Keeping Mixed Paints for Later
If I mix a big batch of a colour will it last a while in an air tight container? And is there a type of container that works best?
Short questions almost always need long replies because the answer is nearly Always ‘It Depends‘!
Mixing Batches of colour to keep when painting a series makes sense if you can stop it drying out before you are ready to use it.
Ok -If you have bought my acrylic paints you might have noticed the post-box your paints came in and you might have guessed I’m an avid recyler?
I make the posting boxes to fit from other ones that don’t fit – They never do, do they!
I collect every little glass jar and plastic container that comes my way for this sort of thing:
- Mustard, and small glass sauce jars with a twist top
- plastic containers that held houmus, dips and thick cream
- even some patés come in little plastic oblong pots with lids
- I always wash them up and keep them!
Really, how long you can keep mixed acylic paint depends on how thoroughly you keep the air out,
so if the jar’s half empty, I put a bit of clingfilm inside on top of the paint so that no air can get to it, and then close it (or other container) tight. You could use a piece of thin acetate, I expect. I use a piece of film wide enough to cover the width of the jar and up the inside leaving the excess loosely folded inside the jar so that I can easily pull it out later.
Press clingfilm on the paint to exclude air
Make sure clingfilm is pressed against the Sides
If the container doesn’t have a proper lid I just put cling film over the whole thing as well.
It Might be best to mix the colours with No water so that you can easily put cling film on the surface without it sinking!
Loosely push film excess in and Close the paint pot lids tightly
Airtight and hardly any air gap is the key.
I’m used to matching previous mixes so I don’t worry about mixing a load usually – I have years of experience behind me – however I mixed some vermillion and white to make sure this works! You might notice that it is not thoroughly mixed where it meets the glass and that’s because I used the handle of a paintbrush to mix up the paint. I didn’t want to fill the bristles with paint I didn’t need right then:)
Cling film is useful on the pallette too. Wrapped tightly over the pallette it can keep thicker blobs workable overnight, but push out air bubbles as much as possible.
I tend to use up leftover paint to make coloured backgrounds on canvases, so they’re ready to paint next time, but sometimes you need to keep a colour for repeated designs or for painting lots of small things, such as hand-painted brooches or peg dolls.
Of course when you are painting, always close the tubes between squeezes, and I gently give them an extra squeeze to expel the air gap and quickly tighten the lid. The tubes look squashed and you can see when you are getting low on a colour. I think it’s important to do it with colours you use up more slowly so that they don’t become lumpy with drier bits on the surface.
Squeeze the Air out of paint tubes
Keeping your mixed up paints stored so you can use them later can help to make repeat patterns and multiple painted objects. Mixed Acrylic paints can be stored for later if you keep the air out and my sample was in still in perfect condition several days later. This is certainly one effective way to keep paint and if you tend to mix too much at a time, it also shows you how to keep excess acrylic paint to use later.
Here’s an image to remind you and to share!
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