Comments on The Green Phone Booth: Advice on No-VOC Paints?

VOC Free paint is sometimes misleading. Any compan...

2009-07-31T07:29:19.832-07:00

VOC Free paint is sometimes misleading. Any company can claim VOC free in the base if it is less than 5 grams per liter BUT they can add VOC’s right back with the colorant. It is important to note how each paint is colored. Dry Colorants are VOC free while many colorant methods out there are not. It is just adding all those VOC’s (you paid to not have) right back with the VOC loaded colorants!
The FreshAire Choice at the home depot uses the dry packs. I heard good things about it, in response to Anonymous. You probably needed to mix it more

We used the Home Depot's Fresh Air product recentl...

2009-03-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

We used the Home Depot's Fresh Air product recently and were extremely disappointed with the coverage. We had to do at least two coats everywhere, so it took a long time. Also, the color comes in these little plastic bags that are supposed to dissolve, but they didn't dissolve completely so we had specs in our paint. I'd recommend trying a different brand.

Regarding Aura, the reason they said they use two ...

2009-03-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Regarding Aura, the reason they said they use two coats was to make sure they don't miss anything.

I just read what I sent you...boy was I pretty chatty, but you know me when it comes to green building products...

GreenMe - love the pics of that nursery! Beautiful...

2009-03-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

GreenMe - love the pics of that nursery! Beautiful...

DeinDC - thanks for checking your mag for me!

Jeanne - let me know what you decide.

Abbie -

So, as usual, I think there are 2 independent environmental issues at stake:

1)Proper disposal of the paint you have - clearly the best option is to use the paint up

2)Protecting your child's health - I would guess that you might want to err on the safe side by keeping your house well ventilated and moving your kids out of their rooms during the painting... but my (very limited) understanding of the dangers of VOCs are that it's the initial offgassing that's the worst. But you are the science teacher! You tell me! I think you get my drift. If it's just that initial offgas that's problematic, use the paint with no question. If there are longer term health implications, I'd freecycle the paint and buy new.

Green Bean - agreed! love the info sharing all round.

Crunchy Domestic Goddesss - tx for weighing in!

Hope you all have a great weekend - Jess

I used the Sherwin Williams low VOC paint in my da...

2009-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

I used the Sherwin Williams low VOC paint in my daughter's bedroom and was very pleased with it. :) Love the color too. :)

When we were building our house, eco-paint was sim...

2009-03-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

When we were building our house, eco-paint was simply not in the budget, since we were spending so much all at once. Here's my question: many rooms still (2 years later) need a second coat of paint. I'm planning to finish it up over my April vacation next month, but I'm wondering which is better:
1-buying new eco-paint
2-using the regular benjamin moore paint that's already paid for sitting in the garage (and therefore "free")

I'm leaning toward the free stuff in the garage that would just end up in a landfill if we don't move it (and the colors match the first coat), but I'm willing to listen to suggestions!

Thanks for the informative post! :)

What a great reference - the post and the comments...

2009-03-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

What a great reference - the post and the comments! We've got some painting in our future so I'll bookmark this.

Interesting and personally useful post! I'm getti...

2009-03-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Interesting and personally useful post! I'm getting ready to paint my little one's room. I did not realize there were so many products on the market. Thanks for laying some of them out here.

Jeanne
www.ecolabelfundraising.com

The current issue of Organic Gardening (I think th...

2009-03-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

The current issue of Organic Gardening (I think this is where I saw it!) covered no-VOC paints. I can check their rec's when I get home.

We painted my son's room with the AFM Safecoat pri...

2009-03-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

We painted my son's room with the AFM Safecoat primer (not for new drywall) mentioned and then used AFM Safecoat egg shell white zero VOC with a zero VOC custom color. One of the tricks we learned is that although many white paints can be zero VOC, many of the colors are what actually add the volatile organic compounds, so ask lots of questions when picking colors. When deciding on paints I consulted with a local store called Planetary Solutions (they have a website and might phone consult: http://www.planetearth.com/services.html) and after trying lots of different paints prefer AFM (as of two years ago). My MIL is VERY chemical sensitive and they just had their house repainted with the Benjamin Moore paints mentioned, as that is what was available to them in Ann Arbor. So far they are very pleased with the results nor did she have a reaction to the paint, although they were out of town when the house was painted.

My son's room has held up really well and the walls wipe down with out the paint coming off (a complaint of some eco paints). You can see pictures of the our AFM room here: http://tinyurl.com/co78mh

Good luck!

Thanks so much, everyone! Lots of reading to do be...

2009-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much, everyone! Lots of reading to do before I get to the spackle.

check out http://hueconsulting.blogspot.com/

2009-03-19T10:06:00.000-07:00
check out http://hueconsulting.blogspot.com/

great reviews on the same topic

I have used Aura and Mythic paint within the last ...

2009-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have used Aura and Mythic paint within the last year and loved both. Aura is just incredible for coverage, which meant a quicker job and hopefully 10+ years before I have to go thru it again!

Plus it's available at the Glover Park Benjamin Moore store, which is one of the friendliest paint stores around. I had to drive over to the 5th Street Ace Hardware to pick up the Mythic paint. They're friendly too, but I hated having to drive across town.

We use Best Breathe EZ Paint, Zero-VOC with no biocides, and they are local to us.

We used Benjamin Moore's Aura to paint our bedroom...

2009-03-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

We used Benjamin Moore's Aura to paint our bedroom in December (had some mold issues). It's a wonderful paint and you really only need one coat. The colors are beautiful and go on so smoothly. No smell, would use again and again.

We used the Sherwin Wms no voc paint in a semi glo...

2009-03-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

We used the Sherwin Wms no voc paint in a semi gloss and it was WONDERFUL! No Smell!!! and the coverage was great - makes me wonder why did they have to make paint so stinky in the 1st place....