Paint Bottle Hygiene

Have you ever been all ready to paint something and you open the bottle and find that it's turned to mud?  I have, and it's a bummer.  Not only is it a waste of paint, but now you're stuck until you can buy some more.  I've read as much as I could find on what other modelers do to keep paint, and I've settled on a system that seems to be working for me.

First, I never put anything in the bottle but a clean stirrer or a clean eye dropper.  I never pour thinned paint back in the bottle. Depending on the chemistry of the paint and thinner, it can cause the paint to gel. I've seen this and others have also reported seeing it.  I don't even dip a brush that has thinner on it in the bottle.  When I brush paint, I transfer a little paint to a dish and thin it there.

Second, I keep the threads and rim of the bottle and the threads of the cap scrupulously clean.  When I remove the cap, I lay it down with the threads pointing up so that paint won't flow onto them.  If the lid or bottle is messy, I clean it with some lacquer thinner on a paper towel and let it dry. This will also make the bottle easy to open the next time I use it.

Some modelers store their paints upside down on the theory that they get a better seal.  I don't, but what I do is to give the bottle a quick shake after I close it.  My theory is that if there is a slight gap in the seal, the paint will flow into it through capillary action and close it.  Most of the paint will drain back down into the bottle by the next time I use it and the lid won't be so messy.

I don't shake the paint to mix it.  I've tried the BB's in the bottle trick, but I don't feel like it does a good job.  I've even read that some metals can react with the paint and cause it to thicken.  And, if you put in something too heavy and get carried away, you might even break the bottle.  It's happened.

I stir to mix.  You can make or buy powered stirrers; Badger makes a nice one.  I made one by putting a bent 1/8 inch diameter piece of wire in my Dremel tool.  It does a nice job, but I think it's overkill.  I figure that if the paint doesn't mix up well with a little hand stirring, it's probably bad and won't spray right anyway.  Below is a photo of my tool of choice.


I won't guarantee that you will never have a bad bottle of paint by following my routine.  All I can say is that I haven't had a problem since I began doing it.  If you've come up with something better, please pass it along.

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