I've always understood that it's best to let anything contaminated with water or oil best paint dry for a few days before throwing it away. Whether it's a roller cover, pan, disposable brush, rag, or can, it can't leech into ground water if it's a solid when you throw it away.
If you have a large quantity of paint to dispose of, you can pour it over news papers or kitty litter. It dries much faster that way.
Washing the roller sends something like 1/2 quart of good paint down the drain. Wrap the sleeve and stick it in the freezer. It'll keep for years. Next time you need the same color, or you need to touch up, just pull out the roller and thaw it.
We're nowhere near being buried under our own garbage, and never will be. According to Penn and Teller's Bullshit, the entire trash disposal needs of the United States could be handled by a single landfill measuring 35 x 35 miles x 2 miles high.
It's latex rubber. It's not a toxic substance requiring gloves and hazmat suits.
Why can't you wrap the "toxic" paint roller in a plastic trash bag and THEN put it in the landfill? Since plastic NEVER breaks down, you're golden forever.
As to landfills "devouring" prime land, nonsense. When the dump fills, you cover the area with topsoil and build low-cost housing on the site. The kids that live there will look a little funny (three ears, etc.), but you'll put the land to good use.
Seattle pays big bucks to ship their garbage to a far away site. It makes more sense to reduce the amount of garbage when it gets that expensive.
Sending dried latex to a hazardous waste facility is an absurd waste of resources.
I was thinking of oil-based products.
But in any case, I don't agree that it's "an absurb waste..." They may have ways of disposing other than your friendly neighborhood landfill.
Aspasia
BobK207 spake thus:
Damn right. I have a jar of paint thinner I keep just as you suggest, where I let the solids settle out. Some of the thinner in that jar is--I kid you not--at least 25 years old.
Whatever "latex" paint is made out of, it is definitely NOT made out of latex rubber.
In any case, you should be squeezing all that excess paint back into the can with a painter's tool before disposing of anyway.
yup
from
.......latex paint is not made with latex rubber; in fact the name "latex" is really just a decorative way to describe rubber-based paint. Latex paint is a carefully formulated polyvinyl material with acrylic resin and has never contained natural rubber. ,.......
cheers Bob
Our solid waste facility is pretty clear about it. If it's dried - it's garbage. They do take latex paint at the hazardous waste facility - which the offer for re-use.
Bob
I don't understand, Bob. Someone can go to your local waste facility and select cans of paint to use, or do you mean that they recycle it through a paint or other manufacturer?
R
I don't understand, Bob. Someone can go to your local waste facility and select cans of paint to use, or do you mean that they recycle it through a paint or other manufacturer?
R
I can't speak for Bob, but ours mixes it all together, filters it, and sells it as "Local Color" paint.
I canot speak for Bob F either.....but I can for Bob K...
In OC, CA we have a toxic waste drop off center where they take household chems no longer wanted, needed or unusable. Any items that are in re-usable condtion they put in the "free store" & you can take up to 5 itmes per week. Fertilizer, spa / pool chems, paint (brush & spray) household cleaners, DIF wallpaper remover, etc......Once I found out about this deal, I never paid for Spa chems again.
I never took any of the brush / roll on paint but I got lots of spray spray paint, carb cleaner & motor oil.
cheers Bob
Pretty much the same deal in Seattle. 30 item limit.
Bob
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