I've never been happy with the way paint stores over a period of years.
Whenever I buy paint and store it, I'm always very meticulous about sealing the can, as well as wiping the lid and the groove for the lid. It seems like no matter what I do, paint always seems to eventually rust in the can or just plain dry up. I guess there's nothing that can be done about the "skin" that forms.
Does anyone have any new or different ideas or some creative ways to store paint for the long term??
Some people have good luck with cleaning the lid groove well, tamping firmly in place and storing the can up side down. For oil based paints, a teaspoon of thinner or Floetrol on the surface will slow down the skinning over somewhat. HTH
Keep the rim clean so it doesn't get globbies that interfere with sealing. When I pour from the can, I line the rim with a strip of foil to keep it clean. When I seal the can, I smack it with a mallet at two or three spots around the rim. If the can is more than about half gone, I transfer the paint to another container (be sure to label it). I have paint that is probably 8-9 years old, still good. Always keep some rustoleum primer on hand.
The first thing I do when I open a new can of paint is poke holes with a sharpened # sixteen penny nail in a number of times in the bottom of the groove that the lid seals in to let paint drain back to the can when the lid is tapped back in place. I also blow my breath in the can before sealing.
On Sat, 02 May 2009 16:56:53 -0400, Don wrote Re Storing Psint?:
1) clean can rim
2) put lid on can and tap around edge with hammer
3) put two small nail-holes in the top of the can just large enough to accept the tube from a can of "caned air" (compressed co2 that is used to blow dust off computer keyboards)
4) blow canned air into one of the holes in the lid, allowing it to escape from the other. Use enough co2 to purge the air space in the can
5) seal the two holes in the lid with a small amount of plumbers putty.
Small jars with screw lid like mayonaise jars. Storing a can on concrete often leads to rust, Ive had a spray can rust away to nothing and a paint can, paint fell out when I picked it up.
I'm waiting for one of our chemistry experts to weigh in on displacing air from a paint can....can't imagine any of the blowing/exhaust techniques make much difference in the amount of air in the closed can.
I've heard about putting marbles in partially used bottles of wine, but never bothered to try it.
However, I did buy a Vacu Vin vacuum pump and several stoppers a couple of years ago and it sure seems to work as advertised.
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I'm not certain that a paint can would hold up to a hard vacuum even if you could figure out how to put some kind of valve in a punched hole to suck the air out through. I'm remembering the high school physics demo involving steam in a capped off rectangular gallon can collapsing the can when it condensed.
My experiment hasn't stood the test of time yet, but about 2 years ago I had about 1/2 gallon of latex flat wall left from painting our living room. I decided to try something - I cut a circle of plastic drop cloth the size of the paint can (used the lid as a template). I cleaned the rim and exposed inside of the can best I could, then gently placed the plastic on top of the paint.
I hadn't thought about it until reading this post so I just checked it and it was still good. Plastic was still floating on the paint, hadn't sunk to the bottom, and paint seemed pretty good. Of course you have to be careful and remember not to shake or tip the can until you remove the plastic. I'll probably leave it until next winter and the do some touchup work when we move the furniture again to decorate for the holidays. I'll see how the paint has really held up at that point.
You can lay a layer of plastic wrap across the surface of the paint in the can - it effectively seals off the paint from the air in the can. Marbles? There are lots easier ways - old mayo jar comes to mind. Very old cans of paint will probably rust away before they dry up, esp. latex.
People say paint "dries", but it actually "cures".
Sure, some paints dry; poster paint is an example. It's just colored stuff dissolved in water. When the water evaporates, the paint is dry. If you wet it again, it redissolves.
Paint for houses cures. Liquid chemicals in the paint combine with gaseous chemicals in the air, forming new solid chemicals that keep the colored bits in place. The gaseous chemical in the air is usually oxygen.
If you can get the oxygen out of the can, the paint at the surface won't cure. Auto exhaust will blow in lots of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (along with other non-oxygen chemicals), blowing out most of the oxygen at the same time. Your breath will add carbon dioxide, displacing some (not all) of the oxygen. The various other canned gases mentioned will do the same thing, as long as they're not oxygen or some other gas that happens to react with the paint.
Here's a link to a general description of the various chemistries, if you want a better explanation:
Related story: I painted a client's front door with an old can of latex paint she provided. I gave it a good shake and stir, then started brushing. After a few minutes, I mentally kicked myself for dripping paint down the side of the can onto her concrete porch.
I picked up the can to find a big puddle underneath. The bottom of the can had rusted through in a pinhole, and the paint had cured around the leak, forming a scab. My mixing opened up the hole.
I asked the client to leave the puddle in place. Two weeks later, I peeled it off like a pancake. The only issue was that that spot on her porch was cleaner than the rest. :-)
Lesson learned: Set paint cans on the plastic lid of my tool caddy.
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