'Off' Paint

[Maggie]

Help!  Does anybody know how to treat the smell of 'off' paint please???  It's in the toilet of a friend's maison secondaire ... the toilet was painted last year, but when they arrived this year it smelt quite strongly of cat!  The smell just refuses to go ... does anybody know of any magic treatment please??

[Alcazar]

Sounds like your "off" paint has ALREADY been treated..........by a cat!

Cats will spray urine at anything with a strong smell, and I guess paint comes into that "cat"agory, (sorry).

Tried washing it repeatedly with plenty of soapy water?

Alcazar

[chirpy]

it could be the toilet system itself needing treatment especially if not used often

[TheVicar]

Agreeably, the paint last year could be a red herring. We bought an old

town house last year and very often in the morning there is an

unpleasant odour, which in our case I believe is causesd by the crazy

French plumbing which runs underneath the house. The smell itself

possibly comes from a build up of silt in the outside drain which is

then carried through underneath the house, emanating it's smell from

the plug-holes as it passes through. Could be something similar?

[Maggie]

Thanks to you all for your suggestions, but unfortunately it's definitely not a cat - there is no way that one could have got in.  Also our friends say that shortly after they finished painting the loo they noticed the smell ... they have cats (in the UK) and said that it smells as though one got in there!  They're sure that it's not the drains ... and having smelt 'the smell' too we would agree.  Evidently another friend of theirs said that he had something similar after he'd used some very old paint ...

[Cassis]

I am a bit sceptical of the paint being to blame - sounds like a coincidence that it started about the same time.  I have never heard of paint going 'off' in this way, once the solvent has evaporated I've never experienced a paint with a lingering smell.  If you are still convinced that it is the paint, though, I would suggest repainting (I am assuming it's the walls) with a vinyl based paint - that will seal the old layer.  If nothing else it will eliminate the paint as the source of the problem.

Phil

[Cassis]

One thought - if there is a damp problem, it often smells like a dead animal is in the room due to microscopic fungi.  Is that what a cat smells like (obviously, Jude and I are not cat owners!)?

Phil

[ali-cat]

If your friends do have to re-paint - try adding a couple of drops of essential oil to the paint.  Something like lavender or sandlewood will help mask any underlying smells.

It works for us - & we have 3 cats (who don't smell like dead animals!! [:@] )

[le val charente]

Hello

Apparently spraying with diluted white wine vinegar will remove the smell and deter cats in the future - may be worth a try?

[Cassis]

Do you mean white wine vinegar removes the smell of cat spray?

[Maggie]

Thanks for all your suggestions ... I'll pass them on.  I suspect that re-painting will be the first option as the loo doesn't seem to be damp at all - I've never heard about putting essential oils in the paint before, what a wonderful idea!

Thanks everybody for your help - I'll try and let you know how it goes