How to eliminate health hazards while home-painting

A fresh coat of paint is an easy way to spruce up your home, exterior or office space. But especially when home-painting indoors, you should follow various measures and painting safety precautions to protect yourself and your family. With increasing DIY culture it is important people are aware of safe painting measures for a fun filled and safe experience.

Step 1: Use Water-based Paint Products with Low VOCs

Use water-based primers and paints which have either no VoCs or have low volatile organic compounds (VoC) for safely painting your home or office space. Most high-quality interior paint products available in the market now-a-days have reduced the amount of VOCs used. Compared to traditional paints, modern products release fewer fumes. Low VOC primers and paints are applied the same way as conventional products and cost about the same too. Another advantage of using the low VoC products is that they can be cleaned easily without the use of strong solvents and disposed of easily.

Step 2: Be Safe Around Electrical Outlets

Ensure to practice painting safety when painting or working near electrical outlets; cover all exposed outlets with the painter’s tape. Many-a-times to protect the outlet, one needs to remove the outlet cover, hence leaving the terminal exposed. If you need to remove the outlet or simply cover the switch to paint, turn off the power to the room before you start. If you need professional painters in mumbai, pune or hyderabad, FreshHomez would be happy to help

Step 1: Keep Paint Products Safely

Many of the solvent-based interior paints, thinners, varnishes and paint fumes are harmful to inhale, also they can also be flammable. While they are durable, it is advisable to avoid them in home-painting context. You should always make sure to keep the area well ventilated by opening the windows and doors. Use an exhaust fan to remove fumes from your workspace. Make sure to never paint or use any type of solvents/ other painting products near open flame or furnaces or water heaters. And please keep in mind never to smoke while painting. Some types of polishes, lacquers and enamel paints (solvent or oil-based) are usually flammable, the water-based acrylic and latex emulsions are usually not flammable.

Step 4: Test for Lead (must for home-painting)

Another major health risk comes from lead-based painting products. These carry significant risk have caused multiple cases of lead poisoning in children. Most modern paints, primers, polishes and varnishes are lead free, but checking a product from a not-so-well-known brand for lead is a smart thing to do. If your home was built before 1978, then you should test painted surfaces like door-knobs or window frames with a lead testing kit.

Step 5: Clean Up and Dispose of Paint Properly

Many people don’t know that leftover latex and other water-based emulsions have to dry completely before you can throw the leftovers. Improper disposal can lead to land and water pollution. The empty paint containers should also be dried before discarding them, so keep the containers open in a well-ventilated space till the container is fully dry. If there is less than a quarter of the can left, then you can let the paint dry by leaving it in a well-ventilated area until it happens, stirring it once every few days. When leaving paint out to dry, then be sure to keep it in an area that is away from children, open flames, and pets. Clean brushes and rollers with the help of non-toxic, citrus-based turpentine or cleaners – an environmentally friendly solvent made from the resin of coniferous trees.