Two safety tips for people with young children who are having their homes repainted
The chemicals that professional painters use when carrying out interior painting projects can be quite hazardous. If you have young children who will be in the house whilst your property is being repainted, it's important to take steps to ensure that they do not become ill as a result of being around the painting products. Here are two such steps.
Keep paint products out of reach
If a young child comes across a rag soaked in solvents or an open tin of paint, there is a very good chance that they will pick it up and in doing so, get some of the solvents or paint on their skin.
This could cause skin irritation, or even lead to them developing contact dermatitis.
Furthermore, if they then eat some food with their unwashed hands, they could end up accidentally ingesting some of these chemicals. This could make them extremely ill, to the point where they may have to be hospitalised.
As such, it is important to do what you can to minimise the chances of your child coming into contact with these products. The best way to do this is to simply keep them away from the areas that the painters are working in. However, if the entire property is being repainted, this might not be possible.
In this case, it is important to tell your painters to keep the paint, solvents and rags they are using on some tall shelving or countertops that your child will not be able to easily reach.
When the painters are finished for the day, you should take any tins and solvents they have left behind and put them into a lockable storage cabinet, to prevent your children from accessing them overnight.
Ventilate the property
If your home is not properly ventilated whilst its interior walls are being painted, the fumes emitted by the paint could make both you and your children quite ill.
Excessive inhalation of paint fumes can, for example, cause nausea, dizziness, headaches and respiratory problems (this could be particularly problematic if any of your children suffer from asthma).
If the weather is good, it may be best to allow your children to simply play out in the garden whilst the painters carry out their work.
If your children need to stay indoors whilst the house is being painted, it is extremely important to keep the property well-ventilated.
All of the windows and doors in the rooms which are being painted should be left open for the duration of the painting process, even if it is quite cold outside. Allowing plenty of clean air to circulate throughout your home will help to dilute the fumes and thus minimise the chances of your children inhaling too much of them.
Additionally, extractor fans should be placed on the window sills next to the open windows; these will help to draw fumes out of the rooms.
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