How Do You Get Rid of Paint Smell? A Plant-Based Fix for Freshly Painted Rooms and New Furniture

Mert Eren · Last updated: September 14, 2026

A common scene: the living room gets painted, the household tries to stay in the home that same week, and by the second night the smell is disrupting sleep. The hope that "it will be gone in a day" rarely holds. With water-based paint the smell usually drops noticeably around the fourth day. The part that has soaked into the curtains can last up to two weeks, and most of the time the curtains need separate attention.

Something similar happens with a new wardrobe. The chipboard smell that comes out of the box is not from the outer surface of the furniture but from the space inside, behind closed doors. That is what paint smell and new furniture smell have in common: the source is not the surface you can see, it is the inside of the material.

Why Does Fresh Paint Smell Linger for Days?

The job is not over when the paint is dry. The solvents and additives in the paint keep escaping into the air for some time after the film has formed. These substances are called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and they are what produce the smell.

Three things set the rate of release: the type of paint, the room temperature and the air exchange. With water-based interior wall paint (emulsion or silicone), the smell drops noticeably within three to seven days. Oil-based paint, varnish and solvent-based primer take weeks to do the same, which is why surfaces painted with oil-based paint, such as doors, trim and radiators, are the ones that smell the longest.

A cold room slows things down. With the heating off, less is released and the smell is spread over a longer period. Keeping the heat where you normally have it and airing the room often works faster than cooling the room and waiting.

What Is Spoiled Paint Smell, and How Is It Different From Normal Paint Smell?

Sometimes the smell does not come from paint as such but from a can that has sat too long and gone off. Bacteria can grow in water-based paint that has been left open for a long time or has frozen and thawed, and when the can is opened it gives off a heavy, sour smell a bit like rotten eggs. Once that paint is on the wall, the smell does not go away as it dries, and it comes back whenever humidity rises.

A practical way to tell them apart: normal paint smell is sharp and chemical, and it fades a little every day. Spoiled paint smell is sour and does not fade; on a rainy day it gets stronger. In the second case the job is not odor removal but redoing the surface. The wall has to be primed and repainted with sound paint. It is more honest to say this up front: no spray will give a lasting result on that wall.

Where Does New Furniture Smell Come From?

Chipboard, MDF and plywood panels are pressed together with glue. The compounds in the glue continue to be released into the air for a while after the panel is cut, and uncoated areas such as the edges under the banding and the back panel release the most. If the piece is an enclosed cabinet or drawer, the smell builds up inside and comes out all at once every time you open it.

So leaving a new wardrobe to sit with its doors shut does not help. The opposite is needed: leave the doors and drawers open, air the room, and keep clothes out for the first few days. Fabric absorbs the chipboard smell, and then you carry that smell around on you.

What Helps Paint Smell Clear Faster?

1. Open windows on opposite sides. A single window stirs the air without replacing it. With two sides open, the air in the room is renewed within minutes.
2. Do not turn the heat down. In a warm room the release speeds up and the smell is over sooner. A cold room hides the smell; it does not get rid of it.
3. Leave wardrobes and drawers open. Smell that has built up in an enclosed space stays inside even while the room is being aired.
4. Take fabrics out of the room. Curtains, bedspreads, sofa covers: any fabric left inside while the painting is finishing absorbs the smell. If you cannot take them out, cover them with plastic sheeting.
5. Treat where the smell clings, not the drying surface. Once the paint film is dry, apply ODORGO Spray to curtains, sofas and rugs from a distance of 25-30 cm, just enough to dampen them lightly.
6. Put a gel inside the wardrobe. Leave the jar open on a flat part of the shelf. If the jar lies on its side, the thin layer of liquid on top seeps out over the rim.

Onion, Coffee, Baking Soda: Do They Work on Paint Smell?

The three most recommended home remedies do not work equally well. Chopped onion in a bowl swaps the paint smell for onion smell, and you end up with both. Coffee grounds are porous, so they pull some odor out of the air, but they do not have enough surface area to handle a room. Baking soda takes up part of the smell in the fabric when it is sprinkled on a rug and vacuumed off, not when it sits in a bowl. Lighting a candle just adds one smell to another.

The difference between masking and eliminating, and what each of these terms means, is explained term by term on the Odor Glossary page (in Turkish).

Where Does ODORGO Come In With Paint and Furniture Smell?

A distinction is needed here, to avoid setting the wrong expectation. What lowers the amount of volatile organic compounds in the room is air exchange, and no product takes its place. What ODORGO does is remove the odor left in fabrics and on surfaces, both while that airing is going on and after it is done.

It is a formula built on plant-derived essential oils (pine needle, anise, clove, cedarwood and lime). It does not cover the smell with another smell; it binds to the odor molecule. The plant-based odor elimination technology, which draws on research carried out at Delaware State University, has shown odor elimination effectiveness of up to 98%. The formula is water-based and free from fragrance, phthalates, parabens, dyes, sulfates and alcohol.

The suggested order: once the painting is finished and the surfaces are dry, spray the curtains while they are hanging, treat the sofa and the rug, and leave a gel inside the wardrobe. Where the smell has soaked deep into the curtains, one application may not be enough; apply once more the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does paint smell last?

With water-based interior wall paint, the smell drops noticeably within three to seven days. With oil-based paint, varnish and solvent-based primer it can take two to four weeks. How often the room is aired and how warm it is are the two main factors that shorten this period.

How do you get the smell of spoiled paint out of a wall?

You don't. That sour smell, a bit like rotten eggs, comes from the spoiled paint itself and does not fade as the wall dries; it returns whenever humidity rises. The wall has to be primed and repainted, and an odor eliminator is not a lasting fix here.

How do you get rid of new furniture smell?

Leave the doors and drawers open, keep clothes out of it for the first few days, and air the room regularly. For the smell that builds up in the enclosed space, leave a gel on a shelf, and spray the fabrics that go into the wardrobe.

Can paint smell harm a baby or a pregnant woman?

This is a health question, not an odor question, and the answer varies from person to person. If there is a pregnancy, a baby in the home or a respiratory condition, ask your physician before using the painted room. The general advice is to stay out of that room during painting and for the first days afterwards, and to keep the ventilation going.

Can I keep the windows closed and just use an odor eliminator?

No. An odor eliminator targets the smell left in fabrics and on surfaces; ventilation is what renews the air in the room. One does not replace the other. You use one, then the other.

Paint smell has soaked into the curtains. Will it come out without washing?

In most cases, yes. Spray the curtain while it is hanging, from 25-30 cm away, and leave the window open; it does not stain. If paint has splashed onto it, that is a separate job and the stain has to be cleaned first.

A Home That Looks New Without Smelling New

The most annoying part of a paint job is not being able to use the home once the work is done. The order is this: air the room, keep the heat up, open the wardrobe, deal with the fabrics separately. With water-based paint the room is usually back to normal around the fourth day. What lasts longest is generally the smell in the curtains, and they may need a second application.

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Author: Mert Eren. He writes about home renovation, damp and indoor odors, and writes practical odor removal guides for the ODORGO blog.

You may also want to read: How to get rid of burnt smell · How to get rid of fish smell (in Turkish) · Odor Glossary (in Turkish)