Wet paint odor

[Pandamonium]

A wall in my closet (about 2.5'x10') was repainted about a week ago. I've been letting it dry out by leaving my windows open and running my a/c in fan mode. It must have finished drying in the 6 or 7 days/nights since the painting, but if I close my closet door for a few hours and then open it for a whiff, I smell wet paint fumes. It's a pretty thin layer of paint- I can still see the drywall in some places. What could be causing this, and what can I do to make it go away?

 

[Mr Pickles]

Originally posted by: Pandamonium
A wall in my closet (about 2.5'x10') was repainted about a week ago. I've been letting it dry out by leaving my windows open and running my a/c in fan mode. It must have finished drying in the 6 or 7 days/nights since the painting, but if I close my closet door for a few hours and then open it for a whiff, I smell wet paint fumes. It's a pretty thin layer of paint- I can still see the drywall in some places. What could be causing this, and what can I do to make it go away?

I think the paint smell is coming from the paint, or at least that's what I've found to be the case in my experience with paint. Paint still smells like paint after its dry. Being that its in a cold dark place i'm guessing it still smells like paint because its paint.

 

[jagec]

How warm is it in your house? How humid? It can take paint quite a while to fully dry. If it really bugs you, you can try running a space heater with a fan into the closet and pointing it at the wall for a few hours.

 

[Pandamonium]

The past two days have been ~65F. Last week it was probably closer to 75F. Humidity was 80+% for the first few days it was drying, down to 40% today. I might try the space fan thing if it gets much colder- I just don't want to dig up my vornado heater fan thing.

 

[Tylanner]

Is it an Oil based paint? They tend to stank more than Latex.

Stay away from Oil!

 

[Pandamonium]

Damn. I have no way of telling. Surely this will go away soon though, right?

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Pandamonium
Damn. I have no way of telling. Surely this will go away soon though, right?

wtf was written on the can you used. it's not a hard question.

 

[eplebnista]

Most interior paints are latex, unless it is a room that is susceptible to excessive moisture, then oil is recommended. Latex is a lot cheaper than oil too, so odds are it is latex. I like the smell of wet paint myself, along with tar, gasoline, and liquid paper.

 

[Modelworks]

My apartment smelled like wet paint for about 2 months after I moved into it.
I found just keeping the windows open several hours a day helped, but didn't completely remove the smell.

 

[richardycc]

what brand is it? cheap brand will stink more.

 

[newmachineoverlord]

Spider plants are good for indoor air quality. Put some in the closet and leave a light on for them. Water as needed.

http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm