# Earthy Smell from Every Wall that once had wallpaper



## Fenwayhhh (Mar 22, 2017)

I wanted to add pics...one is a closeup of a wall that has been stripped...glue still on but it is bare without paint and has the earthy smell. One is a far away shot of stripped and the other shows one wall stripped with paper on other. To be honest the paper smells a bit too.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

I've heard that a shellac based primer is used to seal in odors such as cigarette smoke. Might want to try using something like in this link...


https://www.kilz.com/primer/kilz-restoration


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## Fenwayhhh (Mar 22, 2017)

Dave Sal said:


> I've heard that a shellac based primer is used to seal in odors such as cigarette smoke. Might want to try using something like in this link...
> 
> 
> https://www.kilz.com/primer/kilz-restoration


Thanks Dave - We used this on one room and thought we were set. It came back!


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

If you apply a good solid coat of pigmented shellac - the odor won't come thru the primer. It might be coming from areas that didn't get sealed - maybe electrical outlets ??


When smoke damage isn't completely sealed the odor will come back during periods of high humidity - could that apply?


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## Fenwayhhh (Mar 22, 2017)

Hi All, anyone else see this...I'm wondering if it is related to paper being on there?


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

What specifically did you use on the walls in the room?


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## Fenwayhhh (Mar 22, 2017)

Hi, I used water to remove with some soap. Then painted with gardz, bin primer and paint.

However, in room where I just ripped off paper. It has same smell as just a bare wall that used to have paper.


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## ClarenceBauer (Mar 4, 2005)

If it is a clay odor than it could very well be the drywall mud that you smell.
Joint Compound is made up with Attapulgite Clay or Kaolin Clay if it is very moist you could get an odor. Could your wall be Plaster?


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Complete coverage with BIN normally seals any odor into the surface. Have you tried using the paint somewhere else to see if it brings the odor?


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## Fenwayhhh (Mar 22, 2017)

ClarenceBauer said:


> If it is a clay odor than it could very well be the drywall mud that you smell.
> Joint Compound is made up with Attapulgite Clay or Kaolin Clay if it is very moist you could get an odor. Could your wall be Plaster?


as a matter of fact it does...right through the paint. How would I get rid of this? I put two coats of BIN on it and it seemed to change odor but still smelt. Now that walls are painted is there any way to fix other than a rip down?


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

If you have a solid coat of BIN on the drywall the odor won't come thru the BIN, it can come thru areas that weren't coated. If the odor is stronger next to electrical outlets that would indicate the odor is behind the drywall or at least on the backside of it.


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

I remember the original KILZ that covered everything well. Then, the earth-friendly version came along and proved to be waste of money as stains would simply bleed through.

I tend to think the BIN being used may have the same environmentally-happy traits of not working as well are real shellac or the original heavy pigment product. I don't use BIN so I'm just guessing that the formulation may have changed over the years - as did KILZ (and you can still find the original KILZ on the shelf - I alway double check to make sure I grab the correct can!).


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I'm not an expert, but have lived in moldy houses lately. I also owned a townhouse that was built on a cutaway hill on the wet side of Oahu. You could walk thru an inner door & touch the earth. The similarity between the three is a pervasive earthy smell that I now realize was mold/mildew.

Have you checked the humidity in the house? Is it cinderblock? Could you have a leak or two?

One house had 3 continuous pipe & shower leaks, one was a low-lying property with cinder-block & pipe leaks & one had a damp earthen wall. Another apt had a cracked foundation that flooded from clogged, unmaintained storm drain grates. 3 out of 4 were in California.

The drywall was so damp in one, I could scrape it with short nails. Same with paint on painted wood.

Just a thought.


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## Diy321 (Nov 16, 2020)

Hi,
I am having this exact same problem. House was built around 1979, we removed wallpaper from the walls of a bedroom and repainted and have had this lingering smell for the past couple months. Would love to hear if you have found a solution!
Thank you!


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Wallpaper is notorious for allowing mold to grow in behind it. When removed, you would hardly notice the mold/mildew, but after a thorough look, small, almost undetectable black spots can be seen. A lot of old pastes were wheat based which certainly gave mold plenty to feed on. @Diy321, what type of prep did you do to the walls after you took the paper off? Hopefully, removed all the old adhesive? Scrubbed any stubborn adhesive areas? Used a bleach/water mix to clean and kill off any mold spores? Concrobium is actually better at killing off mold. If you didn't prep well, applying water-based paint can actually reactivate the mold and produce the smell you are experiencing. Either that or you have a leak somewhere that is causing a moisture issue. Might not even be a leak, could be condensation behind an uninsulated wall, etc.


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## Diy321 (Nov 16, 2020)

Thank you so much for your reply, I am so happy I found this forum. Unfortunately, this was my very first project involving wallpaper stripping/painting and I fear I may not have done a great job of removing residue after the wallpaper removal.
Is there anything I can do at this point?
I also set up an air purifier and I don't know if this means much, but the purifier indicates that the air is clean?

thank you again!


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## Diy321 (Nov 16, 2020)

Thanks so much for the reply!! If that is the case, and I didn't prep well but have already painted the wall, can you advise any new options? Should I paint over it again with some sort of shellac primer?
I didnt notice any black spots but I don't think I did a very good job at cleaning. Trying to figure out what my next steps should be.
Thank you again!


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Diy321 said:


> Thanks so much for the reply!! If that is the case, and I didn't prep well but have already painted the wall, can you advise any new options? Should I paint over it again with some sort of shellac primer?
> I didnt notice any black spots but I don't think I did a very good job at cleaning. Trying to figure out what my next steps should be.
> Thank you again!


Tough call. It may be time to let it go and see how it goes over the next 6 months. If it still has a small after that time, and, after running an air purifier, you could seal it all up with BIN and start over. Aside from removing the drywall down to the studs and installing new, there's not many options available.


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## JohnWL (Feb 28, 2019)

The smell is most likely from kaolinite in the kaolin clay based wallpaper adhesive...has an earthy clay-like smell.


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## Diy321 (Nov 16, 2020)

Thank you both SO much for your answers! I just did a layer of BIN and crossing my fingers that this fixes the issue. 

The clay advice makes a lot of sense and I'm hoping that's it and not an asbestos issue like some folks at the paint shop suggested.
Thank you again!


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## Diy321 (Nov 16, 2020)

Gymschu said:


> Tough call. It may be time to let it go and see how it goes over the next 6 months. If it still has a small after that time, and, after running an air purifier, you could seal it all up with BIN and start over. Aside from removing the drywall down to the studs and installing new, there's not many options available.


Thank you both SO much for your answers! I just did a layer of BIN and crossing my fingers that this fixes the issue. 

The clay advice also makes a lot of sense and I'm hoping that's it and not an asbestos issue like some folks at the paint shop suggested.
Thank you again!


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## dkuntz2022 (9 mo ago)

I'm having the same problem! Luckily it's only one room in our house but I'm having a baby in July and this room was supposed to be the nursery. The wallpaper was applied to unprimed plaster walls. We did two coats of Bin shellac primer. It change the chemical smells to an earthy/clay/barn smell. the smells dissipated after several week so we painted the room. Now that it's spring the smell is back. Has anyone found a solution for this?


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I'd test it for mold, for the baby. Did you buy a hygrometer to see what the relative humidity is? They're cheap at places like Walmart.

I just left a place where my usually mild asthma was increasing. Increased humidity. Now in a drier place with no mold, I have no asthma symptoms at all. There was an earthy smell.








Solved! Can You Paint Over Mold?


A lot of people think they can paint over mold to kill the mold growth. While they are partially right, this isn't recommended. Find out why.




www.bobvila.com


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## Ayan (Dec 28, 2021)

Fenwayhhh said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've posted before and thought we had our problem remedied, however its not. I live in a 1974 house that had wallpaper. When we bought it 4 years ago, we stripped all the wallpaper and tirelessly got all glue off. THe wallpaper was very hard to get off so alot of liquid was used.
> 
> ...


Here is what may be happening. 

Something in that area has soaked into the porous building material such as wood, drywall, plaster clay, concrete, basically anything that can absorb materials or odors. In the winter, when the home cools, the microscopic spaces in the material shrink and seal in the odors. In the spring, as the home starts to warm up, the microscopic spaces in the materials expand which in turn releases the odor into the room. 

Applying a sealer or odor blocker will not remedy the situation. 

What you need to do is perform an ozone treatment to the effected rooms. Find a local tool rental company and rent an ozone machine. Put the machine in the effected area along with a fan blowing on the machine. This will distribute the ozone into the space. As the ozone molecules penetrate the into the materials, they cling to the odor molecules and neutralize them. it's best to do this treatment on a warm day. 

You will need to seal off the effected area from the rest of the house by closing the doors and sealing the a/c ducts unless you want to also treat the ducts. Run the machine for 24 hours. When you finish turn off the machine and open all the windows and doors in the area. Place a fan blowing out a window for a few hours so it blows out the ozone from inside the home. After this treatment, the effected area will smell like a fresh fallen rain. 

Make sure to remove any live plants or animals including any fish tanks from the area before you start the treatment. You don't want any living thing exposed to the ozone treatment for an extended period of time. 

This process will eliminate any odors.


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## Ayan (Dec 28, 2021)

dkuntz2022 said:


> I'm having the same problem! Luckily it's only one room in our house but I'm having a baby in July and this room was supposed to be the nursery. The wallpaper was applied to unprimed plaster walls. We did two coats of Bin shellac primer. It change the chemical smells to an earthy/clay/barn smell. the smells dissipated after several week so we painted the room. Now that it's spring the smell is back. Has anyone found a solution for this?


Read what I just posted.


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## Old House Owner (8 mo ago)

Fenwayhhh did you ever find a remidy? We painted over the wallpaper and I know exactly what smell your talking about. Its every inch that we painted. Ours is plaster and lathe.


JohnWL said:


> The smell is most likely from kaolinite in the kaolin clay based wallpaper adhesive...has an earthy clay-like smell.


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## Old House Owner (8 mo ago)

Fenwayhhh said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've posted before and thought we had our problem remedied, however its not. I live in a 1974 house that had wallpaper. When we bought it 4 years ago, we stripped all the wallpaper and tirelessly got all glue off. THe wallpaper was very hard to get off so alot of liquid was used.
> 
> ...


I have, did you find a resolution?


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