From the Cheap Seats: Re-using Thinner

 Let's face it.  Times are hard and stuff is expensive.  So how can we be a little smarter when it comes to our disposable items like paint thinner?

I did some research and found out that most folks reuse it.  What are their methods?

For this discussion you would need:

• Clean-Up
• Brush Cleaning Bucket
• Brush Scrubber
• Paint Thinner
• Brush Beater Rack
• Grime Boss Heavy Duty Wet Wipes
• 1 Gallon Mason Jar
• SEDY 200cc Fluid Extractor
• 1 Gallon Freezer Bag
• Office size trash can
• Contractor trash bag

First, what is the general approach for brush cleaning while actually painting?

Well, brush scrubber goes into the cleaning bucket with paint thinner.  When needed, the brush is dipped into the bucket and scrubbed lightly on the screen.  But now your brush is full of thinner.

Next, you need an office size trash can.  I use a simple rubber maid that I picked up from the local Lowes.  A Contractor trash bag goes into the trash can, and the brush beater rack goes inside the contractor trash bag.  Shake the thinner off into the trash bag, then run the brush across the Brush Beater Rack swiftly a number of times.  This knocks out any remaining paint particles and (hopefully) removes  most of the paint thinner as well.

I found a painter to talked about using coffee filters to remove solids, and continual cycling from one container to another (through filters) to remove more and more of the sediment, before letting the remaining (filtered) thinner to set and then use.  I tried this method.  Now, while fairly effective and eliminating most of the paint within a couple cycles (days in my case), there were a couple issues.  First, I went through a lot of paper coffee filters.  Second each time you used paper to filter you lost a small portion of filtering to the paper and evaporation and finally - what to do with all the paint filled paper filters?

I found another painter who would let the thinner sit in her cleaning bucket for a bit then pour off the top into a second container once the paint had settled.  Then after a couple weeks she would pour off the top from the second container into a third container and let that settle.  And after a couple weeks she would pour off the top from the third container back into her cleaner for re-use.  Using this method the amount of solids (pigment etc) in each of the 'filtering' containers would amass over time and once there was too much to be of use she would take the container to her recycling center.

Now, that sounds like a more useable approach - but our recycling center for such materials is only open one weekend per year.  So that would be a problem, unless I had a very large container for filtering solids.  The problem with such a container of course would be that it had to be large enough to maintain a years worth of solids, and small enough to be able to handle when pouring off the clear liquids.  Every time you jar the jar - the thinner and paint mix and now you have to let them separate and settle again.

Unless ...

Ok, so I went through a number of alternatives.  The first was an old pour over coffee pot.  The problem here was that while small enough to handle - it was just too small for use over a long period of time and there was the above mentioned problem of filters and so on

Next I went through small (common) mason jars but more or less the same issues.  Too small to be effective AND store solids long enough to be cost effective.

Then I though - what I need are giant mason jars, sealable so the thinner doesn't evaporate AND a method to get the thinner out for use without re-mixing the paint and the thinner.

I finally ended up with the following:

• 1 Gallon Mason Jar
• SEDY 200cc Fluid Extractor
• 1 Gallon Freezer Bag

The freezer bag goes right into the Bob Ross cleaning bucket, with the brush scrubber inside the bag.

And the Bob Ross brush scrubber goes inside the freezer bag.

Clean paint thinner goes into the bag and is used until it no longer is effective.  For me at this point in painting - one maybe two sessions (I still put way too much paint on my brush).

When it is time to clean up, and using gloves, I remove the brush scrubber and clean it off with my wet wipes then set it aside.

I then remove the freezer bag and pour off the paint thinner into the Mason Jar.  You will note that I have to long term jars, one for Mona Lisa thinner and the other for Bob Ross thinner.  As I said before I have read online that you should not mix thinners.  So if you are only going to use one - only one jar is needed.

After a number of weeks, you can use the same method to remove any thinner from your Brush Beater Rack system.  UNELSS you are swapping thinners.  If you are swapping thinners you need to clean out the contractor back of paint thinner before using a different brand of thinner - based on what I have read.  

Now if anyone has different information - explaining that this is not necessary let me know.  I am no scientist, failed chemistry and haven't slept at a Holiday Inn Express lately so I really have no clue here.

After pouring off all the thinner, what is left in the bag is paint - or mostly paint with a little thinner.  You can then zip the bag closed and place the bag someplace for recycling.

After a while, any remaining solids in the mason jars will settle.  At this point I can use the SEDY fluid extractor to pull off as much thinner as I need for reuse.  I will note that it seems to take the Mona Lisa longer for the solids to settle than in the Bob Ross jar.  Purely anecdotal but you can see from these two jars that the Ross looks a little more clear - and they were both filled at the same time.

Paint Thinner Re-use Kit

For me this seems to be working quite well, although I have only had these jars for a couple weeks now.  I suspect that it will take more than a year before either of these are to the point that they just need to be permanently closed and taken to the recycling center.

- Gil