how long does tin of pait take to dry out

Probably weeks, possibly months. Take it to the tip as it is (most of them have a paint disposal point), mix it with cat litter, put it on the bonfire and substitute air pollution for ground pollution or do what most people do, think "f*ck that noise" and drop in in the bin.

Not suggesting this as a solution, but we've all been washing out brushes, rollers, and paint kettles down the drain since emulsion paint and PVA was invented. Does anyone know the actual consequences of putting the particulate from emulsion paint down the sewage system?

Cheers

Ages, because it's water based. It would be quicker in warm weather.

Solvent-based paint will evaporate much more quickly (except for the dribbles down the back of my kitchen cupboards, which are still sticky after several weeks).

I think water-based emulsion is okay in the garden as long as it doesn't get into watercourses. And if any local cats appear with Carmine Blush paws you'll know who's been crapping in your lettuces. :-)

Owain

A bit of cement or plaster mixed in would probably help.

Cheers

can't you freegle/freecycle/gumtree it? Is there any law against it going down the drain if water based?

NT

Put it on FreeCycle?

seems too much hassle for 5 quids worth of paint

tim

Must be a specific requirement of your LA. I recently took several tins of paint to the dump, that still had plenty in them but that I knew I would never use again. I asked one of the guys what I should do with them, assuming they would have a special bin for tins of paint (like oil, batteries, etc), and he said just chuck it in the 'general' skip.

I'd be quite pleased if anyone has half a tin of Sweetcorn Yellow going spare. Just need to touch up bits of the lounge where the newspaper is poking through the pollyfiller.

Owain

Many paints are water borne, not water based. I.e. the water is a carrier, not the solvent. Once the solids in the paint have cured, they will not redissolve in water.

But what happens to the distributed particles when they get into a sewage works? I'd imagine the titanium dioxide filler/pigment is pretty benign. What about the vinyl particles? Do they biodegrade?

As I said before, over a lifetime I expect we all wash five litres of emulsion out of rollers and brushes down the drain. Does a litre of surplus paint in one go constitute an environmental outrage?

If well enough diluted probably not... although the concentration of one litre disposed of in one session will be far higher than a litre washed out of a roller over days / weeks.

Yes, but my sewage is merged with that from several thousand households before it reaches the sewage works. So I doubt if it would be distinguishable at the far end, especially if done at tea time on a Sunday.

Not much comfort if its your sewer pipe that gets blocked though!

Can you see that happening, really? Taking as read that you would obviously dilute it 20:1 or so.

Not in a hurry, although I suppose you only need look at how waste pipes can get blocked by fat or laundry detergent over time...

PVA moulders.

NT