When I used to think of Vinegar and Baking Soda I thought of science experiments and lots of foam...
NOW when I think of Vinegar and Baking Soda... I think of cleaning and deodorizing. Also: lets not leave out the candle in the category of deodorizing...Well at least in the case of what I am about to share with you.
When it comes to the smell of oil paint, not only is it toxic, it is rather an unbearable smell. After all my researching on how to get rid of the smell I came to one solution.. TIME and air. That would be a great solution if during that TIME the place was vacant, but we had to live in it. So in the midst of time and airing the place out--- I found a solution that finally worked for us!
Oh, right, just in case you are wondering: the pretty white cabinets in the apartment were painted with very nice looking oil based paint. Yeah... O-I-L based... have you ever smelled it? It lasts well but so does the smell... (if you are ever repainting your cabinets... or anything else in your home stay away from that paint and pay a bit more for paint with lower VOC levels).
When we just moved into the apartment, we called my dad and asked for advise on what to do and he advised us to use vinegar in a spray bottle (2/3 water to 1/3 vinegar) and just mist the entire painted areas and let it dry on there... that is what I did a few times a day for about 3 days... The smell got better...
After about a month and a half of airing out and keeping the ceiling fan going the smell still lingered.. not as strong as in the beginning but it was still there...
Since I officially moved in, two weeks ago, I placed a bowl of vinegar in the kitchen... I can officially vouch that vinegar has some kind of power over oil based paint:
Now on to the Baking Soda. Also a great household product to clean with, deodorize, and bake with!
I took a package and distributed it amongst four bowls and placed them in different parts of the kitchen... to let the baking soda absorb the lingering scent of the paint... and guess what?! Partnered with the Vinegar I think it might have worked... :)
And last but not least, lets not forget the faithful candle that burns and zaps away the oil based smelling molecules in the air!
So: if you are fighting with a smell there is likely a solution. Masking it might make you sick... you need to find something that counter interacts and kills the smell.
My tested solution for oil based paint smell: Vinegar+ Baking Soda+ Candle.
*** Just a little something else****
Since I bought a gallon of vinegar I thought I might as well keep using it...so I cleaned our coffee maker with vinegar: it looks brand-spanking new again.
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