What do I do with all this old paint?

What to do with all this OLD PAINT

This is a question I answer on a weekly basis:

While working on customer’s homes we are often are sent to the basement then to the garage and sometimes out to the back shed to find old paint to perform touch ups or to match to repaint a wall or trim.  

What we often find during this hunt is paint from years past, colors of yesterdays past from families who have moved from the home we are now working (see pic).  

After finding all the paint we have to attempt to open the paints cans which in some cases mean prying them open with

screw drivers and pliers. (You might have done the same).

There are a couple of solutions to getting rid of old paint properly.

First and foremost, if the paint is still good and are full gallons, this happens often when paint was over bought for a project, is that we donate it to Habitat for Humanity or the local community theater.

When the paint is latex consisting of partial gallons and quarts there are a few options:

•  The first option is adding kitty litter or a product called Rock Hard which is sold at local home centers and then stirring it thru the paint and leave the cover off and in time it will dry hard.  When the latex paint is hard it can be left out in the trash and it is safe for the local trash pickup to take with the other trash.
• Another option for latex or oil paint is use a piece of plywood and roll out the paint on the plywood and let dry and add coat after coat.  A 4×8 sheet of is 32 square feet and a typical full gallon of paint will cover 325 square feet of wall so a few times covering the sheet of plywood with paint will soon use up the partial leftover gallons. 
• If the paint is oil and the plywood option is not applicable we hold the paint and dispose of it at the annual recycle day for free in our town.  If waiting is not an option there are companies that will pick up your old paint for a fee.

If you have any questions regarding your old paint, please feel free in contacting us, we would be happy to assist.

Regards,

Ron Ramsden 

Ramsden Painting