I need an odorless paint for interior walls?

Question

I am getting ready to attempt a first time do-it-myself interior paint job in my apartment. Any help or advice would be much appreciated! I am trying to figure out if there is an odorless paint on the market I can purchase for this project due to my children being in the home when I am painting. If there is such paint, where do I find it? Once I find it what kind should I get? Glossy, Matte, Satin... is price the only difference or is quality an issue? What type of paint is it that you notice pealing off like dead skin, that kind I surely don't want to use? Will any brand of paint be okay to use (purchased at a discount store like Big Lots)? I am not looking for perfection or a million dollar appearance, just want to get rid of the pastel green walls. Thanks for your time and help!

I also need to know about how many cans of paint I would be looking at having to purchase? I estimate the rooms and halls to be painted at approx. 900 square feet total.

Answer 1

Latex/acrylic or other water based paints are easiest. You just use water to clean brushes, spills, and yourself when done.

Glossy/satin/matt are shininess of finish, not related to quality. The same paint can come in any of the three. In general it is easier to scrub glossy clean but the newer matt ones are about as easy to clean.

That peeling came from bad surface preparation - like not getting grease off the walls before painting.

Most of the off price stores buy the same brands of paint as the fancy places. In fact they usually get them when a fancy place goes belly-up and clears out their paints. Some of it they get when a chain store changes to a new brand and the store insists that the new supplier buy back all the old stuff to clear their shelves - the new supplier sells it cheap to the off price stores.

There are also custom premixed paints at Lowe's and Sears where they mix a color for a customer and the customer says no that is not exactly right. Sears sells those in their clearance section of paint dept for $2.74 per gallon. If you want the color they have that is fancy paint cheap.

Low-odor paints are available from brands like Behr's at Home Depot. It is marked clearly on the cans.

Answer 2

Hi, all paint will have a bit of an odor, but general paint has one called enviro guard which is pretty good, and not as expensive as benjamine moore etc. I prefer an eggshell finish, it can be washed and won't show all the imperfections in the drywall like a higher gloss will. If you want it really scrubbable, especially for cupboards etc. go with a semi gloss, never use a highgloss because it will show up any bumps and dents that you didn't even know were there. Even semi gloss makes it much more noticeable than eggshell. Eggshell really is the sheen and texture of an egg, so you know what it will be like. Interior paint rarely flakes or peels if the walls are free from anything greasy, unless there is moisture coming in, for example under a window. In that case, you would need to stop the window from leaking, as any paint will bubble, peel, etc. I wouldn't go with the cheapest paint, but it isn't necessary to go with the most expensive either. Good luck, hope this helped! p.s. For 900 sq. feet, you will probably need about 5 gallons.

Answer 3

Odorless Paint

Answer 4

I painted 3 rooms recently and I bought a brand called Kilz which I purchased at Wal-Mart for about $14 per gallon.
It's odorless, you can clean up with water and it covers in one coat. On the paint can (it actually comes in a plastic container that's easy to pour from), it says you can scrub marks off the walls after using Kilz but I haven't done that yet because I don't have any marks.
Choosing glossy, matte or satin is a matter of personal taste.
I like the look of a matte finish on interior walls.
Paint will peel if you put water based paint on top of oil based paint which is usually glossy.

I hope this helps!

Answer 5

No paint is odorless. Oil paints stink. Latex is usually ok.
If you have shiny paint now, sand it a little, or the paint will flake off.
CLEAN the walls well before you paint!!!
Matte is easy to repaint, but gets dirty easily.
Gloss is easy to clean, but impossible to touch up without leaving marks.
Semi-gloss is usually a good compromise.
Be sure to cover everything with old blankets or plastic.
If paint dries too quickly add just a little bit of water.
Always mix paint well before using.
Expensive paint is much better.
If you are poor, try to get the landlord to pay for the paint if you do the work.

Answer 6

If the walls are dark to begin with, use a primer, to first coat with. This will save on the actual paint. Now going with gloss, semi, or flat, that's up to you. But as all have stated, paints have an Oder. little known but works, add vanilla extract to the paint, wont discolor, but will neutralize the Oder, and give a smell you can work with.

Answer 7

Check this site out. Thinking of getting some myself. Haven't painted for years due to the fumes. This paint is rather new to the market and it is hot selling.

Answer 8

Latex paint is about as odor free as you are going to get.
Don't buy the cheapest, but don't get the most expensive either. (something in the middle)
And I would go with matte or satin.

Answer 9

No paint is truly odorless (that would be like saying you are odorless when you come out of a shower.......the dog can still smell you).
The so-called odorless paint is Latex. Some brands smell like over ripe peaches(while wet). Some smell chalky(if chalk has an odor). Some brands even less odor. Pop off the lid in the store and take a sniff. That will be the odor until it dries out.
In any case non of them are offensive or strong.

Glossy, Matte, Satin, Flat are not kinds of paint .....this term is the resulting finish of the paint
GLOSS is shiny....like a brand new car. Shows up every imperfection(and believe me the walls have alot of imperfections on them, and when you turn on a light it is like you were in a "house of mirrors". It is the hardest of the finishes - can take the most washing/scrubbing........is used on doors, door casings, countertops. Fingerprints are not shown on the wall as easily(in order for a fingerprint to show the surface has to be rough enough to microscrub your skin to get the dirt off and hold it. Gloss is slick so the dirt on your fingers stay on your fingers.

FLAT is the opposite of gloss. No shine, no polish....it is dull. Imperfections do not stand out.......but flat paint can take the dirt off the finger and hold it(to show a dirty smudge)
It does not take alot of washing so is not used on bathroom or kitchen walls (that are continually wiped down). Suitable for bedrooms, living room and hallway walls.

Then there is shines in between. Be they, semi gloss, lo-sheen, satin, egg-shell, velvet. You will see those names...what are they
EGGSHELL is.....go to the fridge and take an egg out and look at it in the sunlight. Notice that it has a soft shine and somewhat flat as it reflects the light back to your eye. Less shiny than Semigloss but more shiny than flat.
VELVET is like the cloth velvet. Again, less shiny than Semigloss but more shiny than flat.
SATIN is like satin cloth. less shiny than Semigloss but more shiny than flat.
MATTE (is the French word for FLAT) as far as I am concerned so no comment.

The more shine you have in it the better it is for washing. With little kids, a satin should do you fine.

Quality is what you pay for. Being an apartment you don't want to spend alot. because you do have kids.

The paint that peels off.....even the most expensive paint will peel off if it is put on wrong. Period. Preparation matters the most.
I liken this to putting on make-up.
Whilst I do not know all the stuff the ladies do, I am pretty sure they start by washing the surface clean to get off the dirt, dust and oils. Correct? So too, with the walls. Wipe down the walls with a dampish rag....taking off skotch tape, masking tape, peeling paint and anything else that is not "wall".
The bathroom and kitchen get specialized wiping for there is more on the walls than just dust(soap scum in the bathroom) (cooking oils) in the kitchen. Both require a chemical cleaner called T.S.P. Nothing else.
> Even household cleaners leave a cleaner oil behind.<
It is a granules in a small package. One package will do several houses. Get it at Wal Mart or a paint store or a hardware store.(maybe a grocery store) Follow the directions on the package for mixing.
It does not give off an odor.
Once you have wiped the walls with TSP the next step is to make sure they are smooth.(time now to fill in the dents and holes and gouges with spackle. Let that dry 24 hr if it is a knuckle sized hole or dent. Then you would sand it smooth with a block with 100 grit or so sandpaper.
If you are in the bathroom or kitchen, chances are the walls are painted in semigloss. Now that you have washed off the grease (with the TSP) the walls are clean - so you won't be spreading grease around in an effort to sand it. You have a dry grease free wall to sand. Use the sandpaper and go over the surface 3x's(to scratch it) or more. This gives the paint a mechanical adhesion - the ability to "hook" into the scratch grooves created by the sandpaper. The paint on the wall did not fall off, so obviously it is stuck good, so the new paint will stick to the old one if it can"hook in".
You could go over the walls again with another clean moist cloth to take off the sandpaper dust from this last scratching (but it is not really necessary as most of it would have fallen to the floor in micro amounts)
The prep is about finished. You might want to take off the light switch cover and the outlet cover before you paint so you don't have to cut around it. You might want to cover over things you don't want to get sprayed with paint droplets.
Hope for the best - be ready for the worst
Having a clean dropsheet is much better than having a spill on the stereo or carpet which did not get ANY protection.

Thsi entire prep can take a few days. It is not something you need to do over 1 day. Getting the walls washed down with TSP is the biggest task overlooked.
I had a neighbor who painted her kitchen one day. I came over that evening and was sitting at the kitchen table and she asked "Well, how do you like my paint job done this morning?"
I touched the walls. They were still sticky. >10 hrs later< Drying time on the label says 2 hours. The next day, the walls were still as sticky.
Did they wash down the walls? A damp rag. What was the problem. They do lots of deep fry and other on the stove. All that oil vapor was on the wall. Oil and water does not mix. That applied to washing, that applied to the latex paint. It stuck up there but the oil on the wall slowed up the drying process. The paint finally did get harder.( a week) I would not want to be the one who puts on the NEXT coat. It will shrivel up and peel. The wall will have to be scraped of all paint.