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We have several old paint cans that we want to dispose of. They are about 1/2 full and we can't take them to the landfill. Is there a good method of drying them out so we can get rid of them??? | |||
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Check around locally - many cities have 'hazardous" material dump sites. Often they are only open on select days of each month. If you can't find that then you can find an old piece of plywood or OSB and pour paint on it, let it dry and recoat until you are out of paint. Jaybee | |||
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Not going to save it for touch ups? joecaption | |||
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I take it you mean OTHER THAN just waiting until it gets dark and no one is watching and just throwing them in the river. | ||||
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These are paints (5 partially used gallons) used by our home's previous owner. I've heard that putting kitty litter into the paint can and then spreading the mix onto a plastic sheet to dry is one way of handling this. | ||||
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Here in AZ we just open the lid and wait a day! I offered my used paint on craigslist and was shocked at how many folks wanted it. There are artists, theatre groups, etc. who want your paint. As long as it is in decent condition, try listing it for free on craigslist. | ||||
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You can spill them on sheets of cardboard and let the mess dry. It then becomes a solid waste and is allowable to be placed with trash. But just remember this method may be a regional thing and may not fly where you reside. "Why isn't everyday Earth Day ?" | |||
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For such a simple problem, it can be amazingly hard to get rid of old paint. As a "commercial" user, I cannot dispose of paint in cans legally anywhere in the area that I live. My best method is to give it away. Whenever we do a job, we always leave leftover paint with the homeowner anyway, so that cuts down on much of it. I've had mixed success with the Craigslist or friends giveways, as it seems that the choices of paint get picked through - leaving a selection of paint remaining that no one wants. I only got rid of all my last batch of old paint because my college-age son took it so he and his friends could paint a large boulder on campus (Yes, University of Tennessee - that was my son and his friends that completely covered the big rock at Spring Break this year). Our tried and true method it so wait until I have a full trash load on my dump trailer, then we pour out a gallon or two of old paint on top of the pile and let it dry. Stupid and boarderline legal, but the dump and landfills will take dried paint, just not in liquid form. Jaybee | |||
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I agree as we ALWAYS leave custom mixed paint with the homeowner. They will always be in need it more than we would. Primer, bought in large quanties travels from job to job with very little to no waste involved. Not a big fan of the "NEW" primer & paint one step type of paint. The cardboard method was told to me by personal from a very large waste disposal corporation that we would all reconize. Just think if contractors had to deal with lead based paint. Hard enough dealing with well intended lead safe practices.  "Why isn't everyday Earth Day ?" | |||
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Sparky, did you mean to say 'Hard enough to deal with impossible to comply with lead safe practices"? Jaybee | |||
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That is exactly what I meant to type. One local code man with a good head on his shoulders has told me as of July 1 {I think} the feds are walking away from lead safe practices they have been preaching for years and leaving that up to each state to decide how to continue the programs in place. Which means with all those budgets in dire straits because of the WALL St messes of 2000 & 2008 the states are broke on a yearly basis. While lead safe practices are paramount, we all know what will happen to those practices.  "Why isn't everyday Earth Day ?" | |||
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I sure hope that is going to be the trend. I went through all the RRP Training and certification programs two years ago. I learned enough to decide to completely walk away from any lead based projects. The whole RRP laws are set up like a consolidation of traffic laws and enforcement - administered by someone who has never seen a car. I actually figured that we'd be seeing some heat-stroke related deaths first that would be the incentive to alter the current useless lead laws. Jaybee | |||
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I too recieved certification a few years back. And as you know all trades had to have men and women certified before they could walk onto the job. Working in Tyvex suits with N100 respirators during a July day could be deadly. Well meaning, but off target program by the feds. Say 90% + homes built here were constucted before the removal of lead based paint from store shelfs. So you have had 80 or so years of remodeling done on those homes. Lead particles litter every nook and cranny of those houses. Now all those lead safety practices must be in place on a remodel. Well intended, but useless in most cases. And realized by all except certified lead testers making a killing on retests because of failed test results. We too are walking away for lead jobs, as you just can't turn a profit there.This message has been edited. Last edited by: CommonwealthSparky, "Why isn't everyday Earth Day ?" | |||
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my first job out of 2nd college program was for a auto paint distributor whose owners developed a computerized system to store the mix recipies. you can imagine in the late 80s what all was in there... high VOC, lead in some of the metalflake, catalyzed materials. so what do you do with the slop and mixmixes? they had pickup by (a green truck outfit probably mentinoed aforetime) for that material. dump it in a special barrel. when it's hard, it's not hazmat any more, but it got trucked to a special landfill anyway. reasonable quantities of decent mismix paint or leftovers from a big job are usually gladly taken at a habitat Re-Use center with a tax receipt. you would be a good neighbor to put a color glob on the lid, and mark the level of paint with a line on the label if you do that. I treasure my leftovers as a homeowner, for we always have dings and cat scratches to fix. sig: if this is a new economy, how come they still want my old-fashioned money? | ||||
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I admire your thinking about save the land from being polluted....... There are many poisonous chemicals present in the oil paint which are harmful for land and animals.So it would be really insensible thing for disposing it anywhere...I praise you for this sense of responsibility......Before dumping it to a particular safe place..just try to ask to your neighborhoods and your friends if they need it for their home renovation....It will be quite generous thing.. | ||||
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I have used kitty litter, and it worked really well. However, I didn't spread it out. I just poured so much into each paint can to create a dry paste then I put them into the garbage can. This was advised by my garbage pickup company. | ||||
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