Air Purifying Paints… Paint Washing

I recently had an interaction with a customer who wasn’t feeling well, and suspected it was her home that was making her sick. We recommended that they have their home tested for VOCs, and the results were shocking! Where were all of these strange VOCs coming from? Why are there so many? We were having our typical follow-up to go over the findings with our customer, who couldn't believe the number, or the levels of VOCs in her home. We asked about the paint she had used, and she told us she had used a Sherwin-Williams air purifying paint that was designed to eliminate VOCs in her house. We were surprised, because it didn’t make sense that the VOCs were coming from anywhere other than the paint. The only thing that could make the problems our customer was experiencing was the paint. Not only did it appear it was not making her air better, it was actually making it worse!

Trying to get the ingredients out of Sherwin-Williams is like trying to get Colonel Sanders to give you his fried chicken recipe. It is also nearly impossible to get the scientific way that paint is supposed to clean the air in your home. The best theory is that Titanium Dioxide (which is what everyone uses to make their paint white) actually does eliminate VOCs from the air when energized with ultraviolet light (sunlight). Either through a marketing trick, or some creative chemistry, certain companies have come up with paints that will eliminate the VOCs in your air. That is great, but the problem is that it creates a bunch of new VOCs, formaldehyde, and nanoparticles (which could be what our customer was experiencing).

These air purifying paints do help to eliminate VOCs, but they also creates new ones! That’s the issue.

The bottom line is, it’s best to purchase paint from companies that you know don’t use hazardous air pollutants.

We recommend AFM Safecoat paints, and work to eliminate the other VOC producing sources from my house. You can buy all AFM Safecoat products from DesignWell Studios! Just give us a call to place your order! 503.386.2003!

I found this article online once Michelle and I had come up with our theory on our customer’s house. It lines up with our theories, and does a fairly good job breaking down what is going on. Read it! You will enjoy it.