Old paint... waste of time

Found some old paint downstairs which should have worked with the house and thought i'd try it for touch ups.... was disappointed.
(The one that looks ok in the photo probably isnt as it had an old brush in it when I opened it and I could see the brush had rusted... this photo is after I mixed it up). Time to chuck them out (after I let the paint harden).

 

Yuck that paint is years old.

Pour some kitty litter in, hardens adn then can throw in bin

 

Thanks Dave.

 

kitty litter is that all that is required???

I looked at buying paint hardener and baulked at the price.
So i resorted to putting smaller amounts in a tin and letting it dry up then repeated the process. Took me several weeks.

Feeling angry at myself for being stupid. Anyway thanks for the tip!

 

Paint is hygroscopic, and as such will attract water from the atmosphere (even the amount of moisture in the air trapped in the tin), and 'go off'.

Paint is generally given a shelf life of 12 months. This can be prolonged longer if you purge the drums with nitrogen (heavier than air and provides a protective barrier between the paint and air), but I doubt anyone would do this domestically.

Best you buy the paint harder stuff available from hardware store while you're getting some new paint.

pinkboy

 

@Gockie and dont forget to paint those toe nails

 

I realised the smaller can of paint had a tiny hole at the bottom of it... the paint was quite thick at the lower half. After I stirred it up the now thinned paint could now escape through that hole....