Decorating
Green is the New Black: Seven Environmentally Friendly Painting Tips for Your Home this Winter
By
Sep 17, 2005, 16:57

(ARA) - If you plan to paint your home’s interior this winter, make sure the experience is a safe one. “Many people forget or simply aren’t aware of important preparations or products when it comes to painting their homes,” says Ed Waller, founder of CertaPro Painters. “By taking extra measures to ensure the process is done correctly you can ensure an environmentally safe experience while painting.”
The best quality acrylic-latex paints these days are products that contain low- or no-volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). These new high-tech products reduce the emissions of VOCs into the home, thereby improving indoor air quality and reducing the formation of urban smog. Look for LEED certification on the label to ensure you are getting a low-VOC product. Products like Duration Home and Harmony paints from Sherwin Williams meet LEED certification and are labeled as “Green Smart”.

Here are seven environmental tips from painting expert Ed Waller of CertaPro Painters that you’ll wish you had known before:

1) When at all possible, use all the paint that you buy -- an extra coat will give more protection. Share your leftovers with a neighbor who has a small area that needs painting. Most paints can be recoated after they are dry to the touch and this is usually less than an hour or two. You can use up leftover paint quickly by simply rolling-on an extra coat.

2) Leftover paint should not be poured down the drain -- in household sinks, toilets or storm sewers. Store in tightly sealed paint cans and store upside down (helps maintain the seal).

3) If you must dispose of leftover paints, convert them to solid waste first and then dispose of them in the regular trash. To convert the paint to a solid waste, simply remove the lid and allow the water or solvents to evaporate. This should be done in an area away from children.

4) Solvent-based paints are ignitable and present additional hazards. These products should not be disposed of down storm sewers, household drains or on the ground. If you are going to leave them to dry out, do so in a well ventilated area. Solvents used for cleaning tools can be treated the same way.

5) If your project is going to take more than a day, don’t clean your tools out at the end of the day. Wrap them tightly in plastic grocery bags or similar plastic sheeting and they will last overnight and often a few days if you keep them out of the sun.

6) When you are cleaning out your latex rollers and brushes, before you rinse them under the tap, scrape out all the paint that you can with a stir stick or wall scraper or similar tool. By scraping or squeezing as much paint as possible out of your tools before washing them you will make them easier to clean and save the environment. When you are rinsing out equipment, make sure you do it in a sink or similar drain so the waste gets treated and does not go right into the ground and thus into a freshwater stream.

7) Consider using quality water-based acrylic-latex paints. Pure acrylic latex paints are increasingly used across a broad range of surfaces. They are more environmentally-friendly and contain very low levels of solvents. If you are using water-based paints over old solvent-based paints, make sure you follow the label instructions for surface preparation -- usually a good cleaning and light sanding.

Green Products To Consider

Two of Sherwin-Williams GreenSmart environmentally preferred products for "green" interior home paint to consider (from Sherwin Williams Website):

Duration Home Interior Latex -- With its low VOC (volatile organic compound) and lower odor properties, Duration Home Interior Latex is environmentally preferred. Its waterborne formula and patented cross-linking technology mean superior washability, so you can wipe away most stains easily with water or mild soap. Duration Home resists shiny burnish marks and mildew, providing the ultimate in quality and performance.

Harmony Interior Latex -- An ideal choice for environmentally preferred interior house paint. Designed with anti-microbial properties, Harmony Interior Latex offers a no-VOC, low odor and silica-free coating that allows occupancy of newly painted spaces. The waterborne formula is available as both a primer and a topcoat in egg-shell, flat and semi-gloss finishes.

CertaPro Painters operates across the United States and internationally. For information on CertaPro Painters visit: www.certapro.com. Courtesy of ARA Content

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