Replies

1. 
   Sphere | Jul 05, 2004 03:00am | #1

   just brush the sludge or tailins, on newspaper, cardboard..what have you..let it dry. Dispose of like a regular paper waste. WHEN DRY..or burn it.

   I do not "save" MS or most solvents to reuse..cross contamination is too likely..evaporation makes almost all solvents safe for standard disposal.

    

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

2. 
   4Lorn1 | Jul 05, 2004 03:15am | #2

   In a lot of cases thinners and such can be reused to the point that they pretty much disappear. I keep five containers that automatically get sorted and reused. Sounds complex but the principle is simple.

   I have a container of fresh solvent but brushes get three baths. The baths are in ever cleaner solvent with each solvent container being demoted one, or more as the situation demands, after use. the final rinse is in fresh solvent.

   Once brushes get cleaned all the containers are allowed to sit. Usually the solids fall out of solution leaving relatively fresh solvent on top. The easiest way to get the solvent off of the sediment is to use a turkey baster. It gets the solvent without disturbing the crud.

   The pasty goop in the bottom is scraped out is put into a can and allowed to evaporate before being discarded. One of those flat bladed plastic batter spatulas normally seen in the kitchen works well to get almost all of it. Needless to say this spatula doesn't go back into the kitchen and don't grab the DW's favorite unless the doghouse has central heating and cable TV.

   With some care and finesse very little solvent is wasted.

3. 
   WayneL5 | Jul 05, 2004 03:22am | #3

   Definitely not glass, it's too fragile.  Either metal or solvent resistant plastic.  The best is a steel safety can like one of these from http://www.mcmaster.com.  I only have small amounts of solvents, so I let them evaporate outdoors like the previouos poster said.

   Steel Safety Cans
   	View Image
   Double-seamed and soldered for durability. Made of 24-ga. steel, unless noted. Color is red. All are FM approved and UL listed. All openings have a plated steel double-mesh flame arrester.      A trigger-grip handle opens the spout on 1-gal. or less capacity cans. Pull back on the free-swinging carrying handle on the 2-gal. and larger cans to open spout. Optional pour spouts are sold separately below.      Type I cans have a short-valved spout. Type II cans have a  5/8" OD x 9" Lg. flexible metal spout, except the 5-gal. can which has a 1" OD x 12" Lg. flexible metal spout.
   Capacity Size Ht. Each   Type I Safety Cans- One Opening 1 pt. 4 5/8" Dia. 6 3/4"  4290T11  $33.41  1 qt. 4 5/8" Dia. 8 1/4"  4290T12  33.45   1/2 gal. 7 1/4" Dia. 8 3/8"  4290T13  27.05  1 gal. 8 1/2" Dia. 11 3/4"  4290T14  25.30  1 gal. 8" Lg. x 6" Wd. 13"  4290T39 ‡ 44.20  2 gal. 9 3/8" Dia. 12 5/8"  4290T15  28.65  2 1/2 gal. 11 1/2" Dia. 11 3/8" & ...[Message truncated]

4. 
   DanH | Jul 05, 2004 03:58am | #4

   I'm certainly no pro, but my approach is this: I buy the solvent in 1-gallon plastic jugs. After solvent is used I pour it into an empty jug. When that is about 1/2 or 2/3 full I decant into another jug. This I use for first/second wash on oil paint/primer brushes, using fresh solvent fir the final wash. (I always use fresh solvent for varnish brushes.)

   As someone else said, the stuff pretty much evaporates away after several uses (especially the way I tend to spill it). Every so often I switch jugs and let scummiest jug dry out before disposal.

5. 
   nikkiwood | Jul 05, 2004 05:33am | #5

   As others have said, let the used paint thinner sit in its container for a month or two (with the cap on). the sludge will sink to the bottom, and you can decant the clean stuff into a another container. I always use an empty paint thinner can.

   You can let the sludge dry out, but you can also pour cat litter into the container to speed the process. A cheaper alternative is the the oil absorbing clay sold by auto parts stores.

   This trick also works for small amounts of paint and varnish (including alkyd and oil products). You just have to pour in enough of the absorbent and stir it around until the sludge is absolutely dry. Then it is safe to dispose of in your regular trash.

   I got this trick from the hazardous waste people in MN.

1. 
   DHoov2 | Jul 05, 2004 07:08am | #6

   Can anyone give some examples of solvent resistent plastic containers? How about plastic peanut butter jars?

1. 
   4Lorn1 | Jul 05, 2004 07:38am | #7

   I use pickle jars. They are proof against solvents and have an air tight lid. Being clear they also make using the turkey baster a lot easier. I can get just about all of the usable solvent above the crud after settling. Also I can see when the brew has settled and any color for compatibility with the finish, for some reason some of the red dyes are very persistent, from across the room.

   Of course being glass I have to take some care. I usually do things at home but when I have transported them I keep cardboard or something else to keep them from banging together. In all the years I think I have broken one.

   The big point is that seeing as that I like a good kosher dill, has to be crisp, salty and tart not stale, sweet and/or rubbery, I have the jars on hand. Free. It also qualifies as recycling so I suppose I get brownie points in the hereafter from Gia. Mostly, if not completely offset I fear, by my sins against Mother Nature, if not nature itself.

1. 
   treesk8ice | Jul 05, 2004 10:32pm | #11

   Well my local hardware store doesn't sell the metal gas cans anymore.  HD had empty qt and gal paint cans but I was hesitant about the lids not sealing like a screw top.  I didn't feel like running all over the county and had to go to the local grocery store anyhow......do you know how hard it is to find any product these days that is packed in glass!?  I finally found in the pickle aisle (thanks to one of the responses) and got 2 jars with screw tops.  I even debated over 2 brands with 10 cents difference because one had right on the label that it was glass.  I kept tapping all the containers and they just didn't sound like glass to me----maybe it was the pickles!

   My MS, the only can I have, is a gallon metal can, hence looking for another container.  My jelly jar sure wasn't big enough.  And finding a turkey baster was equally a challenge....they are all a heavy plastic, much narrower than I remember from my youth, and have a rubber sqeezy ball - what ever happened to the big ones made of glass?  I guess I am dating myself - and I don't cook either.  I'll give the pickles to my neighbor.  Yuk!

1. 
   Sphere | Jul 05, 2004 11:51pm | #12

   I hate to tell ya this after your pickle ordeal..I know that pop bottles pepsi, coke Mountain dew and the like,,won't melt from MS..so really, almost any plastic container will work for MS..I can even get it in gallon jugs here..plastic.

   Once had a shop and a neighbor asked to borrow some Laq. Thinner...I was headed to town, told him to help himself..I got home and found a half melted styrofoam coffee cup, and him next door..busily washing the melted foam off his hands..

   Another time I used an old tooth brush to clean up my spraygun..left the TB in the laq. thinner overnite..next morning all that was left was the bristles..and little sparkle glitter from the handle. 

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

2. 
   DanH | Jul 06, 2004 12:34am | #14

   Yeah, lacquer thinner will dissolve lots of plastics. Standard MS and other "paint thinnner" products (which are basically gasoline/maptha range hydrocarbons) are much less likely to cause problems -- if anything they will make the plastic harden and crack over time, vs instantaneously disintegrating the plastic.

2. 
   DanH | Jul 05, 2004 03:25pm | #8

   One assumes that the plastic containers that the solvent comes in are solvent-resistant. If you don't have any of those, and your local paint shop doesn't sell steel cans, buy cheap steel gas cans at a hardware store. (Be sure to label them somehow so you don't accidentally pour the stuff into your gas tank.)

1. 
   Sphere | Jul 05, 2004 08:26pm | #9

   actually, thats an excellent way to dispose of thinner..if it's been decanted, it's fine in a gas tank..I used lac. thinner for fuel treatment, MS would be fine too..it's MORE refined than gasoline.

   I had a truck that ran on 5 gals Aviation Fuel, 2.5 gals of methyl alcohol, and 2 gals. of water..in a ten gal. tank.  Good mix for the off road racing I was doing..in winter it would leave a vapor trail..way cool. 

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

1. 
   DanH | Jul 05, 2004 10:05pm | #10

   The problem is that, even if decanted, the stuff contains some varnish-like components (especially if you washed varnish brushes). A little of this probably won't hurt most engines, but enough could clog carb, injectors, etc.

2. 
   Sphere | Jul 05, 2004 11:52pm | #13

   well with common sense..I'm talking  qt. to maybe 15 gallons of gas..not enough to fill up the tank..lol 

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.