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VaporLock · Odor-Sealing Coating

Seal the odor into the surface — permanently.

When odor is embedded in a material, more air treatment won't reach it. VaporLock is a water-based coating built to block it at the source: a vinyl resin fine enough to actually seal odor molecules, flexible enough to stay sealed for the long haul, and safe enough to work with indoors.

<0.01µm
Vinyl resin particle size
1,000–2,600×
Finer than shellac
2finishes
Clear & White (tintable)
0fumes
Water-based, soap-and-water
01 — Why sealing

The odor you can't clean out

Smoke, pet, nicotine, sewage and decomposition odors don't just hang in the air — the molecules penetrate drywall, framing, subfloor and insulation and settle in. Clean the surface and the air, and it smells fixed. Then temperature and humidity shift, the material breathes the odor back out, and the complaint returns. That's the callback. Sealing is what stops it.

THE CAUSE

Odor soaks in

Odor is molecular. It absorbs into porous building materials and sits below the surface, out of reach of cleaning and air treatment.

THE RELAPSE

The material off-gasses

As conditions change, the surface slowly releases what it absorbed. The smell that seemed gone comes back days or weeks later.

THE FIX

A barrier it can't cross

VaporLock coats the surface with a film too fine for odor molecules to pass — so what's embedded stays embedded, for good.

02 — The science

Why particle size decides everything

To block an odor molecule, the coating's resin particles have to be smaller than what they're sealing in — under 0.01 microns. Most "odor sealers" aren't close. This is where VaporLock's vinyl chemistry separates from the pack.

Resin particle size, compared

Smaller is better for odor sealing: the finer the resin, the tighter the film and the less that can escape through it.

VaporLockvinyl resin
< 0.01 µm
Shellacclosest competitor
5–13 µm
Acrylicwater-based, common
125–175 µm
VaporLock's resin runs roughly 1,000–2,600× smaller than shellac — and shellac is already far finer than acrylic. Acrylic's coarse particle size makes it a fine breathable coating after mold work, but far too open to seal odor.
Fine enough to block

The resin seals the molecule

Odor blocking is a size game. Only a resin smaller than the odor particle can form a film it can't slip through — and VaporLock's vinyl clears that bar with room to spare.

Flexible enough to last

It stays sealed instead of cracking

Built with plasticizers, the film elongates as surfaces expand and contract. Shellac goes brittle and develops hairline fractures over time — and every crack is a path for odor to escape again.

03 — Finishes & handling

Two finishes, and a coating you can actually work with

VaporLock comes in Clear and White for different jobs — and unlike oil and shellac sealers, it's water-based, so applying it doesn't mean fighting solvent fumes or a difficult cleanup.

Clear

For surfaces meant to stay visible — attics, exposed framing — or to rescue odor-damaged painted surfaces by top-coating them instead of priming and repainting.

White

For covering staining and priming while odor-sealing in one pass. Tintable, so it color-matches into the surrounding finish.

Built to be worked with. Water-based means it cleans up with soap and water and stays fume-free — no solvent smell to battle while you apply it.

Water-basedNon-flammableFormaldehyde-freeFume-freeExceeds LEED IEQ 4.2 VOC

Odor sources it seals:

Smoke & fireCookingPetNicotineSkunkSewageFuel & petroleumDecompositionInfestationVOC / musty
04 — Where & when to use it

After the cleanup, before the rebuild

VaporLock goes on once the affected area is cleaned and prepped — sealing the structural surfaces that hold odor before they're closed back up. It's the step that turns "smells better today" into "stays fixed."

Framing & structural wood

Studs, joists and sheathing that absorbed odor during a fire, flood, infestation or decomposition event.

Drywall & subfloor

Porous surfaces staying in place through the rebuild — sealed so they can't re-release odor behind new finishes.

Attics & exposed surfaces

Use Clear where the surface stays visible, so the seal doesn't change the look of the space.

Odor-damaged painted surfaces

Top-coat with Clear to salvage a wall or ceiling instead of stripping, priming and repainting from scratch.

Homeowners & facilities

Find a Pro near you

VaporLock is applied as part of professional remediation. Connect with an Enviroguard Certified Firm trained on the system to handle the job.

Find a Pro
For professional contractors

Shop & size the job

VaporLock is supplied through our professional contractor channel. Shop the product and size coverage from your surface area with the Job Estimator.

05 — Common questions

Before you seal

How is VaporLock different from a shellac sealer?
Two ways. Its vinyl resin is roughly 1,000–2,600× finer than shellac, so it forms a tighter odor barrier — and it's built with plasticizers to stay flexible, where shellac turns brittle and cracks over time, letting odor back out. VaporLock is also water-based, non-flammable and fume-free, versus shellac's high fumes and difficult cleanup.
Clear or White — which do I use?
Use Clear where the surface stays visible (attics, exposed framing) or to top-coat and salvage an odor-damaged painted surface. Use White when you also want to cover staining and prime in the same pass; it's tintable to match surrounding finishes.
Do I still need to clean first?
Yes. VaporLock is the control step after cleaning and prep — it seals the prepared surface so embedded odor can't off-gas. It doesn't replace source removal and cleanup.
Is it safe to use indoors?
It's water-based, non-flammable, formaldehyde-free and fume-free, and exceeds LEED IEQ Credit 4.2 for VOCs. As with any coating, follow the product label and SDS for application and ventilation guidance.
How does it fit with Zeolair?
They cover the two halves of odor. VaporLock seals what's embedded in the surface; Zeolair captures and neutralizes what's in the air. Run VaporLock first, then place Zeolair — see Odor Control for the full workflow.
Straight talk

What VaporLock does — and how to state it

VaporLock is an odor-sealing coating. Its job is to block embedded odor from escaping a surface, using a vinyl resin fine enough to seal odor molecules and flexible enough to stay sealed. It contains an EPA-registered antimicrobial additive that protects the coating film and supports use in unconditioned areas during reconstruction.

Read the label for regulated claims. The antimicrobial is a formulation additive; any antimicrobial use is governed by the product's EPA-registered label. VaporLock's core function is odor sealing — confirm ppm-level or public-health claims against the label before making them.

Product classification VaporLock is an odor-sealing coating containing an EPA-registered antimicrobial additive. Antimicrobial claims are limited to those on its registered label. References to smoke, pet, nicotine, sewage, mold and other sources describe the origins of the odor it seals, and sealing performance does not by itself constitute a microbial-control claim.

Seal it once. Done for good.

Lock embedded odor into the surface so it can't come back — then keep the air fresh with Zeolair.