Eco-friendly paints gaining in popularity

Posted on Apr 18, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Healthy Living, Products, Susie Collins

The non-toxic arm of the household paint world is booming, and many companies have entered the market.

safecoatYour Home reports nontoxic paints are gaining in popularity.

This story was sent to me by several people! I’m excited myself because it means it will much easier for me to find NO VOC paint for my next renovation project! Woohoo!

Spring often brings the urge to clean, perhaps to liven up a room with a fresh coat of paint. Now that can be done with eco-friendly paints that don’t give off noxious odours.

The non-toxic arm of the household paint world is booming, and many companies have entered the market.

AFM’s Safecoat brand is the granddaddy of the non-toxic paint business, having been in the market for 25 years. Boutique brands, including Mythic and YOLO Colorhouse, have cropped up in recent years, and industry giants tout their own non-toxic, latex brands.

Sherwin Williams has its Harmony line, while Home Depot sells Freshaire Choice. Benjamin Moore already sells its low-toxic Aura but is rolling out a new, zero-VOC interior paint called Natura that it says will be available in all of its nearly 3,000 colours.

“Everyone is trying to paint a green face on themselves,” said David Johnston, 58, of Boulder, Colo., a building consultant who wrote Green from the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy and Energy-Efficient Home Construction (Taunton, 2008).

“That ‘new house smell,’ as much as we’ve come to love it, is really a flag that there’s something in the air that we don’t want our kids to breathe,” said Johnston.

Please go read the whole story at Your Home.

Thanks, Linda, Bonita and others!

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5 Responses to “Eco-friendly paints gaining in popularity”

  1. mike

    21. Apr, 2009

    It’s about time the mainstream paint industry begin to change their ways. However, I will still stick to the innovators who truly dedicated themselves to a cleaner environment and healthier homes from the getgo; Bioshield, MilkPaint, AFM, etc…

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  2. Susie Collins

    21. Apr, 2009

    Mike, I hear you! I’ve always used Benjamin Moore without problems, but the next painting project, I’m using AFM Safecoat paints. We just bought some AFM grout sealer and caulking for our new tub/shower.

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  3. Leslie

    23. Apr, 2009

    I personally love the milk paint the most- it has the most non toxic quality – and then AFM safecoat is a close second. Toxic paint really should not be allowed to be sold, when no VOC paint can be made and is so much safer for any person, not just children.
    I totally would not buy the big company’s safe paints though, unless they revealed ALL ingredients in them – that’s why the old orginal no VOC companies are trustworthy- they actually tell you how they made it!

    Reply to this comment

  4. Susie Collins

    24. Apr, 2009

    Leslie, I’ve sent lots of people to your post about painting your new room. http://oko-organic-clothing.blogspot.com/2009/04/milk-paint-town-red.html

    Reply to this comment

  5. Adam

    31. Jul, 2009

    VOC Free paint is sometimes misleading. Any company can claim VOC free in the base if it is less than 5 grams per liter BUT they can add VOC’s right back with the colorant. It is important to note how each paint is colored. Dry Colorants are VOC free while many colorant methods out there are not. It is just adding all those VOC’s (you paid to not have) right back with the VOC loaded colorants!

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