Good containers for paint (to decant from poor can)

Jul 30, 2024 Last reply: 1 year ago 14 Replies

I have some quite expensive (over £50) paint which came in a 2.5l can which I dented by dropping it. It has survived so far but the last time I put the lid back one I wondered if it was going to be OK for much longer.



So, what can I decant the paint into if/when needed? It needs to have an easy to remove and replace top because I'm doing lots of small touch-up jobs with this paint. It's acrylic (i.e. water based) paint.



A container that's easy to shake (to stir the paint) would be handy too!


I am not an expert... I buy ice cream from the supermarket in 1 litre tubs and store it in the freezer. The lids are very tight fitting. It occurs to me that you may find these containers suitable... and in this weather, it's no great hardship to eat ice cream!

Or of course glass jars with twist off caps - eg beetroot or mayo.

That's what I do, stored lid side down.

As in ice cream tubs or glass jars? A 2.5 litre glass jar might be rather unmanageable and my experience with smaller ones holding paint is that the tops get very difficult to remove.

Talking about ice cream, some are sold in cardboard tubs which are horrible. I have to take them out of the (very cold) freezer to thaw out before I can eat it and the tub goes soggy.

You can buy "empty paint cans" from ebay...

You can buy plastic paint tubs as used by decorators to decant manageable amounts of paint from very large pots. Clip on lids.

I have one or two somewhere.

Something like this:

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Cheers

Dave R

Glass jars, and not 2.5l, just whatever's left. Pickle jars often good for a litre. Take your point on the lids but not a problem I've noticed (yet).

Another thing with jars is it makes occasional painting over scuffs easier - which in turn means I'm more likely to do it :-)

Indeed. I was thinking plastic tubs.

That sounds good to me, five for £9.99 seems just what I need, thank you.

Try their ebay store

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5 for £8.87

Ex-mot tester neighbour does frequent 'panel bashing and respray jobs' for his long list of 'older clients'.

The place he gets paint from must have a supply of empty paint tins of various sizes, so ask around body shops where his local auto paint supplier is.

Also B&Q who mix paint from scratch. Some Wickes used to mix paint too.

When I went to get paint mixed recently (Johnstone's Decorator Centre), they just took a tin of white off the shelf and put it in the machine to add pigments. So won't necessarily have empty tins.

Theo

I've bought mixed paint before. They take a "base" from a limited number of choices, then add various amounts of dyes.

The base is kept in the container you take home. That is not a place you could get empties.

Andy

Ah, ok. That leaves the auto paint suppliers then.

Neighbour buys it in lots of sizes, right down to one 1/8th of a litre so the supplier/mixer must have a supply of empty tins to suit.

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