Paint tools storage container?

Nanako

Hi all, a DIY question!

I'm doing a lot of painting, and i've found its generally good to immerse recently used painting tools in white spirit, especially if you plan to use them again later that day, letting paint dry onto things is very bad.

In the spirit of saving money, i am trying to reuse the spirit, by occasionally pouring it through a filter, so i dont just want to pour it down the drain. I need a large sealed container to keep the brushes and spirit in.

In that spirit, i recently bought a big empty 5 litre paint can from amazon, unfortunately it hasnt turned out so well. Bad construction, the lid is too deep, and the rim of it too shallow, so its damn near impossible to reopen once you close it, and i ended up tearing the metals of it with a butterknife in the process. Weak materials i guess,  Marked as defective, return is in progress, but i need something to replace it.

its easy enough to find big 5-10 litre plastic buckets which are sealed, but i'm worried about the fragility of those. Plastic tends to deform under liquid load, and shatter under stress, and that'd cause a lot of waste. But also, i'm not sure that plastic would be a good material for storing large quantities of solvents, might eat through it?

Can anyone recommend an affordable container for this purpose which is durable, solvent-safe, and large enough to put brushes and rollers into, and then seal the lid closed? My biggest paint roller is 32x26cm, and that kind of size requirement really shrinks the number of valid options here.

ideally, two of em, since i'll want to occasionally pour solvent from one to the other

Olinda99

Just a quick question are you really painting solvent based paint with a roller that big?

you could always switch to water-based paint

Nanako

some paint is water based, some is much sturdier stuff, which the manufacturer recommends using white spirit for. Right now i'm doing my kitchen in a waterproof shade

i don't fancy keeping seperate vats for different kinds of paint, when i already plan to keep them for seperate sediment levels of solvent

Alanp

Why don’t you wrap your rollers/brushes in a plastic bag, that way they won’t dry out and can be used later

teaselMay

Food bags is your answer, or cling film but that ends up more wasteful and occasionally disintegrates. Between coats I stick the brush or mini roller in a food bag and smooth it down to expel the air and seal around the handle. With thick paints such as hammerite rollers only tend to last one coat - I've learned from bitter experience painting the bottom of my van.

It sounds as though you're mixing your oil based and water based paints though, that doesn't tend to end well. In the house all of my paint is water based these days.

kipsterno1

For brushes use an old, large, coffee jar. Fix a hook to the inside of the lid and hang the brush down into the liquid. 

ChilliBob

Seen stuff online for a pringles tube for a roller! Personally I tend to only use water based and wrap in cling film between coats or days.

There is specific tools for this thouguh, I think it's called a brush buddy or something - I didn't look into it too much though as it was quite expensive I think

FreeBear

Nanako said: In the spirit of saving money, i am trying to reuse the spirit, by occasionally pouring it through a filter, so i dont just want to pour it down the drain.

Do NOT ever pour solvents (and that includes white spirit) down the drain. It will end up polluting the local waterways.

Put it in a sealed container and take it to your local council recycling centre. From there, it will be disposed of in a safe responsible manner.

stuart45

ChilliBob said:

There is specific tools for this thouguh, I think it's called a brush buddy or something - I didn't look into it too much though as it was quite expensive I think

Close, it's a brush mate. Around £60.

Albermarle

Personally I tend to only use water based and wrap in cling film between coats or days.

I find this works very well, even if you do not use the brush again for 3 or 4 days.
Also if with a roller you still have some paint in the tray, you can just cover the tray with clingfilm ( with the roller in the tray) and it is fine the next day at least.

shiraz99

No need to use white spirit with water based paints. If you're planning on using your brushes and rollers again in the day, or even the next day, then simply wrap them in cellophane or seal them in a freezer bag. As long as air can't get to them they won't dry out.