Label Paint Cans with the Things They Painted

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2012/03/01 @ 5:30 pm
Category Craft, Tools

The amazing and most resourceful Craig Smith shares another smart, simple tip:

If you’re like me, you have a small inventory of wood stains on hand. And if you’re further like me, you have a few nice projects that you’re proud of. But when it comes to touching up a scuff, or making a matching piece years later… “What color did I use?” Recently, I’ve been making sure to flip the cans upside down and label them with the projects they were used on. This after I had to put four different stains on a test piece to determined which one I’d used on the bookcase, in order to make an additional matching shelf years later. From now on, I will label!

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9 Responses to Label Paint Cans with the Things They Painted

Nate on March 1st, 2012 at 5:53 pm said:

Another great tip for painting (rooms) is to write the information on the back of a light switch cover in the room you painted. This way if you want to go back and touch up and don’t have the paint you have a way of finding out what it was.

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Stephen on March 1st, 2012 at 7:39 pm said:

Don’t label them on the bottom. Only you will know to look for the info there. Mostly relevant to coatings used in your house but still.

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- Dok on March 5th, 2012 at 7:07 am said:
  
  Paint cans should be stored upside down. Air leaks due to the metal lid will cause the paint to become unusable much sooner. Stored upside down, the paint will harden in the gaps, keeping it good for longer.
  
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kurtroedeger on March 2nd, 2012 at 3:56 am said:

For paint cans I will also tape the sample card I used to pick the paint to the side of it. And I agree, labeling on the side or top can be helpful if it’s left over paint that was there when you bought the house.

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Andy Callaway on March 2nd, 2012 at 7:44 am said:

Would this work for water based paints?
In my experience, “years later” the paint has deteriorated. Usually rust develops inside the can, changing its color or making it unusable.

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- craig on March 2nd, 2012 at 5:15 pm said:
  
  Usually rust happens around the edge of the lid. Opening the can releases the rust into the paint. If you have an old can for ‘one last job’, flip it upside down and use a kitchen can opener on the bottom. (wash it immediately, although you’ll likely NOT get paint on the cutting wheel) It keeps rust out of the paint, not to mention you’ll be struggling with prying the lid that is welded on by dried paint & rust. Say what you will about Glidden, but I used 11 year old leftover paint 1/3 full, to touch up a room with minor sheetrock work done, and it color matched the rest perfectly. Other brands 4 years old is seperated & shot. (no I did not let it freeze)
  Craig
  
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Adam on March 2nd, 2012 at 11:06 am said:

What I do for my projects is keep a notebook of what colors I used when painting the rooms. This way I can find the info if the old paint had been disposed of. Could do the same for stain, though I don’t stain much. When I moved, my wife and I wanted to use a color from the old house and it was a matter of digging up the notebook to find the color and taking it to the store.

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- Adam on March 2nd, 2012 at 11:07 am said:
  
  One more thing – the store didn’t have the old color on display anymore, but thankfully I had the name of the exact color and the store was able to look up the formula and remake the color!
  
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