Two weeks ago, Crown told us their smelly paint affected just one in a hundred thousand walls. But since then, you've continued to contact us by email, on the blogs and even sent in your own home videos.
Many of you are complaining about Crown's Breatheasy brand and you're angry because you bought it especially because they said it's 'virtually odour free'...
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But what about another Crown claim - that this is an industry wide problem? Anita went to Gloucester to meet Barbara Hancock. Anita thought the house smelt of cat wee, but Barbara hadn't been using Crown paint, her place had been painted with Dulux paint. So the UK's leading paint brand who claim to sell 40 million tins a year seem to have a similar problem.
But what's causing the stink that's affecting so many houses? Well, as Crown told Anita at a meeting in London a few weeks ago, they're convinced the answer lies closer to home... it's not their paint, it's your smelly walls.
But it isn't just Crown who are blaming the walls. The Paint Research Association agrees - and says work to isolate the exact causes is continuing. It adds that manufacturers have had to reduce the amount of solvent in the paint, due to stricter regulations. That means smells from certain walls that were previously masked, are now sometimes more apparent.
And don't Watchdog viewers know it. There are loads of them with stinking walls who are wondering what to do next. Are there more of you who are worried you'll have a foul odour the next time you decorate?
Crown Statement:
"Crown Paints is committed to continuing its tests and establishing the cause of the wall odour phenomenon on behalf of the paint industry. We urge any customers that have experienced the phenomenon when using any Crown products to get in touch with us directly so that we can provide advice and assist with remedial actions where necessary. Customers should visit our painting and decorating advice website for further information at www.askcrown.co.uk, or call the customer service team directly on our dedicated helpline, on 0845 521 2499."
Dulux Statement:
"We were concerned to hear from Watchdog that some households have been experiencing problems with an 'odour' after painting.
"As the leading paint brand in the UK, we sell over 40 million cans of paint annually and so far we have had few complaints - 11 in total - relating to odour issues in the past twelve months (to June 2010).
"We are and remain committed to ensuring householders get the best performance from their paint, and so we take any complaint very seriously.
"We have no record of contact from Mrs Hancock but are always happy to discuss any customer feedback. We are thoroughly investigating each case that is presented to us to help every individual find a solution."
PRA Statement:
"In response to more stringent regulations, the reduction in the solvent content of paint across the industry may mean that previously masked smells emitted from certain walls in certain conditions are sometimes more apparent.
"Independent tests following recent incidents show that this is not related to the quality of manufacture of the paint, and there have not been any health and safety side effects reported. Work is continuing to isolate and identify the factors that are causing the odour, but early indications are that it may be caused by materials present in the wall interacting with the paint to release materials that give rise to odours at very low levels.
"Consumers should not be alarmed by this problem as less than 1 in 100,000 paint buyers are likely to be affected. It generally concerns conventional vinyl matt paint and should you experience this problem, it can be resolved by applying an alkali resistant primer to seal the offending wall before repainting. We recommend that the paint manufacturer, of whichever brand has been used, is contacted directly for advice."
Statement from the BCF (British Coatings Federation):
"'Wall odour' or 'ghost odour' is an issue that is known to have existed in the global paint industry for a number of years and does not relate to any specific manufacturer. There have been reports of this effect from the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, although the numbers are extremely small.
"In the UK, it is accepted that instances of 'wall odour' is an industry-wide issue that affects a very small number of customers.
"Crown Paints is active in the UK industry in attempting to find a solution to what we believe is a situation caused by conditions in or on the wall being painted.
"In the limited occurances, we would always advise the individual customer to seek professional advice from the manufacturer."
Kicking up a stink... again
Many of you are complaining about Crown's Breatheasy brand and you're angry because you bought it especially because they said it's 'virtually odour free'...
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
But what about another Crown claim - that this is an industry wide problem? Anita went to Gloucester to meet Barbara Hancock. Anita thought the house smelt of cat wee, but Barbara hadn't been using Crown paint, her place had been painted with Dulux paint. So the UK's leading paint brand who claim to sell 40 million tins a year seem to have a similar problem.
But what's causing the stink that's affecting so many houses? Well, as Crown told Anita at a meeting in London a few weeks ago, they're convinced the answer lies closer to home... it's not their paint, it's your smelly walls.
But it isn't just Crown who are blaming the walls. The Paint Research Association agrees - and says work to isolate the exact causes is continuing. It adds that manufacturers have had to reduce the amount of solvent in the paint, due to stricter regulations. That means smells from certain walls that were previously masked, are now sometimes more apparent.
And don't Watchdog viewers know it. There are loads of them with stinking walls who are wondering what to do next. Are there more of you who are worried you'll have a foul odour the next time you decorate?
Crown Statement:
"Crown Paints is committed to continuing its tests and establishing the cause of the wall odour phenomenon on behalf of the paint industry. We urge any customers that have experienced the phenomenon when using any Crown products to get in touch with us directly so that we can provide advice and assist with remedial actions where necessary. Customers should visit our painting and decorating advice website for further information at www.askcrown.co.uk, or call the customer service team directly on our dedicated helpline, on 0845 521 2499."
Dulux Statement:
"We were concerned to hear from Watchdog that some households have been experiencing problems with an 'odour' after painting.
"As the leading paint brand in the UK, we sell over 40 million cans of paint annually and so far we have had few complaints - 11 in total - relating to odour issues in the past twelve months (to June 2010).
"We are and remain committed to ensuring householders get the best performance from their paint, and so we take any complaint very seriously.
"We have no record of contact from Mrs Hancock but are always happy to discuss any customer feedback. We are thoroughly investigating each case that is presented to us to help every individual find a solution."
PRA Statement:
"In response to more stringent regulations, the reduction in the solvent content of paint across the industry may mean that previously masked smells emitted from certain walls in certain conditions are sometimes more apparent.
"Independent tests following recent incidents show that this is not related to the quality of manufacture of the paint, and there have not been any health and safety side effects reported. Work is continuing to isolate and identify the factors that are causing the odour, but early indications are that it may be caused by materials present in the wall interacting with the paint to release materials that give rise to odours at very low levels.
"Consumers should not be alarmed by this problem as less than 1 in 100,000 paint buyers are likely to be affected. It generally concerns conventional vinyl matt paint and should you experience this problem, it can be resolved by applying an alkali resistant primer to seal the offending wall before repainting. We recommend that the paint manufacturer, of whichever brand has been used, is contacted directly for advice."
Statement from the BCF (British Coatings Federation):
"'Wall odour' or 'ghost odour' is an issue that is known to have existed in the global paint industry for a number of years and does not relate to any specific manufacturer. There have been reports of this effect from the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, although the numbers are extremely small.
"In the UK, it is accepted that instances of 'wall odour' is an industry-wide issue that affects a very small number of customers.
"Crown Paints is active in the UK industry in attempting to find a solution to what we believe is a situation caused by conditions in or on the wall being painted.
"In the limited occurances, we would always advise the individual customer to seek professional advice from the manufacturer."
Kicking up a stink... again