I've never paid attention to how long I could smell it or how strong it was. The odor, IMO, is pleasant and more fragrancelike than paintlike.

I think we have been painting too long! I thought the same thing.

So far both responses both said the odor is more fragrance like than paint like. This is not the case for us. It smells distinctly like paint. It almost reminds me of oil based paint in that the smell is still there.

Funcolors: Thanks for the time with LifeMaster. How do you find the application of that paint and how does it hold up in terms of durability and washability?

That's weird. I really have never thought of Aura as smelling like any kind of paint. I think Aura has a nice fragrance to it. It smells crisp and clean and has a kind of herbal or incense aspect to it. I've often wondered just what was the inspiration behind the fragrance that BenM chose for it.

You sense a strong paint odor?, defnitely ask Ben.

LifeMaster in eggshell is without a doubt my favorite flavor of paint. The price-point is fair. Discounts, no discounts, whatever that who saga might be, couple bucks either way and it's a good value for the can of paint.

I like to get it mixed full spectrum from Ellen Kennon -- it's a fun option; off the regular beaten color path. I linked below.

LM paints like SW's Super Paint, IMO. Super easy and most people are successful with LM. If they're not, it's likely 'cuz they don't have any painting skills to begin with. I mean you can make a mess with any can of paint, but LM doesn't start you out with a handicap of any kind.

Durability and washability is SO there with LM. I have kids (who have friends) and a dog. We *live* in our house. LM has gone the distance for me. Touch ups are feasible too, not too hard to pull a decent touch up off with LM in egg.

The sheen level also has a lot to do with it too. LM egg is the perfect gloss level for my own personal tastes/tolerance. I get the slip and toughness that you get with a sheened paint, but visually it doesn't come off as shiny.

I don't do metallic, glittery, sparkley, shiny in general and I really don't want that on my walls. :~D

Here is a link that might be useful: Full Spectrum Paints

Ya know, I should have said more about color. There are some colors and instances where Aura Matte is a preferred choice despite the odor issue. Reds, for example.

Run to Lowe's and grab a couple containers of Natural Magic or Citrus Magic. It's a gel odor absorber, it's near the cleaning products aisle in my Lowes. Ace sometimes has it too. Independent paint stores on occasion. But Lowes has a lot. One tub would be enough in the room, but since it's a nursery I'd go two. Set them in the room near where air circulates (just inside doorway on floor, register, etc.). It sucks odors out of the air but doesn't leave a masking scent. (Which is why I like it, candles and perfumes, etc. are often headache triggers for me, Nat Magic doesn't bother me in the least.)

Takes about a week to get it all (I know, the paint smell could be gone in a week), but can pretty much guarantee you won't smell it if the magic tubs are in there. I use them everywhere, often after painting a rental that I want to show quickly.

Luckily we painted the room now, about 3.5 months before the little one is expected. I'm sure the smell will be completely gone by then.

An interesting note, I did not apply the paint as think as BM recommends. I painted two coats with one gallon. They recommend 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon. My room has 330 sq ft of wall space (not including windows, doors, etc.) so I should have had less than a quart left after one coat. I imagine if I would have painted heavier at BM's recommended rate the smell would probably be even stronger.

Even with my lighter than recommended paint rate, I have to say the coverage has been great. There is no way any paint I used in the past would have covered like this. Unfortunately I think I need another coat to fully cover the original dark blue, but this is my fault for not applying as thick as BM recommends. It's hard to figure out how thick you are applying until you are almost done one room unless you are painting every day!

I use Aura quite often for my customers and haven't had any of them to be concerned with a lingering smell for no more than a few days.

I really like smelling it- Stir and smell. Smells minty.

You might try adding a fan in there and possibly opening a window to pull some of the odor out.

As far as the tints used in the aura ' they should have used the gennex tints for their X bases.

This Old House recommended at one time to drop a tsp vanilla extract down in your paint and stir really good. Claims it helps with the smells.

john_ertw,

you could have gotten the two finish coats with your gallon and as you were saying that cut it down to the wire with the paint. Using at least a 3/8ths nap or 1/2 and fully saturated (but not to the point of dripping) and trying to maintain this spread rate one can get two good runs before reloading. Assuming you have smooth walls and don't know the height of ceiling.
Congrats on your new upcoming little bundle of joy.

Just to clarify, we have done a lot of painting over the last few years. We went through over 20 gallons of when we first moved in a few years ago and we have painted a couple other rooms since, so we do know that paint smells and it goes away. If BM's marketing didn't say anything about low odor, I would not have posted this (unless the smell didn't go away after a few more days). Also as I mentioned a friend who recently used Aura said the smell the paint disappeared almost as soon as it dried which really got me wondering why it still smells 6 days after painting a room in my house.

decorativewalls: I used a 3/8ths nap roller (it was used from when I did the kitchen, but cleaned well and in good condition - is this practice acceptable?) I loaded the roller (to almost dripping) and did about 2 roller widths at a time (based on reading I did here). The ceilings are 8 feet high and it is smooth drywall.

I was tempted to use a 1/2 nap, but was afraid I would not get as nice of a finish.

john, sounds like you were right on and yes if your sleeve was in the condition you mentioned- should be fine.

One thing just thought of ( just a thought mind you) think about these things: what side of the house does the room lay towards-; meaning does it get any direct sunlight during the day and was exposed to some heat. Are any of the walls on the outside - . Does the room or when you did it - have sufficient air flow or say air blowing or pulling from an outside window with the direction the room lays. Just some thoughts. Hopefully the smell has completely vanished by now.

Just an update... I called BM customer service this morning who said they cannot do anything over the phone and suggested I talk to my dealer. I stopped by the dealer who was surprised at what I described and said she never heard of anything like it with Aura.... her experience is that it is very low smell and the odor vanishes quickly. She took my number and said she will have the BM regional rep (I think that was the title) contact me to figure out what happened.

As for the room, it is on the west side of the house with a 4' x 3.5' window. We have been trying to keep the windows open during the day when we are at work and there is no rain in the forecast. We would close the door to the room when we got home in the evening to get rid of the smell because my wife is pregnant. At this point I think I'll leave the door closed so that the BM rep can witness the smell for themself. I do have a little paint left, but maybe only 1/8 gallon if that. I'm starting to wonder if there was a bad batch of paint or tint and I was unfortunate enough to get it.

I'll keep this thread posted with the results although I do not expect to hear from the BM rep until Monday.

As a side note I asked about the possibility of the dealer accidentally using the wrong tint and BM customer service told me that the old tint would not mix with the Aura base and would be very noticeable... he made it sound like trying to mix oil and water.

Try not to worry, not that you are, but something to think about is no/lo odor doesn't necessarily have anything to do with no/lo VOC. No/lo odor and no/lo VOC are labled as such because they are two different areas of interest/concern.

You also might want to start thinking about what's under the Aura so you can tell the rep. First place he may go is, maybe it's not the paint per se that's causing the smell.

Maybe what Aura was applied *to* or *over* is the cause of the smell -- a result of the existing substrate reacting to Aura. Could it be possible that the smell would have resulted, the substrate would have reacted, no matter what kind of paint was applied.

The more details and info you can think thru and have at the ready, the better off you'll be.

Great idea funcolors... the room was previously painted by the previous homeowners using one of those glazes to give the effect of showing the brush strokes... I'll let them know about this. I think it was a BM product as well, but unfortunately I disposed all of the old paint cans that the previous owner left behind.

The first place they always go is "don't blame the paint". Always. Expect it. It's not anything sinister or crooked, it's just how they've been brainwashed and it affects ability of fundamental and basic reasoning.

Automatically believeing and assuming that the problem can never be due to the can of paint is no more correct than assuming that the problem indeed will be due to the can of paint -- neither point of view is balanced or reasonable.

No doubt you will have to force considerations of both outside AND inside of the can. When you're in the situation of having a *paint problem* you have to be prepared to look at the situation with intelligent, balanced reason. In most cases, you're the one who's gonna have to bring that perspective to the table. Do not expect it to walk in your door or be on the other end of the phone; it might, but don't count on it.

Hope you can get it figured out and rectified.

Quick update: BM rep came by my house a few days ago and took a look. Said smell normally disappears sooner, but wasn't too concerned. He would have been concerned if there was a rotton egg smell as this means mold or bacteria is in the paint (it must have happened before for them to check for this). He said this is only the 2nd case of someone complaining about Aura's odor lasting too long. He said the other people used Mr. Clean to prep the walls so he was interested to hear how I preped them.

In the end he said nothing stands out as improper preparation. He suggested I keep more windows open while I'm painting (I had all the hallway and other bedroom windows open but keep them closed in the room I was painting to try to minimize the amount of dust in the air. I opened them after painting). Anyway he offered me a complementry can of Aura which I will use for another coat in the next few days. I'll update the thread again to see if the odor experience is different.

So that's how you get free cans of Aura....

Thanks!

Did this ever go away? We're having the same issue with Natura.

Please follow up if you see this again- we are having the same issue with Aura. 3 months later the room still needs to be vented forcefully. Nightmare! ruth@casawilliams.com

I came across this page and though I would follow up. I used the new can of Aura to put an additional coat and the smell went away. I don't remember if I put one or two coats as it was 5 years ago, but I'm thinking I put one coat. I think I got a bad can even though ben moore didn't admit it.

We just painted a bedroom with Aura in January 2016. It is now the end of April & I have been going crazy for 4 months trying to figure out what the smell is in that room! It's a dirty, stale smell. I vacuumed my furnace vents, checked my carpets, looked under all the furniture, washed all the linens & then I came across this & other posts about bad paint smells. I will be going to Benjamin Moore tomorrow morning to discuss. I was so mad today when I realized, I didn't dare go over.

Help!!!!!! Started painting house. The painters finished the first coat on one room yesterday using Aura Satin. Woke up this morning and the paint smell is very bad, we have headaches and can't breath?. These are professional painters we have used off and on for 20 years. They taped some seams and some finishing followed with sanding and a coat of 123 Fri and everything was ok. They are due back tomorrow don't know how to get rid of the order and what other paint to use instead except for Farrow and Ball. And BM paints use to be good.

.