Painting skirting, doors and door frames

[bruntdog8]

I'm in the process of decorating the whole house and am currently painting the skirting, doors and door frames.

I have sanded down the surfaces with sandpaper and removed all old bits of flaky paint and plaster. After doing so I have applied a coat of brilliant white gloss paint which looks good but the smell is just unbearable and in fact gives my wife chronic headaches.

What alternatives could I use which don't give off such a strong smell but still give a glossy shine finish? Also, with the paint being an oil based one, will the paint eventually turn yellow and if so how long does that take for that to happen?

 

[karlo]

Builders merchants have a better range of paints than your average DIY store and the new ones are now low odour and stay white longer. I use Leyland Trade High Gloss from Selco which is 2010 VOC compliant. (low odour) and the finish is excellent.

 

[misterhelpful]

What alternatives could I use which don't give off such a strong smell but still give a glossy shine finish? Also, with the paint being an oil based one, will the paint eventually turn yellow and if so how long does that take for that to happen?

Unfortunately, since those 2010 VOC changes to oil based paints (white), it is not a case of 'eventually' but 'rapidly'! Most are starting to yellow within a couple of months whereas previously they would take a couple of years.
Some brands are better than others, eg, Crown Solo, Dulux with a blue lid, but still don't have the longevity of their previous versions.

The water based glosses are the way to go if you want guaranteed whiteness but don't give quite the same shine. Johnstone's would be my preferred water based/acrylic glosses but others have their choices.

You could use something like this which does reduce the smell of oil based paints somewhat without altering it's consistency and appearance but does nothing to stop yellowing. (Not very good for non drip glosses though.) The headache causing fumes will still be present though, even if their smell is masked.
http://www.paintsrus.co.uk/paints/a...nice-solvent-aroma-good-pleasant/prod_76.html