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Disposal of paint covered rags/paper towels
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Message
Posted
Hi.
I just wondered what people do to dispose of all their paper towels/rags that have toxic paints (cobalt, lead, cadmium etc) and oil on. I have read that you they shouldnt go to landfill so we shouldnt be putting them in the household bin so what do people do? There is no info for this on my local council waste webpages?
Posted
Just be very careful about putting oily rags on a bonfire, Even if they look dry, they can flare up and cause significant damage to you or things around the fire. Also, there is the issue of pollution from the ashes into the ground - I don't think that cobalts, cadmiums & leads burn away to nothing.
I'm sorry that I don't have an alternative to offer. Hopefully someone else will do so,
Posted
Rags can self-combust, just to add a note of cheer. I clean brushes and palette with kitchen towel, and dispose of that - there are minimal quantities of paint in it - with the regular household waste, double-bagged and wrapped in newsprint. Cadmiums and Cobalts don't present a problem: neither does lead, if you let it dry before disposing of it: it dries very quickly.
I don't have a lot of paint left over - if there's a significant quantity left from one painting, I just use it on another: wrapped in newspaper, I don't believe it represents any real problem, but I should be interested in what your local council has to say.
On self-combustion - as I always use kitchen towel and always have, and don't keep large quantities of paint soiled material lying about, I've had over 50 years without a single example of it, but it can happen, if exactly the right conditions, heat and volatile oil and spirits, occur. But then, the same can happen with any rags of other materials discarded from when you last cleaned the engine of your car, or dispose of cooking oil.
If you do burn your used rags etc - ensure there aren't many of them, and stand well back - as you would if you added an accelerant to make the fire catch. I'm not overly keen on this method of disposal, but burning will vapourize toxic oils and either dry the metallic paints out completely or turn them to ash. The only precaution I'd suggest is to ensure that your bonfire is well clear of any watercourses. Lead is the material you want to watch out for - if you have to dispose of any more than a blob of it, ensure it's dried out. Better still - use it all up.
Posted
Thanks Robert. I do tend to make sure there is good airflow around my used paper towels and there are never lots scrumpled tightly. I think I'm more concerned with environment issues but its good to know that letting the toxic paints dry should be OK. having looked a bit more online, I have a feeling that the council may tell me to contact hazardous waste removal companies and that involves paperwork for each collection etc and is more aimed at businesses so I think I will maybe continue just to put it in the household waste (unless I start making enough money to class it as my business - unlikely). I was watching this video about safety in the studio (which is a dedicated art studio in America) and it got me thinking if there was a better way.
Edited
by Gary Martin
Posted
My comment re bonfire was very much tongue in cheek. You have made me think though ,I have always screwed stuff up and binned it with nary a thought.
Out of curiosity I wonder what professional painters and decorators do?. I know if I have done household painting ,the residua cleaning cloths etc is always just binned.
Just had a nosey through your paintings Gary.....wow...just beautiful.
Edited
by Sylvia Evans
Posted
It's Robert, but who's counting...? I think you're right that your council would give that advice, because they need to cover themselves. "What if he goes mad, and eats it?" We do live in a risk-averse culture these days; and it has its points.
There are those who never throw paint away, but use it to build little turrets on their palette - making it, you would have thought, heavier and heavier... I suppose that's one solution.
Posted
You've made me look senile now, you do realize that...... As if I can't tell Roger from Robert .... Ahh, well, I meantersay - it was all fields raynd 'ere when I were a boy....
Rolf Harris had a palette like that - he always put his colours in the same place, and in time, up arose the pagoda of paint. Poor, silly man - he was a fine painter, and has destroyed himself: I realize I have wandered significantly from the point, but as we've established, I'm not as young as I was.
I say, I'm not as young as I was.... don't mumble young man....
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