based paints have improved vastly in recent years. Whilst not quite as good at self-leveling as oil, they are amazing to work with and almost just as good, take for example water-based ceiling flats which are designed to show no roll marks once applied.
Secondly, for us professional painters, keeping a wet edge isn’t always needed due to careful cutting without leaving any thick edges meaning no lines are left over. In fact, the faster drying times of water-based paint work wonders for us, it means we can get a home done twice as fast. We can repaint walls within 45 minutes as opposed to waiting 24 hours.
Conclusion
In our opinion, it’s not safe for small children to be around while oil-based painting is taking place due to the lingering fumes. A full interior repaint is going to last many days with fumes continuously being created. In our opinion, there is no good reason to be using since water-based are super close in terms of finish but we do believe in nuance.
So if it is going to be used, keep it to just skirtings and door frames/doors and ensure every single window is left open. Lastly, keep children and pregnant women out of the area for 24 hours while the bulk of the fumes dissipate.
