A composition for treating oversprayed paints that contains an effective amount of an essentially non-volatile carbonyl compound, an effective amount of an ethoxylated alkyl phenol surfactant in water together with a suitable emulsifier. The carbonyl compound is capable of dissolving paint solids while remaining essentially insoluble in and non-reactive with water. The carbonyl compound can be an alcohol ester having the general formulae ##STR1## an alcohol ester derivative having the general formula: ##STR2## in which R' and R" are a substituted or unsubstituted linear alkyl groups containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and R and R"' are linear or branched alkyl groups containing 1 to 10 carbon atoms. The surfactant has an average ethylene oxide-to-nonyl phenol ratio between 4:1 and 8:1.