Green Painting Tips

Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips newsletter and each week we publish the green tips from the week prior. Sign up today for our free Weekly Green Tips.

When you paint, you are supposed to open all your windows to avoid the fumes, right? Ever really thought about why you do that? Also, if you live in a home that is older than 31 years, you may have some lurking lead based paint. Eeek! Here are some green tips for painting in your home to avoid lead and other scary things in your paint.

• Check for lead, if your home is more than 31 years old. It was not until 1978 that lead was banned from paint, so if you live in an older home, you should probably go to your local hardware store and buy a lead testing kit…they are inexpensive and worth it.

• Avoid the VOC! Only allow a MAX of 50g per liter. Most paints have VOCs, but more and more paint manufacturers are reducing the amount of VOCs in their paint due to public concern.  VOCs cause indoor pollution that can take years to stop, causing potential affects such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and eye irritation along with long term affects such as damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system – YIKES!

• Buy environmentally-friendly paint. These paints have little to no VOC and are made with materials such as chalk, talcum, natural latex, clay, mineral dyes, milk casein, beeswax, plant oils, and resins. Plus now you can find these types of paint everywhere because even the popular manufacturers are selling healthier paint.

• Buy paint with higher pigment to medium ratio. This is also known as the coloring to liquid ratio, the higher this ratio the more color per covering in your paint. This leads to fewer coats of paint for your walls saving you time and money.

• Don’t buy too much. I am guilty of this but it is important to use this rule to figure out how much you really need – 1 gallon per 400 square feet.

• Reuse your brushes. If you plan to paint again soon, you do not need to wash your brushes. Instead wrap them in airtight plastic and they will stay fresh for when you need to paint again. If you don’t plan to use them for a while or you want to change the paint color, wash them as soon as you are finished to prevent dry paint sticking to your brushes.

• Avoid your trash can. When you are done with your paint and you are ready to throw it out, find your local hazardous waste drop off and bring your leftover paint there. Paint should never be thrown in with your garbage – very harmful for the environment.

If you enjoyed this post consider subscribing to our feed, following us on twitter, and also signing up for our Weekly Green Tips email newsletter.

Related posts:

1. Green Tips for Your Shower Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
2. Green Driving Tips Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
3. Green Tips to Green Your Superbowl/Any Time Party Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
4. Green Oven Tips Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...
5. Green Tips from GreenerTrends WGT Readers Every Week we send out a Free Weekly Green Tips...