Keeping old paint from going off

by **Alvin Wyllie** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 3:37 pm

Hallo, silly question possibly, I've got some oil-based gloss paint, probably enamel as it doesn't smell strongly like cellulose, that I bought for under £1.50 a tin, probably time-expired then, which I've had 5 to 7 years and it's going treacly, but still fine for wrought-iron gates. What could I mix with it to thin it and give it a few more years of useable life?? I've put some 3-in-1 oil in it that seems to thin it ok. Would linseed oil be better? Many thanks

by **proptech** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:02 pm

Hi Alvin,
The only answer I can give you is get rid of it, the addition of oil will prevent the paint ever drying. White spirit being the only thing you should add to thin paint.
don't mess up a decent job by using rubbish materials. Imagine what a job it would be to remove defective paint from those gates.

by **Alvin Wyllie** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:54 pm

Mmmm. Thanks, for your reply. I hadn't thought about that.