John Sez:
By John Harris, Belcaro Paint, Paint Chemist
One way of disposing of unwanted paint is to sell your house and leave the paint behind. Eventually, however, someone must address the accumulation of this nuisance and properly dispose of it. Here are some suggestions for disposing of paint no longer needed.
- Use it somewhere where the color does not matter…maybe as a first coat to help change colors.
- Give or donate it to someone else who can use it…maybe you can write it off on your taxes.
- Paint it out, a little at a time, on some cardboard which when dried can be placed in the normal solid trash.
- If it is latex paint, mix with Kitty Litter or Waste Paint Hardener (found at most paint stores), which dries out and solidifies, ready for solid waste disposal.
- If it is oil paint, remove the lid, stir well and hang high on a nail in the garage. Periodically dispose of the dried skin, re-stir, and continue this cycle until it is all gone. Some have reported the Kitty Litter works with oil paint but I have not had much success with it.
Just do not pour it down the drain or otherwise improperly dispose of paint.
The first rule of recycling is to buy only what you need and use it all. Our Wet Paint Color Testers will help you not make the mistake of buying the wrong color. Our testers are inexpensive and help you see what 4 square feet of color you are considering will look like. It is not fool proof but has helped thousands of our customers not make a color mistake and necessitate waste disposal.
Belcaro Paint & Decorating Center, Inc.
5475 Leetsdale Dr., Denver, CO 80246 303-757-5435
or
209 W. Littleton Blvd., Littleton CO 80120 303-703-4487
email us
Belcaro website
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