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Anyone have any experience with low or no VOC paints?

TheCatWoman

I need to do quite a bit of decorating, and one of the rooms desperate for a make over is my bedroom. I don't want to wake up wheezy and with a headache and for all my food to taste of paint for the next week until the smell wears off.

Has any used low VOC paint, what was the coverage and finish like, what brands did you use?

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    Oh my those crown low odor paints are horrid smelling 

  • I've used low VOC paints like crown before and found that they still smelled a lot, I've been told that Johnsons paints are one of the better ones for not smelling. I've got to be honest and I do not like dulux paints, I don't find them very hardwearing. I've heard of one called Lakeland eco, it's more expensive than the Johnsons, but I thought it would be worth it for my bedroom, from what I've seen online it gives a nice soft almost chalky finish, similar to limewash, but cheaper and easier to apply

  • I paint with water based painta for my hobbies I also use things like plastic cement which has acetone in my hat advice is open windows whilst painting and for a hour or two are least afterwards they smell if not lingers will fade day by day (I learned this after panicking that I'd ruined my Louis mask prop by using model paint to make it look better as the smell was strong) 

  • in reply to B

    They are lovely. I picked one for my living room but had it duplicated by Dulux Trade paints as it doesn't cover as well as the Dulux. If I remeber correctly, it's thicker (so doesn't go as far) and with less saturation.

  • Farrow and Ball paint is costly but water based, low VOC and low odour.

    Their colours and finishes are lovely. 

  • Paints are part of my work, water based paints smell much less, the brush or roller can be cleaned in water, oil based paints ( VOC) use white spirit to clean the brush. All paints have some smell but the oil based smells a lot more,  emulsion is normally water based, it’s just the wood paint that can be either, I generally use water based as VOC gives me a headache. 

  • I think even water based - can smell for a few days.  I have a very strong sense of smell!

    I wouldn not be able to paint gloss with lots of solvents - so I've switched to Johnstone's Aqua Guard Satin which is water-based, and to help bond onto the gloss I use Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3

    That said the water based can dry realy quick - so I would wait until its much cooler - but at least very easy to clean - no smelly chems needed to clean brushes afterwards

  • I always use Dulux trade paints. The matt ones are low VOC with such a good coverage and colour that it's the favourite of professional painters. In tests, it scores much more highly than other paints in terms of colour saturation and the smell is minimal. I had the whole of my house painted in two goes last autumn, a week apart, and had no bad reactions. Even the satin woodwok paint, which will set me off, was tolerable. I can't speak for gloss paints as I avoid them because of the texture and smell.