Does anyone have a *well-supported* answer on how to deal with used paintbrushes and paint rollers?
I see advice like "don't rinse them under the tap because it pollutes the water" which, fine. But then also "don't use turpentine because it's bad for the environment".
And then ultimately this turns into "treat brushes and rollers as consumable, just throw them away with mixed waste after use" and like, what? That's not great for the environment either!
So what's *actually* the solution here? What is *actually* the least environmentally destructive option? And is there any actual data to support that?
@skewray Okay, but then what about eg. water-based paints? Because the advice I see suggests not to rinse that off under the tap either, so it doesn't seem to be specific to the oil base.
(And how would one effectively use the acetone in a way that doesn't use large amounts of it, and then dispose of it eventually?)
@joepie91 Dunno. Here, air quality is a thing and water quality is not. No one has ever told me what could not be put down a drain. The storm water system here says, "flows to ocean", so people don't dump motor oil into it. That's something?
@joepie91 well, it looks like you gotta take up painting with mud on the walls.
@joepie91 Supposedly it takes a roller scraper, a dedicated bucket, water and an attachment that lets you spin the roller clean using a power drill. I've seen a painter do this but I've never done it myself.
@joepie91 does your sewage go to a treatment plant or is it a drain field?
Is this latex or oil based paint? Assuming latex bc oil is an absolute mess/disaster to clean.
Paint rollers are sorta washable but never the same for very long. If you’re going to paint again soon, wrap the roller in a plastic bag and squeeze it, remove bag later and continue usage.
Brushes are NOT consumable imo. Get a good brush ($8+), as they have a much nicer inkwell (or whatever that’s called) and paint nicer.
@colinstu Mostly water-based paint, but I need to find an answer for all sorts of paint, since I don't know what I'll be using in the future. AFAIK all sewage goes to a treatment plant here (Netherlands), but I think there's an overflow to sea during heavy rainfall.
I'm familiar with the wrapping trick, but that's ultimately not that useful to me with the irregularity of my projects... 😕
@joepie91 Acetone, or just don't use oil-based paints. Low or zero VOC latex paints are a thing.
In Los Angeles, turpentine is illegal, but the air quality management district developed a product that is turpentine strongly diluted with acetone, so that is available here, but maybe nowhere else. I just use acetone when I need a solvent.