On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 19:59:45 -0500, "bent" wrote:


I have (gallons/liters/other) cans of various things that get to be less
than half full and then even when sealed they end up drying out. With a
gallon can of paint, when you get down to 2 inches you can't even be sure if
you have enough to paint a pencil if you had already done a couple in the
past. I am thinking about things like glue, paint, stains, somewhat
thinners, etc.

Here's the obvious suggestion, though I've been guilty of not doing it
myself. When you get doing painting, staining, etc., take a damp rag
and wipe all the excess drips and splashes off the rim. If you do
that, you'll get something very close to a factory seal on a can, and
it should last almost indefinately.

If there is already a little junk on the inside channel of the rim,
scrape out as much as you can without dropping any dry chunks of
whatever into your paint, and then lay a piece of plastic wrap over
the top of the can before putting the top on.

If you're careful about cleaning up and resealing properly, a metal
can should last for a really long time- without any need to find some
different container.