Painting Healthcare Facilities
A Healthcare centre may not be a happy place, but it should be where patients and visitors find the gleam of hope, assurance, comfort and reliability. The wall colours and interior decor should constantly remind that the better days are in their ways while staying a few days being taken care of by the medical professionals.
So, in other words, medical spaces influence the patients and visitors' mental state to a greater extent the moment they enter a hospital. Therefore, there is no way anyone can take healthcare facility painting jobs less seriously. It is not only a matter of clinical aesthetics but also the patients' health restoration process.
We understand the importance of health, hygiene, safety and welfare of healthcare facilities where a painting project requires utmost precision and detailed steps. So, this article will explore some of the crucial medical facility painting practices every commercial painting service should follow.
Prioritise Safety over Everything
A large-scale healthcare facility painting comes with potential safety hazards. Starting from surface preparation to a great paint finish requires extra attention to proper surface cleaning and sanding techniques.
In addition, hospitals or medical centres in humid environments tend to suffer from indoor moulds, germs, fungal growth and other contaminants spreading toxic chemical compounds into the air, severely affecting patients', guests and health workers' immune systems and allergic reactions. So, you need to ensure the area is properly ventilated so that the chemical fumes do not transfer through other rooms.
Pick the Right Colour Schemes
Colours are integral parts of any interior space, infused with deeply seeded psychological properties and healing factors. Subtle differences in hues, tones, patterns, or even textures can make huge differences in the whole remedial process.
For example, too bright, flashy, highly contrastive colours might not comfort senior patients' eyes, causing agitation and eyestrain. On the other hand, dull-white or pale can have a weary, clinical and underwhelming effect among the patients and visitors- delaying the patients' recovery proceedings. For hospitals and healthcare spaces, neutral colour palettes with bolder hues provide more balanced, calming effects.
However, the key focus should be selecting colour schemes based on the purpose of the rooms. So, when choosing the right colour coordination for hospitals, clinics and other healthcare, you need to be extra cautious about the purpose and functionality of the space itself. Here are some of the ideal wall colour choices for healthcare facilities
- Soft blue colour schemes provide a tranquil effect in the space, contributing to lowering heart rate, alleviating stress, anxiety, and reducing the chance of insomnia.
- Neutral, muted palettes of green bring a sense of hope, health and harmony.
- Purple colours are known for calming effects on patients' nervous systems, helping with sinuses and head congestion.
- Bright, soothing pink tones are associated with a sense of care, passion and affection with stimulating energy.
- Warm, neutral orange or yellow can be cheerful colour palettes that help with detoxifying body and mind sluggish feeling or negative energy.
Say Yes To Antimicrobial Additives
Walls are wreaking havoc for insects, germs and bacterial growth within the interior space. In addition, the paint coating itself can also block clean air circulation and contribute to the spread of pathogenic viruses and bacterias! So before starting a healthcare facility painting project, you need to make sure you are using antimicrobial paints.
Certain antimicrobial paints for clinical purposes are formulated to provide lasting protection against a large spectrum of drug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, mould fungi, protozoa, infectious proteins, etc.- as long as the anti-paint remains on the wall surfaces.
Another benefit of choosing antimicrobial paint coatings and additives is, these additives are suitable for all types of solvents and coatings, both varnishes and inks. As a result, you can have a cost-effective, durable, long-lasting paint finish without any flaking, chalking, lumps or stench, even in moisture-prone, humid environments.
Minimise the VOC
Volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs, are organic chemicals in evaporated gas forms. High levels of VOC exposure, a common substance in wall paints, adhesives and drying agents, often cause adverse short and long-term health effects and deteriorate air quality within the space. The health problems include severe eye, nose, throat irritation- ultimately resulting in nausea, headaches, dizziness, allergic reactions, and breathing difficulties from inhaling the toxic fumes among the patients.
Some VOC compounds found in paints are suspected of causing cancer as well. But the good news is, there are plenty of non-toxic, eco-friendly paints available in the market that are low on VOC. Check the VOC guideline in your state and choose the right paint colours with a low (safe) fraction of VOC for healthcare centres.
However, it is better to go for water-based, odour-free, natural zero-VOC paints at the end of the day. If you are unsure which paint brand to choose, you can always consult with a reliable industrial painting service in your area.
Choose Easy-to-Clean Paint Finish
Healthcare facilities require frequent cleaning and maintenance. As for cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene are crucial parts of healthcare painting projects; you need to make sure you choose the right painting finish that is non-toxic, durable and long-lasting, and easy to clean with water or other solutions, especially for high-traffic areas.
A flat finish with no extra polymers is a common paint finish choice for hospitals, clinics or doctor's offices. Unfortunately, while it is not very difficult to wipe or scrub off stains or fingerprints visitors leave behind, it deflects natural light making the space bleak and joyless.
Eggshell finish with a slight sheen takes even less effort to clean with even better wall paint protection. Finally, the semi-gloss or satin finish is considered a better choice for any healthcare space out of all the options because of the higher resin content.
These paint finishes make the wall cleaning and maintenance job very easy and reflect enough sunlight, making rooms more bright, spacious and lively with vibrant pops of colours even in low lights.
Make Use of Advanced Commercial Painting Technologies
Healthcare interior paints and decor play a significant role in the patients' health and visitors' psychological state. As a big part of today's healthcare industry, many painting technologies have been introduced to assure a safe, healthy and relaxing environment, meeting all the functional, therapeutic, clinical and aesthetic demands. Many paint products and equipment are available that directly contribute to eliminating germs, toxic odours, improving indoor air quality, and more.
For a more pleasant and uniform appearance, commercial painting contractors have direct access to the latest painting equipment like Airless Paint Sprayer, power lock extension poles, auto rollers, multi-purpose mixers etc. tools like these are time, cost and labour saving, effective solutions for large-scale commercial painting projects, meeting the industry standards and minimal disruption for patients- workers.
So, while looking for the right painting contractors for your healthcare setting, make sure the painters are highly skilled at using the latest commercial painting equipment for the most desirable painting outcome while extending the painting lifecycle.
Conclusion
The whole logistics of healthcare facility painting projects can be rigorous and complex and require experienced commercial painters with Dulux accreditations.
Reliable commercial painting companies should also be careful with the detailed planning for using the most appropriate paint materials, tools and colours that promote green, eco-friendly solutions with remedial components. So, it's important to count on courteous painting professionals in your area with consistent track records.
