The perfect paint
With more of us turning to DIY paint jobs to beautify our spaces, it’s important to look beyond colour swatches and trends to those often-neglected health aspects. Fortunately, staying informed needn’t involve rigorous study of technical manuals. In fact, it can be as easy as getting some advice from an independent industry specialist — like Victoria-based Daniel Wurm.
Fifteen years ago Wurm, originally a painter, came home with a severe headache from the chemicals in paint. “I thought, ‘This is ridiculous,’” Wurm recalls. “I saw older painters and they had health issues. I thought, ‘I’ve got to get out of this.’” That night he Google-searched “natural paints”, beginning a journey that would lead him to become Australia’s leading educator on the use of non-toxic paints. As well as founding GreenPainters and the Green Building Institute (which trains tradies in sustainable and green practices), Wurm is the managing director of the National Painting and Decorating Institute.
Staying safe
Wurm says the main hazards to watch out for are asbestos and heavy metals (especially lead and cadmium) when removing old paint or preparing surfaces. “If you’re living in a house that was built before 1971, there’s a very good chance it’s got lead paint on
