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My girlfriend is away for the weekend, I and I want to suprise her by doing some painting and some shelfmaking.

The wall I want to paint is a in a rather small room, with a lot of old screw holes that I'm going to fix and paint over (the whole wall) before mounting the shelf.

The problem is that the room is filled with a lot of cloth and stuff, and the room does not have direct ventilation to fresh air (no window).

Will the smell of paint stick to the clothes?

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If you get a low-VOC (or specifically-labelled "low odour") paint, that will greatly reduce the paint smell. There are other benefits (and challenges) to using low-VOC paints, and lots of differences between "truly zero-VOC" and "meets the labelling requirements to say low-VOC" so you should do some research if you're interested in this route. – gregmac Sep 14 '12 at 18:28

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No - the smell of new paint fades away over time. It won't stick to clothes any longer than it emanates from the painted surface.

I hope you're using latex paint and not oil - as the smell fades away much faster.

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Well, id does not say. its thinned/cleaned by water... does that give you a clue? Its "acrylicpaint" if that says something. But im still good right? It states you can paint after 4 hours, so if i do that I can easy wash with a soft cloth later tomorrow that would help the smell? – Jason94 Sep 14 '12 at 18:05
Sounds like latex, and no, washing it won't help the smell. It will only last a day or two. Get a small fan and put it in the door to help circulate the air in the room. – The Evil Greebo Sep 14 '12 at 18:29
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@Jason94 DO NOT WASH IT TOMORROW! While latex/acrylic paints dry in a few hours, they do not fully harden for several days or even weeks. Washing too soon risks damage to the surface and may affect longevity. – bib Sep 14 '12 at 18:46
Got it! :D thanks! – Jason94 Sep 14 '12 at 18:59

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