Comments on: Use water bottles to store paint

By: gypsypacker

gypsypacker — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:53:10 +0000

If you are eating yogurt from plastic cups with lids, or know someone who does, use these with a swipe of paint on the lid. A Pringles cap will fit on most 6-8oz yogurt cups. These hold just enough paint for touchup, or for mixing with glaze or another paint for redoing secondhand furniture.

By: Eve Martel

Eve Martel — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:25:12 +0000

I use Mason glass jars to store paint.

By: Doug Ransom

Doug Ransom — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:33:31 +0000

It is not wise to use food and beverage containers to store chemicals.

By: adora

adora — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:56:49 +0000

I suggest Rubbermaid Paint Buddy: http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubb.....id=HPNP018

They are so convenient, so you are less likely to put off touching up around your home. Each stores couple of ounces of paint, which is often more than you will ever need. Just throw the rest of the paint away, but be sure to write down the brand and number just in case.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:38:48 +0000

Uggggh, this is giving me terrible flashbacks- we just closed on our house in March.. And let’s just say every room needed some “updating.” We were doing our walk through on the morning of the close, and there were literally 30 different gallons of paint sitting in the basement. The previous owners left them because they thought we “might want to use them.” Suffice to say, our realtor contacted the sellers, and they ended up clearing out all of the paint before we moved in.

Great tips, though. I’ll keep them in mind for future use.

By: Jim Deitzel

Jim Deitzel — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:34:30 +0000

I recently finished a garage makeover. The one thing I was not able to accomplish was to ‘do something’ with all my old paint cans.

This is a great idea. I know what I’m doing shortly.

By: Odette

Odette — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:21:03 +0000

I’ve successfully used water bottles for several years for latex paint. The problem is — how do you transfer the paint from the jumbo paint can to the tiny mouth of the bottle?

By: MRW

MRW — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:25:15 +0000

Turn cans upside down for storage. Rubber-hammer to make sure they’re closed. I’ve kept paint for 14 years that way.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:58:11 +0000

I regretfully must report that the oh-so-cool rubbermaid roller top storage bottles for extra paint are no good at all.
I went to great lengths to get some when I painted our place 3 years ago, and threw out the dried-up remains of the bottle and paint just thins morning. (sigh)

I vote for using glass or the empty tins that Home depot sells in the paint dept. Just use clear packaging tape (the really clear, really sticky stuff) to tape and completely cover a paint chip of the paint, the year, and the room it’s in on the outside. That’s what worked for me before, and what I’m going back to now. (double sigh–those bottles were so COOL!)

By: Michele

Michele — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:24:05 +0000

This was a great post and the comments are really informative as well.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:14:42 +0000

This suggestion couldn’t have come at a better time, I’m just finishing up painting the house and I’ve got a bunch of extra paint to deal with. Thanks!

By: Celeste

Celeste — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:59:41 +0000

I second the glass jars–not only are you re-using them, you’re saving space by using a smaller container than the paint can. I would probably crate or box these jars of paint to minimize child access or accidental breakage, too. This is timely because I am about to embark on a repainting project.

By: Harris

Harris — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:54:05 +0000

Good idea but we all have to get away from using so many plastic bottles. Glass is better and doesn’t leak. Our landfills are overfull….please think about what you purchase and how it is packaged.
Lets “unclutter” our landfills too!!

By: jmanna

jmanna — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:18:29 +0000

In terms of getting rid of paint without wasting it, try contacting local community theater groups or high school theater groups. A lot of these groups are working with very little money and paint can be used for backdrops and set pieces

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:06:29 +0000

Very timely post! I have been going through my paint stash because my nephew just bought a home and needs to paint. I found several gallon cans with a tiny amount of paint sludge in the bottom. They went straight to the trash just yesterday!

As soon as I read this post, I went back and checked a plastic jar I had stored paint in a year ago. The jar was the kind that bullion cubes came in, so it is heavier than the water bottles I get here. Plastic is permeable. If you have ever stored unopened soda in the 2 liter bottles, you know that it goes flat after a certain amount of time, depending on the temperature. I thought if I used a more rigid bottle, it might delay the diffusion of gasses.

The paint I had stored in the jar was still liquid after 1 year. I shook it easily to mix it because there was a slight airspace in the jar. I had stored it upside down in my Arizona garage for the last year, so it has been in 100+degree conditions for that time and still useable.

By: Lia

Lia — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:52:26 +0000

This will only work for water based paints. Anything else will have solvents in the paint that will eat away at the plastic in the bottles. For oil based paints, use glass containers!

By: Fit Bottomed Girls

Fit Bottomed Girls — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:59:57 +0000

That’s seriously such a good idea! We just renovated our downstairs and have lots of paint leftover. Putting it in a water bottle is perfect because you can see the color and it wouldn’t take up as much room as those bulky cans.

By: Red

Red — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:46:04 +0000

We used old peanut butter jars for paint and other things. Take the labels off, write on the outside with marker, and you have a sturdy clear plastic (or glass) container with a screw-on lid that you know is tight. If you go to my father’s workshop at his house, you’ll find paint, wire screws, certain types of soaps and solvents, and various other types of hardware sorted into peanut butter jars. They stack well too if you have loads of things to store.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:41:44 +0000

@Lor — If you have small children, all toxic chemicals should be behind lock and key. A storage cabinet with a key kept in a secret location out of reach will keep kids away from all poisons. Most states in the U.S. require a cabinet such as this if you are adopting … so I think it’s a good idea for ALL parents.

By: Sharon J

Sharon J — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:26:42 +0000

Excellent idea and one I shall definitely be putting into use

As for children ingesting it because of it being stored in a water (or other liquid) bottle, I suggest parents teach their children not to drink or eat anything that isn’t in the kitchen or that I or another responsible adult has given them the go ahead for. That’s all I did and they never touched anything that we stored in jars, bottles etc.