Like Watching (Zero-VOC) Paint Dry
On top of all the green renovations we are doing, and energy-saving devices and practices we’re adopting, I’m looking into zero-VOC paints for the decorating jobs we need…. primarily touching up the hallway door that got scratched to hell this week when we bought a new sofa and tried to squeeze the old one into another room. (Note: Don’t buy giant couches that don’t come apart when you have a quirker older house with dogleg shaped rooms and non-standard doorways!)
By the end of 2010, Canadian law will regulate the VOC content in paint, with an end to improving indoor air quality and respiratory health, as well as reducing damage to the ozone.
VOC = Volatile Organic Compounds – solvents that get released into the air as paint dries. Exposure to high amounts can pose health hazards.
Paint manufacturers such as Benjamin Moore features zero VOC paint in the whole range of colours. (Used to be, only pale colours could be fully zero VOC).
Here are some more stuff I’ve learned about zero VOC paint:
- You have to be careful when some paint makers claims to be VOC-free. In pure white, it is – but adding a colour (or rather, the guys at the paint store do) can add unhealthy VOCs. And the deeper the colour, the more VOCs.
- Some coloured paints that are zero-VOC are using dry pigment, which doesn’t always disperse well in the wet paint, so colour isn’t as good.
- Zero VOC paint nowdays has the same application ease, “hide” ability and durability as regular paint. It’s virtually odourless, dries fast and is washable.
Now, to find out what kind of price difference there is between regular paint and zero VOC paint. Obviously, indoor air quality and our respiratory health is important – as is not putting more chemical pollutants in the environment. But alas, sometimes the cost of new technologies can be prohibitive, making it a bit harder to “do the right thing.”
I know, this is a relatively dull subject; you could say it’s like (gasp) watching paint dry!
But this is interesting: I just learned (thanks, ecochick.ca) about a Toronto manufacturer of zero VOC paints – both the latex variety and milk (!) variety. Is this stuff organic enough?! Our dog would probably end up licking the walls if we used their all-natural milk paint, soy gel paint and hemp oil varnish!