What’s the best/safest way to dispose of all the nasty stuff we use, such as old enamel or laquer paint and all the stuff we use to clean and thin paint… rubbing alcohol, mineral spirits, laquer thinner, old brushes and rags with this stuff on it, etc. etc. I doubt it can be just thrown out with the regular trash; if there’s a better way I’d like to know. Is it even safe to dump acrylic paint and acrylic thinner down the household drain? Thanks!
You are right, the don’t want you to put that suff in the garbage.
Our city has a “Clean Sweep” program where you drop this stuff off at the county garage and they dispose of it for you. I just save it up and drop off old paint, etc. once a year. If your city has a website they may have a similar program or call your city sanitation dept.
I live in the middle of nowhere, and if I took it to the local landfill, they would probably just throw it in the landfill. What should I do?
Once cured, modern paint - including model paint - is considered safe and can be disposed of in ordinary household refuse. Therefore, simply let paint dry completely and then toss it. This applies to rags, brushes, or jars. As for chemicals, I generally use them rather than throw them out. If I have something like dirty paint thinner, I just put it in a scrap can without a lid and let it evaporate. Once it’s dry, it gets tossed.
Foster has the right idea-let them dry out. And this includes acrylics and latex that have ammonia in them.