Can ordinary charcoal be used as an adsorbent?

Question

i cant afford activated charcoal... i want to remove the stench of paint in my room

Answer 1

Oh just wait until I can rate people that first guy goes down lol. Obvioulsy money is not the main focus here, chemistry is.

No I don't think so activated carbon has a larger surface area for reaction to eliminate species so I would say anything less would not do your job. Otherwise, you would have burn pit carbon

Answer 2

Why buy charcoal when you can just light a candle or some incense?  Incense is a dollar for a whole pack of it.