Old paint cans

[Technic_569]

I'm wondering what people do with the old 1 gallon paint cans that still have paint in them. I have a bunch of them and are taking up valuable shelf space. Keep or throw? If keep is their any good way to consolidate them?

 

[Stuart in MN]

Unless you have plans for the paint I'd get rid of it. If you want to keep some of it for touchups on a wall or something, pour a little in a smaller can or a tight glass jar, otherwise (at least in my experience) it sits around taking up space until it goes bad anyway.

Depending on local regulations, you can either open the cans, let the paint dry and then toss them in the trash; or else there may be a household waste dropoff site where you can bring them.

 

[atillett]

my paint store says to put sawdust in it and mix it up and let it dry...Then you can dispose of it "legaly".....You can get sawdust at any cabinet shop sawmill, or just buy the suff at pet stores...

 

[Torque1st]

The local waste disposal site mixes it all together and uses it for paint around the facility or gives it to Habitat for Humanity and other local housing agencies.

Check with your local housing agencies etc and donate.

 

[redjalopygarage]

Dirty Jobs just did a segment on this very subject!

 

[djjsr]

I called the EPA about this because we have well water and I didn't want something toxic going to the city dump. They said if it's latex just let it dry out and throw it in the trash. Anybody have an idea how to get a 1/2 full gallon of latex to dry out?

Oil based paints, varnish, lacquer, etc. should be taken to a hazardous waste collection site.

 

[mbatarga]

Buy the cheapest cat litter you can find and mix it with the leftover paint. It absorbs the liquids in the paint and allows it to dry out. Depending on how much paint is remaining in the can, you may have to mix it in more than one container and allow it to dry.

 

[WinFred]

mix the latex with saw dust or shredded paper and set out to dry... toss the thourghly dried left overs...
oil base.. turn into yur local hazardous waste site...

 

[heffneil]

Local dumpster company tells you to paints your trash with the paint and then throw the cans and the trash in there. In other words if you have old board paint it with the paint and let it dry and then throw it in the dumpster...

Neil

 

[tcianci]

A guy I know painted cardboard with the stuff and let it dry. I took all of my paint and painted the basement concrete walls with it. Since a lot of my old paint was white, after all the different colors dried, I painted it all white. The light reflection is greatly improved and you can vacuum the dust right off the walls when they need it.

 

[Technic_569]

Thanks for all the replies. I will be chucking the paint today because after opening up the paint i realized that most of them are already hard as a brick.

 

[mossyboy6]

I called the EPA about this because we have well water and I didn't want something toxic going to the city dump. They said if it's latex just let it dry out and throw it in the trash. Anybody have an idea how to get a 1/2 full gallon of latex to dry out?

Oil based paints, varnish, lacquer, etc. should be taken to a hazardous waste collection site.

Just pour it out on a pile of leaves or an old tarp, and toss away.

 

[NUTTSGT]

saw dust, kitty litter, oil dry, or there's a commercial available stuff to mix in.

 

[tstang90]

Dirty Jobs just did a segment on this very subject!

i just saw that episode. That was a mess lol. They send em over to other countries. The colors arent too hot but for some areas in the world its better then nothing and its not wasted

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I resurrected this old thread because frankly, this crappy cell phone picture doesn't merit it's own thread.

I've been cleaning up my garage this weekend and I realized part of the reason its such a mess is that a lot of my storage space has been used up storing ALL THIS CR@P. Probably half of it is dry in the can, it is my FOURTH can of Watco Danish Oil, the can has about 2 ounces in it, or it's always behind other stuff so I don't see it and buy yet more . I'm such an idiot.

I've got to find out what Pasadena has as a policy for this stuff.

Oh, and there are SEVEN more gallon cans I didn't include in this picture and a few quart cans too. I'm taking only the white or off white latex and mixing it all together for my as-yet incomplete back shop wall. And I'm doing that immediately....or I'm throwing it away.

 

[Cougar67]

If you have paint that's still good you can offer it on www.freecycle.org if you have it in your town.

 

[BioHazard]

They sell stuff now in most any paint isle that is some kind of powder you mix in with a can of paint, supposed to make a gallon hard overnight or something like that, so you can throw it away.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the advice guys. Man, I had no idea I had SO much.

I'm looking into that site and if no local place , then I'll contact the City of Pasadena to see what the policy is. Hopefully I don't have to BUY anything to mix in the cans. Those cans probably represent $500-1000 of waste I suppose.

 

[z28snksknr]

Pour it on something valuable. It will dry in an instant and never come off.

 

[Crizzle]

Here in Indy the city has waste collection sites around the city depending on what day/weekend of the month it is. I always load up my used motor oil and leftover paints and other solvents and drop it off at the Tox Away Day closest to my house whenever I need to get rid of stuff.

 

[Kevro]

They sell stuff now in most any paint isle that is some kind of powder you mix in with a can of paint, supposed to make a gallon hard overnight or something like that, so you can throw it away.

Yes, this stuff works great. I got rid of 10+ gallons of paint the previous owners left behind. Mixed it up with a cheap paint paddle in a cordless drill, and it was solid after just a few hours.

Here's the stuff, I got it at Home Depot: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000DZD8PG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[PassnThru]

I actually took a few osb scraps and made two 'paint dryers'. Basically a rectangular pan with sides about 2.5 inches tall. I sized it to fit a normal tall kitchen garbage bag (14 gal?). I line the pan with the bag and pour some paint in. Then I set it outside in the sun. If you go too deep it will skin over - you can stir it occasionally. Many times I will stick it in the shed and even the really deep stuff will harden eventually. So the only real cost is a garbage bag.

 

[nehog]

By the 'book':

Latex, open can let sit until hard, dispose in household trash.

Oil based, dispose (unopened) at a hazardous materials pickup day.

Anything more on latex is just too much work!

 

[djjsr]

Latex, open can let sit until hard, dispose in household trash.

I wonder how long this takes. I left a can open for several months and it never hardened beyond having a thick skin on the top. Maybe sitting it out in the sun would work?

 

[BioHazard]

I wonder how long this takes. I left a can open for several months and it never hardened beyond having a thick skin on the top. Maybe sitting it out in the sun would work?

Yeah...if you just leave a can open, it's never going to harden. That's why they make that paint hardening powder I posted about. (and it's only 2 bucks by the way)

You're forgetting the easiest solution though, just wait until about 2:00AM and pour it on the neighbors lawn. He's an *** anyway.

 

[uhcrandy]

out on the ranch, most places have "burn barrell". Next time you have a fire you can burn can out.

 

[BioHazard]

out on the ranch, most places have "burn barrell". Next time you have a fire you can burn can out.

You could, although technically that's just as illegal as dumping it down the drain or in the river, unless you have some kind of special incinerator.

 

[babzog]

Open 'em up, let the paint dry then recycle 'em.