Making the most out of your leftover paint

1. Calculating how much paint you need before is helpful, Proud Paints online paint calculator, will help and guide you to quantify the correct amount of paint you’ll require to get your home paint job done, without too much paint being left over. Rule of thumb allow 12m2 per litre of emulsion paint, per coat, so 2 coats of paint will cover a ceiling or wall area of approx 6m2 per litre of paint.
2. What to do if you have some left over paint – paint can be used again if stored in the correct way, store paint away from direct sunlight and frost/cold environments.  If there is a small amount of paint left in the tin, this can be transferred into a smaller air tight jar, and stored in a safe & dry environment, to be used again throughout the year.
3. If you have some small amounts of similar paint colours in water-based emulsions left over, add them all into one container, and when ready to use, stir it well, and reuse it to first coat a room, so use it as a base/primer coat on walls and ceilings.
4. It’s important to remember that you cannot dispose paint by putting it down the sink or out with your normal rubbish. For responsible disposal, call your local county council, they usually have local safe disposal points/cages that you can place your old paint tins into. Dispose of your paint without harming the environment.
5. Another Tip: Share paint with family, neighbours, friends or the local community centre. There are probably some local shed or community work groups in your locality that could make good use of the left over paint.