Art | Resources
Chemical Smell New Paint
Question from Rick
We hired a painter to redo our master bedroom with BM low VOC paint and after 5 weeks it still smells. We’ve tried a number of things to clear it, but nothing works. I recently read that heating the room to 85-90 as a Bakeout for a couple days might remove the smell. Is that a real way to get rid of the smell? We cannot move back into our bedroom and winter is coming, so airing it out everyday is no longer an option.
Lisa’s Answer
Will Outside Deck Offgas Into Home?
Question from Linda
I live in San Francisco and am putting in about 50, 3″ x 10″ x 24 feet beams to cantilever a deck under our house. Its treated with ACQ-A and I’m wondering if the pesticides will off gas into our home, through the floorboards.
They will reach under our living room floor (between a basement room and the upstairs living room about 18 feet. The deck will stick outside about six feet.
Lisa’s Answer
Bite Guards
Question from Kathleen
Any recommendations or warnings about OTC and custom-made (by dentist) bite guards? I know to avoid phthalates (hence methyl acrylate), formalhehyde, and BPA. No one seems to even report BPB. And I’m guessing there’s a bunch of other yucky chemicals in these things.
The dentist-made guard looks like a combination of silicone or soft plastic on the inside and hard plastic on the outside. My dentist practices biologic dentistry, but doesn’t know what’s in the bite guards she makes. Said she’d try to get that info for me. Meanwhile, she gave me a sample. Holding it in my mouth for a couple hours gave me me an odd taste in my mouth; not sure what else it’s doing. Ugh….
Lisa’s Answer
Plastic Bins and Hairbrush
Question from Stacy
1) Does PET plastic containers offgas? I have the plastic in my car and can get hot.
2) What do you think of the Wetbrush materials? It says nylon66 (which is fine) but what about the epoxy tips?
Lisa’s Answer
Washing Clothing in Unfiltered Water
Question from James
My house uses city water i cant afford the pure effect whole home filter at the moment but i was wondering is their another way i can wash my clothes safely without worrying about any vocs,chemcicals getting in my clothes especially the organic cotton ones.Also is this something i should be concerned about or am i overreacting?
Lisa’s Answer
Plastics Used to Make Telephones
In the process of researching this, I came across this article:
Sink Repair
Question from Jade
My young daughter accidentally cracked my bathroom porcelain sink. It’s a very small crack so I would like to repair it over having it replaced but the products I’m finding are all very toxic. I suffer from Environmental Sensitivity Illness so a non-toxic product is necessary. Do you know of any porcelain sink repair kits that are non-toxic?
Lisa’s Answer
Vinyl Flooring
Question from Liberty
Looking for your opinion for safety on the LifeProof Vinyl Plank Flooring, which claims to be both phthalate-free and formaldehyde-free, and Cali LVP flooring, which is supposed to be no voc odor free vinyl flooring.
Lisa’s Answer
Insulation
Question from Maggie
Typically we have used fiberglass insulation. Son is building a Tiny house and researching a good insulation I’m finding very mixed information…alot of it depending on what they are trying to sell. although hard at time to differentiate the information at hand. I was going with the cotton batting until I read that cotton is the most heavily sprayed product. So how that translates into insulation I am not sure. Any ideas?
Lisa’s Answer
Teflon EcoElite
Question from Tricia
Hi – thanks so much for this service. I’ve been searching for eco/health friendly outdoor gear and recently came across Teflon EcoElite as a new waterproof coating. Have you heard about this or know anything about it? Seems to have won some eco/innovation awards, but who knows what that really means …
Lisa’s Answer