Keeping small containers of paint fresh?

[Mike Kolb]

Thought I'd toss this question out for the troops....  I'm forever mixing small amounts of tinted lacquer for touch-ups. Various shades of mahogany, vintage amber, and the list goes on.

After mixing-up something appropriate and using it, I'll dab a bit on a piece of white tape and affix it to the top of a supposedly sealed small jar for future use... and there's the rub. By the time I need that particular shade again, nine times out of ten, it's hardened and useless. 

Anyone got some got good tips for keeping small am'ts of lacquer fresh (or at least usable)?  While we're at it, how about the various glues?... do you refrigerate any? I'd like to hear your thoughts....

[Phil Keener]

Jeff-

Use the inert gas on those opened cans of latex and oil based paint around your house.

Phil

[Jeff Highland]

Yes that is exactly where you would use it. Paint as opposed to lacquer actually oxidises as well as drying which is why you cant just redissolve it,

[Mike Kolb]

Good thought, Jeff, on the "not too much free volume in the container".  Got me to thinking that a fellow could put whatever leftover lacquer in a small jar, then drop a number of marbles in the paint until it reached 99.9% to the top.

Seems that would, effectively, limit the am't of available oxygen to cure the lacquer....

[Jeff Highland]

Not so much  to avoid the oxygen curing the lacquer, case it doesen't, more not having too much free space for the solvent to evaporate into.

[Mike Kolb]

Yeah... that! :)

[LARRY KLOSE]

Really tight bottles are a must.  One place that has them is a model train company called PBL, which has a line of paints for models--nitro lacquer.  They use bottles that seal very tightly and preserve the paint for a long, long time.  www.p-b-l.com.  I think they're an ounce and a quarter.

Another source for smaller bottles is a hobby shop.  The paint brand Floquil (also model trains) sells smaller bottles with very good cap seals.  I've stored mixes in them for years with good results.  And, as several have said, nitro can be reconstituted with lacquer thinner.

Glues, not so much.  The chemistry is way different than nitro lacquer.  most seem to have a shelf life, especially ACC (super glues).  Refrigerator storage really prolongs their life but they do go eventually, it seems.

[Mark Day]

Many years ago my mom taught me a trick she learned from a Tupperware party or some such. It was to keep cottage cheese fresh well beyond the expiration date. You simply make sure the lid is on tight, and invert the container. I can tell you this works for more than just cottage cheese. I store everything liquid in this manner - even new unopened containers. The reason I believe it works is because the liquid forms a seal at the lid, which is now on the bottom, and the "top" is naturally sealed off since it is the solid bottom of the can, jar, bottle, etc. I store paint, varnish, glue, and used to store photo chemicals in my pre-digital days, in this manner and everything lasted much, much longer than it would have if stored upright. Opened cans of paint and varnish stored like this have still been good years later.

Good luck

 

Mark

 

[robert wiltsch]

Try using clean bb's or marbles to displace the fluid to the top of the container. Tape the outside (screw on ) or  if a can put a piece of wax paper on the top then reapply the lid.

[Phil Keener]

Decent idea Robert-

My only tip is to use stainless steel bb's, others will oxidize or rust. I've had no issues with small marbles or glass beads.

phil