Portland Painting Contractor Secrets: When Can You Safely Sleep in a Luxuriously Freshly Painted Room?
Color swatches, Pinterest home design boards, and new 2024 paint trends. Repainting your bedroom can be exciting — until you have to consider the logistics.
When will you start? How long will it take? Do you have a lot of furniture to move? If so, where will you put it all?
These questions seem big until you realize: if you’re painting your bedroom, where will you sleep? Let’s address some questions you may have about when you can sleep in a freshly painted room and which factors you need to remember before you get those paint brushes out.
How Long After Painting Can I Sleep in the Room?
This answer depends on several factors:
- Type of paint
- Temperature of the room
- Humidity levels
- Ventilation
Making knowledgeable decisions when executing a DIY paint project ensures that your finished product is stunning and your home is safe. Working with a painting contractor in Portland, like Color Pro Painting, can decrease the risks of paint fume exposure.
What Are VOCs?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases emitted from certain liquids or solids at room temperature. These gases can sometimes be harmful chemicals that may have short- or long-term health effects.
Many industrial and commercial products, such as paints and varnishes, emit VOCs if they contain compounds like:
- Toluene
- Xylene
- Acetone
- Formaldehyde
- Benzene
- Methylene chloride
Do VOCs Affect How Long You Need To Wait Before Sleeping in a Freshly Painted Room?
Since exposure to VOCs can have short-term or long-term health effects, you might want to wait a bit before sleeping in a freshly painted room to reduce risks. Ideally, limit your use of products that generate high amounts of VOCs and handle paint safely and properly.
While low-VOC and no-VOC products generate little to no VOCs, evidence shows that these paints still contain a small amount. Low-VOC paint has less than 50 grams of VOCs per liter, while zero-VOC paint has 5 grams or less per liter. If you mix color into the paint, it may also add more chemicals that contain VOCs.
Choosing the Right Paint: Advice from a Painting Contractor in Portland
Hybrid Latex:
A well-ventilated room with hybrid latex paint may be ready to sleep in after 12 hours. Hybrid latex paint is a water-based alkyd resin paint that performs like oil-based paint without the solvents or odor. It has a slight odor but contains fewer VOCs, making it a safe choice for your home.
Oil-Based Paint:
Oil-based paints are solvent-based, take longer to dry, and emit higher levels of VOCs. Wait up to 24 hours before sleeping in a room painted with oil-based paint. Ensure the room is well-ventilated with fans blowing towards open windows.
Zero VOC Paint:
You can immediately sleep in a room painted with zero VOC paint once it dries. Zero VOC paint is often used in areas with odor sensitivity, such as children’s rooms or hospitals. It has a slight odor but is much less noticeable and slightly more expensive.
Common Questions About Sleeping in a Freshly Painted Room
What Are the Side Effects of Harmful Paint Fumes?
Exposure to paint fumes and VOCs can cause short-term health effects like eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Long-term exposure can increase health risks like cancer and damage to the nervous system, liver, and kidneys.
Is It OK To Sleep in a Freshly Painted Room?
It depends on the paint used and the occupants. Children, older individuals, pregnant people, and those with respiratory conditions may be more at risk. Most clients of Color Pro Painting, a top painting contractor in Portland, do not mind sleeping in a freshly painted room if the fumes are not a safety hazard.
Is It OK To Sleep in a Freshly Painted Room if I’m Pregnant?
No significant evidence suggests water-based, low/zero VOC house paint negatively affects pregnancy. If using low- or zero-VOC paint, you should be fine sleeping in a painted room after it dries. However, avoid freshly painted rooms until at least week 13 of pregnancy to reduce potential risks.
Is It OK To Sleep in a Freshly Painted Room if I Have Allergies?
Environmental irritants like paint fumes can trigger conditions like asthma or allergies. Since latex paints are made with synthetic rubber products, they generally do not affect people with natural latex allergies.
Is It OK for Small Children To Sleep in a Freshly Painted Room?
Generally, low- and zero-VOC paints are safe for your child to sleep in once the paint has dried. However, you may want to wait a few days for the fumes to dissipate to prevent any irritation.
How Do You Ventilate a Room While Painting?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) suggests these tips for ventilation:
Carefully read and follow all instructions and precautions on the paint’s safety label.
Open all doors and windows to the outside.
Use a fan on the far side of the room pointing at an open window/door or a box fan in a window blowing out.
Continue to ventilate the painted room until there is no longer any paint odor.
How Long To Ventilate After Painting
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends ventilating a room for at least two to three days or until there is no longer any paint odor.
Color Pro Painting: Top-Ranked Painting Contractor in Portland
We are the painters you can trust for high-quality painting projects that are mindful of your safety, schedule, and property.
Color Pro Painting has served the Portland community, offering award-winning services for commercial and residential properties, including:
Interior painting
Exterior painting
Pressure washing
Cabinet painting and refinishing
Exterior stains and finishes
Color-matching and sampling
Let Color Pro Painting address your concerns with paint safety and your home. Schedule a consultation with us today, and experience why we are the leading painting contractor in Portland.
