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o.k. so I’ve finished painting & used up 1/3 of a tin of white gloss paint; thumped the lid back onto the tin & stuck it in the cupboard in the sure knowledge that the next time I open it, there will be a 4” layer of congealed unusable glob on the top that even a determined screwdriver will be hard pushed
to penetrate. what a waste.
I am tempted to store it upside down but it says in large lettering on the lid. Store This Way Up! who am I to argue with that?
if one could vacuum pump all the air out of the tin of paint then it would remain all nice and non-drippy for the next time. perhaps if the lid came with a valve similar to a bicycle or car tyre, then you could either attach a reversed action bicycle pump or you could manually suck out all the air.
the trouble with tins for World.
http://www.halfbake..._20tags_20on_20cans
[po, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]
Here's a halfbaked approach . . .
http://bz.pair.com/fun/PaintCordian.jpg
[~26Kb image] The pump would have a bleed valve to prevent over-pressurization. [bristolz, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]
[link]
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The pro painters I had working in our house last week do this: they lay down a piece of plastic food wrap directly on the surface of the paint. (Hmm, which gives me an idea.) |
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Your pump would be far less messy, though. |
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There is a great experiment you can do with paint cans and other tins with airtight lids. Put half an inch, or so, of water in the bottom and heat it on the stove until the water is boiling and the water vapor and steam fill the tin. Seal the tin. Remove it from the stove and place it in cold water. Watch ensuing demonstration of the power of a vacuum. |
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You'd be better off pumping nitrogen in rather than air out. Or, of course, following bris' advice (we use tin foil rather than cling wrap, but same difference). |
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Ideally you an inert gas heavier than air though... Argon perhaps. It's a bit dangerous of course, but would be easier to flush onto the surface of the paint. + all the same. |
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[neilp] - you're not saying argon is dangerous are you? Or did I just misread? Unless you mean the suffocation angle? |
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You can get those small vacuum pumps for half empty bottles of wine, so I guess this could be adapted. I've never used them as I never have half empty bottles of wine. |
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I feel the inert gas idea might be better. The vacuum idea has a risk of paint tin implosion (potentially disastrous for your decor unless you're after the Jackson Pollock look). Large quantities of inert gas do have a suffocation risk, but only if you have vast quantities. Perhaps a small gas bottle to attach to the valve on top of the tin with a second, exit valve to flush the air out of? |
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I feared I might get in to trouble with that one..I meant in terms of asphixiation, cause, (and I know it's a slim chance) if you left the bottle open, it would surely just spill all over the floor and keep rising up, whereas nitrogen would mix better with air. Agreed it's only really a hazard if you're doing it in your bedroom and you have a futon. |
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suggested name : vacuupaint |
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//if you're doing it in your bedroom and you have a futon// clever, thats no 7 on my list |
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I was compiling a bunch of old paint remnants for disposal and noted that the one small amount of oil-based paint stayed on top no matter how much latex I added to the barrel. Of course - oil floats on water. So how about this idea - rather than mess with argon, vacuum, pumps and other hoohah, just add a layer of baby oil sufficient to cover the latex paint remaining, then close the can. You would need to remove the baby oil when you next used the paint, which could be done with a basting syringe. |
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From "Snarfyguy's Household Hints": Throw the damn thing out and get a new can the next time you need to paint. |
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or we could have toothpaste style paint tins. |
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How about a concertina paint can? Collapse it down to the appropriate level and re-seal. Might make it difficult to estimate how much paint is left though. |
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just estimate the volume by mass. |
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Why do they use steel cans for paint? Seems like they are always rusting and suffering from this thick film issue. I say store paint in milk containers - thin plastic that you can squeeze the air out of. This would have the added feature of being able to tell what color your paint is. |
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I like that one world, but would the paint make the top hard to take off? we're into corned beef territory here. |
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//would the paint make the top hard to take off?// No. |
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//we're into corned beef territory here// As a vegetarian, I'm going to have to say I've never been to corned beef territory, nor do I have a desire to. That being said, are you recommending packaging corned beef in milk containers? Should the milk container be expanded to all cow-based products? |
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I have some new cans which are actually plastic. Even more practical - some paint is sold in large plastic jugs with no-drip spouts, like those that liquid laundry detergent is sold in. |
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//hard to take off// thinking that a plastic top would get cemented together by paint. |
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corned beef can link for you on its way. don't get too excited! |
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bung, my dear - have I told you lately that you are inspiralateralational? |
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Ah, thanks for the link. [Bung]'s right though - they have plastic bottles for paint now, so I would imagine the cemented-closed issue isn't significant. Now if we can get them to make them squeezable we can remove the paint-skin issue as well. |
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make what squeezable? sorry I have been painting all day. |
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have you any idea how hot it is here? |
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USA Today (AKA "McPaper"), some months ago, cited the squarish plastic paint jug with the integrated dripless pour spout as one of The Best Products of 2002. Other products included the new Nissan ZX , the upside-down ketchup bottle, and some others. |
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There you go, the upside-down paint bottle. Skin forms at the top and paint is poured out of the bottom. |
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[po] The plastic paint bottle. Please see my earlier anno. Oh, and open a window. |
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window wide open. gawd its hot. |
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<aside> A very good friend of mine who lives in the San Francisco area is visiting London right now. She house swapped with someone who lives just north of London. Her last comment to me before she left was "It'll be great to get out of this heat for a few weeks." |
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Unlucky your friend [bris]. Hope it's cooler North than East! |
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dont know what you're wingeing about [po], you're in the shade. Im have to paint the outside of the conservatory after I finish sanding it down by hand. Luckily I found a big rotten patch so I get a break while we get a carpenter in. |
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strongly advise not manually sucking the air out as the idea of drinking gloss does not appeal. |
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what about a piece of grease proof paper like that you'd stick on some jam. That'd do the job. Cheaper too. |
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you're just a rebel, I met your type before. |
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Plastic food wrap is also used for
wrapping paintbrushes in so that,
if you're carrying on with the same
painting job the next day, you
don't have to bother washing the
brushes out.
As for
storing paint upside-down - I
once had to clean up a spilt 2.5
litre can of gloss from our
bathroom floor. Very messy. |
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Sucking out all the air would probably increase the solidification problem, since the solvent will evaporate to fill the vacuum that much faster. What you really need is to establish equillibrium by getting a high enough partial pressure of the solvent inside the can. Which is easiest to do by adding more solvent. (Whether water or otherwise.) |
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Barriers to prevent evaporation are even easier, of course, like the plastic wrap. Though the store-it-upside-down approach is my favorite due to the high laziness factor. |
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I wonder whether most paint cans wouldn't implode under strong vacuum, resulting in a spectacular resolution of the dilemma. |
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I seem to recall a spray that did what the plastic wrap on the surface does, except you didn’t have to remove the messy thing. |
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How can you have finished painting with 2/3 of the paint left ?
keep coating , thicker coating you'll be finished soon . |
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I have a fetish for brilliant white, the whole house is white except Egberts room which is blue :) and my bedroom which is black of course. |
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Heat got to you Po? Where are you that its so bloody hot. |
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its cooler now, thanks for asking. strokes Kat. do you bite? |
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No, just a kittan, really. |
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Kat dies from stroke. Vet says, "This is the first day of the rest of your lives." |
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Going *all* the way back to the bit about using different gasses to form a layer - and considering a recent idea about competitively eating CO2, how well would dropping in a couple of pieces of dry-ice, and then sealing the lid work? |
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[po] Before closing the tin, pour a thin layer of white spirit on the top of the paint. Then it won't form the thick unusable congealed layer. Although as this idea's nearly three years old now it might be too late. |
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No chance of needing this now!! - I hope this changes in the next couple of weeks!. |
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...and lo, your wish is granted. |
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Take a flat screwdriver and with your hammer pound the screwdriver through the drip rim of the paint can in dotted line fashion 6-8 times for a gallon can. As you mallet on your can lid, those holes in the rim will allow the can to "burp" out air, and you'll have a bit less atmosphere inside the can to set the paint over the longer haul. Of course, the holes allow excess poured or wiped paint to gather inside the can and thereby avoid spattering. |
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What we do here, see, is we hire a delightful young chap that comes with his friends when I am out having a few. By the time I'm back, he has painted what needed attention, cleaned his mess, aired the house, helped himself to any unlocked booze (not too happy about that one but whatchagonnado) and left me a nice note apologising for having moved some of my furniture.
I suggest you do the same, [po] dear. |
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but <slap> I find <slap> painting <slap> the old homestead <slap> so relaxing... |
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hey, snotty - how much you pay per hour? |
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Christ it's Hot!.
I had to get on a train home today after the train that was cancelled. It was an Airtight Hellhole, I can tell ya!. |
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//hey, snotty - how much you pay per hour?//
I pay well. Are you offering? I will finish an addition to the McMansion in about three weeks and will need a painter (It's 16 degrees today, beautiful sunny day too). All-you-can-drink-with-me whiskey included. |
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I tend to flaaaag when I git offfeeeerred whissskey but... |
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what do you mean by sucking out the air manually? If you mix dry ice with paint the chemical reaction between the components blows up the paint in the air, more like the way Mr.bean paints his house. |
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//You can get those small vacuum pumps for half empty bottles of wine,//
What a strange concept. A bottle of wine is either "full", "half-full" or "not a bottle of wine anymore, time for another". |
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Just pour some turpentine in before you close it up. Works for me. |
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well, something like a microporous ptfe straw full of zirconium that wouldn't let the paint wet the Zr yet the Zr would absorb the O2 might do it, just toss the straw n the container |
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At the risk of delving into elementary physics
and/or/both chemistry, why would you expect
removing the air to stop the paint forming a skin? |
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Surely the skin forms because solvent evaporates
from the surface of the paint - in other words, the
paint dries. In this case, removing the air will simply
accelerate the process, no? |
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That should be why pouring a thin layer of solvent (e.g white spirit) on top of a solvent-based paint would stop it drying up. The partial pressure of solvent in the air-space in the tin will be such that no more solvent can evaporate. |
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You're all solving the wrong problem. Just bubble-wrap the walls. |
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//partial pressure of solvent// What the world
needs is fewer of these wishy-washy partial
pressures. Give me a solvent that produces a
complete pressure. |
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[Max] Oil paints "dry" by reacting with oxygen; evaporation of solvent is just the first step. Some traditional paint recipes have no solvent at all - just oil and pigment. |
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I agree that storing the can upside down works well. It also makes it easier to stir, as all the heavy gunk is at the top. |
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Another trick is to squirt some butane into the can before closing it. |
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//Oil paints "dry" by reacting with oxygen// Good
point. It will become an issue if the ISS ever needs a
new coat. |
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Two-part epoxy paint should work in space. Or just lift your visor and blow on it. |
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