I am often asked about paint storage. The do’s and don’ts. In most cases what we are talking about is extra paint from a recent painting project.

The biggest danger to successfully storing paint is temperature extremes. This is easy to control. Never store paint where it is subject to freezing like in a garage or shed or storage unit. High temperature are not ideal as well but high temperatures are not normally the problem most people face. Most often people put extra paint in the garage and it freezes.

The second biggest problem is air. More specifically the air space between the paint and the lid. You want to reduce this space to a minimum. If you have used a couple gallons out of a five gallon bucket, consider transferring that paint into single gallon cans.

Most paint cans these days are plastic so the problems associated with rusting cans is no longer common. A really good idea is to use a larger storage container to put the cans in case the is a leak. Another good idea is to flip the cans every few Months to keep the settling to a minimum. Make sure the lids are tight!!

I suggest writing down the information from the can like the formula, date, base #, etc and keep it separate from the stored paint. A dab of the paint on a card is also a good back up. In case you need to have the colors matched.