Painting is a great way of remodeling and sprucing up your home. However, many people overlook the safety aspect when painting leading to accidents and avoidable problems. Therefore, you should adhere to safety guidelines during your next painting projects. Below are some important tips to get you started.
1. Wear Protective Gears
Before you embark on DIY painting project ensure that you have personal protective equipment (PPE). Cleaners, strippers, fumes, and solvent paint can irritate your eyes and skin. Also, ensure you have gloves and goggles. Long-sleeved shirt will also go a long way in ensuring that your arms are free from splashes. Dust mask helps to avoid breathing harmful substance when sanding. Wearing a hat is also a great idea.
2. Adequate Ventilation
If you are using solvent-based paint, one the important things you should consider is proper ventilation. Paint fumes can lead to headaches, nausea, and dizziness. A poorly ventilated room will only exacerbate the problem. To prevent these potential dangers, open the window and doors of the room you plan to paint. This allows air circulation and protects you from inhaling hazardous fumes. If the room has a fan, ensure it is on. More importantly get a respirator. You do not necessarily have to spend fortune to get an expensive unit. A simple mask from a local store will do the trick.
3. Use Anti Slip Floor Paint and Coating
Anti slip floor paint is a floor coating system that makes slippery areas rough. Slipping and falling is a major cause of accidents at home and workplaces. If a particular surface is causing too many slips, you should coat it using anti-slip floor paint. The slipping problem is common in staircases, halls, and bathrooms. Slipping can cause serious injuries which require high treatment costs. Also, employees will not be able to work for some time which can affect the workflow. Anti slip floor paint provides more grip which can significantly reduce accidents caused by tripping. Antiskid coatings are common in residential buildings, public places, and working environment.
The advantage of using anti-slip paint is that it dries quickly at room temperature. The paint is also resistant to UV radiations, acid, and water. But that is not all, anti slip floor paint comes in a wide variety of color shades. The antiskid coating is easy and quick to apply using a roller. The best thing is that you can apply the paint in concrete and metal walls. What’s more is that it requires zero maintenance. The paint can be applied in car parking areas, industrial, and commercial places.
4. Use Low VOCs Paint in You Home
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are substances that produces strong smell in the paint. Paint releases VOCs in your living room during application and many years after painting. VOCs cause skin irritation, breathing problem, fatigue, headaches, and throat irritation. Severe health problems include epistasis, emesis, and dizziness.
The good news is that there are a lot of eco friendly paints in markets that have little or no VOCs. Ecofriendly paint is designed to reduce organic chemical levels in paint. One example of best low voc paint paint is milk paint which is manufactured using little lime and casein. Since they contain low VOC, eco-friendly paints are very safe to use at home.
5. Ensure Your Ladder is Safe
Using a ladder that does not meet safety standards is very dangerous. It may cause injuries and worse, broken bones. Ensure your ladder is sturdy and in good shape when painting topmost parts of house. A ladder that is falling apart will send you sprawling to the floor. This is the last thing you would want to happen to you.
6. Clean up and Allow Time to Dry
After finishing your painting work, clean up the place carefully and responsibly. Dispose of any debris and pieces of cloth that have soaked in chemical solutions. You should never leave hazardous material after painting job.
Give your room enough time to dry up. Remember, paint takes several days to dry up properly. This means you should keep pets and children away from the room.
Painting can be a fun and fulfilling job. These tips will ensure you are safe when painting while making the whole process a breeze.
