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stored latex paint.

rez | Posted in General Discussion on April 2, 2005 07:16am

How long can one store latex paint before it becomes useless?

 

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  1. VaTom | Apr 02, 2005 07:20pm | #1

    Don't know, but 10 yrs is no problem, other than maybe rust in the can.

    PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

  2. User avater
    IMERC | Apr 02, 2005 07:38pm | #2

    what were the temature ranges it was stored in..

    Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

    WOW!!!   What a Ride!

    Forget the primal scream,  just ROAR!!!

  3. SonnyLykos | Apr 02, 2005 07:41pm | #3

    Indefintely. The key is o keep air from getting to it. When done using latex pour in a shot glass or two of water to completely cover the top of the paint. It acts a a barrier between the paint and the air in the can. Then when using the paint again, just mix in the water. Ditto for oil base paint but use mineral spirits instead of the water.

    What happens with latex paint is it eventually becomes sour, and smells like it. But that takes many, many years if the water covering is used.

  4. User avater
    BillHartmann | Apr 02, 2005 08:08pm | #4

    I did a basement for a friend of mine.

    She had paint left over from her old house. And some previous owners had left.

    Some of it was guessed to be 25 yo, other 5-15.

    All kinds of colors and brands.

    She mixed all of it together and surprisingly it worked.

  5. Nails | Apr 02, 2005 08:18pm | #5

    All .....How about frozen , cans bulged out but not open, plus age?

  6. WayneL5 | Apr 02, 2005 08:28pm | #6

    Eventually the bacteria grow in it and it becomes really rank.

    1. rez | Apr 02, 2005 09:24pm | #8

      Thanks all.

      Well gee, maybe I got lucky. Less than five years.

      In basement, never froze, never hot.

      Had poured a bunch of the ext latex white into 5 gallon plastic buckets and sealed back then.

      Colors I left in cans for labels. This is the year I'm going to use it up.

      This year is the year to purge old stuff all around.

      One of the privileges of getting older is the junk you decide to keep gets to be a better grade of junk.

      be a board, be a brickbe a bucket, be so slick

      save a nickle, save a dimesave a window, drywall lime

      stash those shingles, hardware, hoseyou never know, be needing thosea pile here, a shed goes there,Hardwoods! oh boy, do I dare?

      Auction fever! holy shid!Why that's so cheap I gotta bid.Uh, now I got to haul it homeSo I can store it in my dome

      My truck is piled like Grapes of WrathBut look what's saved? Hey, do the math!and now the years are flyin' byHow many sinks before I die?And faucets, hinges, trim mold tooNow whattahell am I gonna do?I think it's time to have a sale,come on now, boxes? full of nails?And me I use a nail gunSince tendonitus ain't no fun.so 50 pounds of common 8s?lefthand gloves without their mates?galvied trims and slotted screws?What in the world was I planning to do?

      Prob'ly planning building'r such,not thinking and then got too much.Now in somber introspectionAs I gaze on the collection,Planning for a new directionI hit the button that says ejectionThat's just for my own protectionSince the thought of three floor erectionof a building of my selectionMy sanity has no conceptiongoodbye cruel world...

       

       

       

      1. zendo | Apr 02, 2005 09:33pm | #9

        Frozen is bad, messes with the chem makeup.

        If I were to do the water trick, I would probably use distilled... I have seen many cans with mold/ mildew in them.

        Best would be to strain it because even a good batch is going to have some dried matter.

        -zen

      2. VaTom | Apr 02, 2005 11:08pm | #10

        Better keep your day job.  <g>  And you were worrying me about buying stuff and not using it?PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

      3. Gumshoe | Apr 03, 2005 06:10am | #17

        Hoo-boy you and me must be related somehow. Been through some lean times when there just was no work nohow, and that seems to program the psyche to salvage and save. When I built my little storage/shop in back, I saved a (small) bundle of cash by using the (perfectly good) windows I had been accumulating from yardsales. And when my wife needed shelves to sell her antiques and used books at her store, most of them were built or trimmed with salvaged wood. And I've done lots of little remodels and improvements at home with leftovers from bigger projects. But now I'm at the point where my living/working space is being seriously encroached by all this STUFF! My wife gets traumatized whenever I talk about just trashing it all, so now I can't even discuss it with her (she's afraid I'm going to dump all her slightly-damaged and in-need-of-repair antiques and collectibles). So I've agreed to let her supervise my clean-out, and next weekend I'm hoping to have the mother of all yardsales and get rid of a bunch. Maybe I'll call Goodwill to pick up what doesn't sell. Or rent a roll-off dumpster (oh man it upsets my wife when I say that!).But I'm in the process of renewing my contractor's license, and getting serious about running a viable business, so I GOTTA get organized! HELP!

        1. rez | Apr 03, 2005 08:50pm | #20

          Well maybe you ought to consider keeping it all as from what I understand...

          "Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."Mark Twain

           

          be paintedbwaa!

           

          1. Gumshoe | Apr 04, 2005 03:40am | #21

            "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied." - from Huckleberry Finn (yardsale this weekend...it all goes!)

            Edited 4/3/2005 8:50 pm ET by Huck

          2. rez | Apr 04, 2005 06:58pm | #22

            Only thing I remember is how cool Huck Finn was in getting the neighborhood kids to pay him for the privlidge of whitewashing the fence.

            be Huck Finn is a hero

             

  7. sledgehammer | Apr 02, 2005 08:55pm | #7

    A trick I use for keeping paint is instead of water,take plastic wrap (saran) and float it directly on the surface of the paint. Stops air and when the lid rusts the particles fall on the wrap keeping the paint clean.

  8. DanH | Apr 02, 2005 11:29pm | #11

    You need to keep the air away from it. Make sure the seal is clean before putting the lid on. Make sure the lid is on tight. For short periods, store the can upside-down (with appropriate precautions -- plastic under it, etc -- in case of a leak). For longer periods use the plastic wrap on top or one of the other tricks. I think some folks put some sort of oil on top.

    1. sledgehammer | Apr 03, 2005 12:13am | #12

      Store upside down for short periods is a good idea. Reminds me of a story , homeowner retreved a can that had been stored upside down for years. She came upstairs with the can of paint stood in the door and anounced I found it. I turn around to see she has leaked paint through the house because the bottom had rusted out. Thank god I didn't get that cleanup job.

    2. DHoov2 | Apr 03, 2005 12:20am | #13

      Just went through some old latex cans last year. Seems the cans are more likely to go before the paint. Even if the paint's still good in a metal can, the rim is so rusted after a few years that you can't get the paint out without it picking up pieces of the rust.
      I put some smaller leftover amounts in large peanut butter jars, but don't know how well they seal. Looks like a few brands are going to plastic containers. Don't understand why that isn't the standard.

      1. zendo | Apr 03, 2005 03:37am | #14

        Im assuming you mean glass jars, I do the same.  The wide mouths are good for clear finishes as well, especially if you need a formula or to cut it and dont want to do it to the whole can.

        Id use a slip of plastic bag or wrap if I was worried about a screw on seal.

        -zen

        1. DHoov2 | Apr 03, 2005 05:44am | #15

          No, they were plastic peanut butter jars. Mistake?By the way, do paint stores have plastic storage containers of some kind? Don't remember ever seeing any. I've seen the standard metal cans, but not plastic.

          1. alwaysoverbudget | Apr 03, 2005 06:06am | #16

            s-w is going  to plastic containers,lids screw on.time will tell how well the work larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.

        2. DanH | Apr 03, 2005 06:55am | #18

          I put paint in wide-mouth canning jars. A lot more reliable seal.This also works well when you're doing touch-up. Put paint in the jar, paint brush in a plastic bag, and you can open it up and do some touch-up, then go back to other stuff, without having to clean up or have the stuff go bad.

          1. zendo | Apr 03, 2005 04:59pm | #19

            No, no mistake, Im sure they work fine.  Actually artist grade acrylic is all in plastic with plastic lids.  I have color that has been around for probably 10 years, and that has a lot less water.

            -zen

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