" Paint Storage - Pure or Reduced "

[CadillacPat]

This Tip goes along with my "Removing Paint From Aerosol Cans" over in the General Section under Model Cars Magazine Wants You.

This paint storage method is fine for all Solvent based paints including Aerosols or Automotive brands.

I purchase most of my House Of Kolor paints by the Gallon or Quart.

Rather than constantly reopening the large containers I came upon this method to store my paints for easy daily use.

I needed containers that were cheap and easy to pour from.

These soft, squeezable small mouthed plastic bottles pictured here work perfect for me.

They consist of the type plastic that is not reactive to solvents so any type paint or related solvent based products can be stored in them.

I fill them with paint directly from the can for daily mixing and some of the bottles contain reduced paint of colors that I use frequently.

HOK Urethane Clear, 311 Reducer, Catalysts (both Clear and Candy Activator), InterCoat Clear, Lacquer Thinner, Primer and a variety of Basecoats.

The small mouth makes for easy pouring for mixing or even for transferring mixed paints into a 1/4oz. paintcup.

The same small mouth also allows for less exposure to the air when opened.

Pure strength paints or premixed, these lightweight smaller containers make for easy handling resulting in less mess and waste.

If you have a project that you'll be painting all day these bottles are perfect for use as a mixing container.

I Barbecue or Grill frequently, at least twice or three times a week and throwing away so many Barbecue and Ketchup bottles made me wonder if they couldn't be put to use.

There had to be a better cheaper way to store paints than spending money on glass bottles from the Container Store.

It turned out that these type Polyethylene or Polypropylene low-density plastics were non reactive to solvents.

Even if you dump the sauce within, these proucts routinely go on sale at Food Stores for as low as 44 cents, usually 66 cents, making for a very cheap buy.

Just wash the threads of the Cap and Bottle thoroughly.

Fill half way with water, shake, shake, shake, repeat, repeat, then add a couple of drops of dishsoap, fill, shake, rinse, rinse, rinse and let dry.

Run hot water over the labels, remove them and using a permanent marker indicate what you've stored in the container.

Or make your own label.

If premixing or if filling with Clear or Catalyst, mark the date filled.

I do a whole lot of paint mixing and paint transfering, so while I don't paint full size cars these containers hold just the right amounts of paint for me.

They're fine if you're doing Artwork or anything smaller than a car or large motorcycle parts.

They are cheap enough that by the time you have emptied the container you can just toss it and use a fresh one.

I'm sure a lot of you use your own methods for storing and mixing paint, this is just a simple tip that works well for me.

--CadillacPat the UnCustomizer--

Edited January 4, 2012 by CadillacPat