Painting a new home or baby’s nursery can be a very exciting activity but as you can imagine, it is not good for your body. The toxic smell emitted from most paints is the least of your problems if you spend too much time around paint.
VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, are gasses that are emitted from certain solids and liquids that have long-term health consequences. Most paints are extremely high in VOCs – which last much longer than that classic paint smell – and should be avoided. (I always cringe at the thought of lathering toxic paint in a baby’s room, where it will be inhaled by a delicate body during the first weeks of life.)
As we selected paint for our new home last month, I did extensive research and found that a handful of paints are available that are not only free of VOCs, but also actively remove and absorb harmful VOCs from other household products such as carpets and furniture!! Wow!
We selected Sherwin Williams Super Paint, which is available as a plain white paint base and is then mixed with the exact color you choose – and you can pick from ANY color they carry! So basically the only difference is that the base doesn’t have harmful chemicals.
It Gets Better…
When the painters were working with the Super Paint, they repeatedly remarked that it was one of the nicest paints they had ever used. It went on very smoothly and had very little smell at all. We ended up painting our entire house and I can now rest easy, knowing that it is not only safe for our family, but it makes the rest of our home even cleaner!!
On a final note, we were able to get a contractor’s discount from Sherwin Williams through the painters!
