Getting rid of old finishes

[Oka]

For some of you, I thought this might be helpful. Others already probably know. ....From time to time your finishes go bad. How you can tell with lacquer or solvent products, they often revert, meaning their chemicals begin to break down. They will often have a distinct smell that is different from their normal smell.

Lacquer goes from that pungent spicy banana like smell to a stale more acidic smell (to me)
Varnishes, begin to smell like old Linseed oil and often will curdle on the top.
Latex paints will get this sour smell from the normal slight ammonia odor.

At any rate one thing that you can do to make it inert is to mix it with mortar or sawdust and let dry, then you are not compelled to take to a hazardous waste area.

Such was the case recently, with my lacquer...... opened it .....damn........... it was too old, so I mixed with some saw dust and just let dry and then dispose of it in a normal fashion.

Just a quick tip

 

[cyclopentadiene]

In the 60’s and 70’s dilution was the solution to pollution.
However today it is best with oil based finishes to take to an annual county waste pickup. The lines are horrible but these are then taken to a hazardous waste incineration facility.
Water based can just be opened, allowed to dry up and disposed with normal trash. The chemicals used in these are typically biodegradable in a landfill.

 

[Henry W]

However today it is best with oil based finishes to take to an annual county waste pickup. The lines are horrible but these are then taken to a hazardous waste incineration facility.

For those of us in Wake County (Raleigh) the two primary waste sites (Holly Springs and N Raleigh) have every day (Mon-Sat I believe, 7-4?) household hazardous waste disposal service, which includes paints and solvents etc. Check website for details. No horrible lines.

 

[Hmerkle]

In the 60’s and 70’s dilution was the solution to pollution.
However today it is best with oil based finishes to take to an annual county waste pickup. The lines are horrible but these are then taken to a hazardous waste incineration facility.
Water based can just be opened, allowed to dry up and disposed with normal trash. The chemicals used in these are typically biodegradable in a landfill.

So I was at the landfill recently and watched them (the convenience center people) take the paint (supposedly latex, but...) and throw all of the cans into the lawn waste tractor trailer - destined for the actual landfill... where I am certain it will simply be dumped... (I was pissed...)

 

[Oka]

Some miss the point such materials are inert when dry. If they were dangerous when dry then, every painted or lacquered piece of wood then would be hazardous material, which it is not.

 

[bob vaughan]

This sounds like a good solution for shavings/sawdust disposal as well as finishing liquids.
Do you pour the sawdust into the can, mix it up, then pour it out on a flat drying surface? Let the mixture dry in the can?

 

[Oka]

Yup, got plenty of the saw dust. Just mix it in to the can and make a paste, spread it out to dry and a little more on the top, next day it is hard and inert. Easy

 

[petebucy4638]

For some of you, I thought this might be helpful. Others already probably know. ....From time to time your finishes go bad. How you can tell with lacquer or solvent products, they often revert, meaning their chemicals begin to break down. They will often have a distinct smell that is different from their normal smell.

Lacquer goes from that pungent spicy banana like smell to a stale more acidic smell (to me)
Varnishes, begin to smell like old Linseed oil and often will curdle on the top.
Latex paints will get this sour smell from the normal slight ammonia odor.

At any rate one thing that you can do to make it inert is to mix it with mortar or sawdust and let dry, then you are not compelled to take to a hazardous waste area.

Such was the case recently, with my lacquer...... opened it .....damn........... it was too old, so I mixed with some saw dust and just let dry and then dispose of it in a normal fashion.

Just a quick tip

Before I started wood turning, I never seemed to have enough sawdust around when I needed it to make a stale finish inert. Now with two lathes in the shop, I probably make enough wood shavings in a day to last me for the entire year.