centurypainting in Charlotte

How To Keep House Paint From Drying Out

Take it from us here at Century Painting; it is extremely rare that there is no paint left over after a painting project. You either have too much or too little – only every once in a blue moon will you have less than a quarter of a can left once the job is done.

So what can you do with the leftover paint? It’s always a good idea to have some paint handy in case you need to make any touch ups. It is also handy to have some of the original paint around in case there is some damage to your walls that needs to be repaired and then repainted.

While it is a good idea to have some extra paint just in case, it can be hard to store it properly. In today’s post, we are going to go over a couple of ways you can keep your extra house paint from drying out and becoming useless.

Air is the Enemy

The most important thing to keep in mind when storing your excess paint is that exposure to air will dry it out. You want to keep as much air away from the surface of the paint as possible. If you keep this general rule of thumb in mind, you may even come up with your own effective ways to keep house paint from drying out.

But the first method we have for you involves plain old tin foil. What you do is take the lid from your paint can(s) and lay it out on a sheet of tin foil. Then, with a marker, trace a circle tightly around the rim of the lid onto the foil.

Then, with scissors, cut out the circle you made on the foil. The idea is to have a circle of tinfoil that matches up with the diameter of your paint can as closely as possible. Then all you have to do is work the circle of tin foil inside the paint can and have it rest gently on the surface of the paint inside.

After you have done that, you can seal the can with the original lid and store it upright.

Upside Down Cans

For this method, all you will need is some plastic wrap and a rubber mallet. Stretch a length of plastic wrap over the opening of the can so that it forms a tight seal. Then place the lid on top and seal it by pounding it into place with a rubber mallet.

Once you have the lid securely in place, store it in a cool, dry area of your home (garages are the best places provided that they don’t get below freezing temperatures) upside down. This will make it so very little air can get in through the lid.

It is important to note that simply dumping excess paint is dangerous, wasteful and possibly even illegal depending on where you live. If you have any questions, please contact us (704) 245-9409